How tight do you mount your Cascades?

[cypher_138]

I think I might have over tightened mine on the last remount. I just loosened each wingnut 5 rotations and I'm seeing a temp decrease. Apparently this has a big part to do with a good mount. When I first put it on I was affraid to break it. After severall remounts yesterday I just wanted to get it back on there. Is there a generall rule of thumb for determining the proper preasure to apply?

PS:
You'll have to forgive me, I'm still a water cooling noob here with much to learn.
:D

[NeoMoses]

I'm guessing you have it on your P4 system as in your sig. The most likely reason that you saw temps decrease as you decreased clamping force would be that you were not evenly clamping the block. Theory (and my experience) state that the Thermal interface resistance will be lowered as you increase clamping force. This only holds true, however, if you have proper contact along the entire surface.

It is also possible that the cascade waterblock is warping under the pressure. I'm not really sure how thick the base is, but I'm assuming it's pretty thin, which would make it flex if too much clamping force were exerted.

If parts start to warp/bow or lose contact for any reason, you are clamping incorrectly.

*Edit: Also check out this post about 4-hole mounting (http://forum.oc-forums.com/vb/showthread.php?threadid=150175#post1315258). I believe a P4 can handle 100 pounds of clamping force. (Not sure on that number but I think it's close IIRC.)

[cypher_138]

Great link thanks Neo. From what Cathar said the base is as thin as he could make it. I checked it out and it's still flat. I'd go to overclockers hell for destroying one of these for sure.

I had to save that for future refference. Thanks again.:D