Mounting My TDX

I just got my new beautiful Brass topped TDX waterblock!

I have it on my machine and I was wondering about the proper amount to tighten down the screws on my 478 socket

just want to know for safe keeping


suggestions.


idle temps stock @ 3.2 are 38c

3.9ghz w/ 1.55 vcore on a 3.2e DO stepping is 44c

I want to see if I can bring my temps down a hair.


I will post new pics of my watercooling setup later tonight

Tighten it untill the springs are almost bottomed out.

You can't damage the P4 with an IHS.

Better too tight, than too lose.

I remounted my block and tightened it down.

now my temps are 36c on idle

is that good for a stock 3.2e

case temp is 30c

barnz0432 said:

I remounted my block and tightened it down.

now my temps are 36c on idle

is that good for a stock 3.2e

case temp is 30c

Click to expand...

Idle means nothing to pretty much everyone here. What are the loaded temps like?

I'll run the torture test to see where its at.

Ok I ran Dual Prime 95s and UT2004 at the same time!!

It only got to 43c FULL 100% load

37idle

barnz0432 said:

Ok I ran Dual Prime 95s and UT2004 at the same time!!

It only got to 43c FULL 100% load

37idle

Click to expand...

Sounds pretty good.

What voltage and clock speeds are you running?

ok Im at 3.9ghz at 244 fsb

its not as stable as I would like. It will be after i get my new ram.

42c ide and 48c full load

core volts 1.55

ram is 2.8

my mobo maxs out at 2.8 for ram and its not enough for my crappy overclocking kingston hyperx ram.

im gonna flip my fans over to pull through the rad for better cooling.

I ordered a gig dual channel kit of ocz platinum rev. 2 its gonna fly.

Im gonna order mosfet sinks tomarrow

thats a narrow delta so it seems like u have good contact.

what TIM are u using? if its AS5, u def need to let it set for a few days while burning. i've personally seen load temps drop upwards of 3-5 degrees after ample setting time.

just some thoughts

With chips that have an IHS, just bottom those springs out.

thanks for the advice I have been having kinda higher temps then what I would have liked.

I will give that a try.

I bottomed out the screws and I now had a 1-2c drop in temps.


not great... but worth the time it took to tighten them down.

Give it another day or two for the AS (Assuming you are using it) to cure temps should drop a bit more.

my system has only been up for about 2 days with my new block so the temps should drop eventually.

at idle like typing and surfing the net my processor is 38c and case is 33c so its not to far off from ambient.

Thats pretty darn respectible with a prescott. I think the 10 degree delta between idle and load might be a bit high, considering you are using a BIX 3 though.

Fyi, in reply to how much to tighten the waterblock (or any heatsink for that matter) only applies to socket 478 chips and Athlons. Intel specs (and Athlon is very close) states downforce of between 40 to 45 lbs is required. This is not to promote better cooling (pressure has nothing to do with cooling better). This is to securely apply pressure to the pins of the cpu to properly seat it.

Heat will transfer rather you are just sitting the heatsink/wb on the cpu, or if you have applied 40 lbs of downforce.

Now the majority of the community actually relies on this downforce to "spread" their thermal paste around. Even that's not required with proper paste installation (i.e. a driver's license or CC used to smooth a very thin layer over the entire CPU surface).


The point to this post? It's a whole new ball game with the LGA775 sockets now being used for the Pentiums. The LGA775 socket has a new "clip"-type socket, that you install the CPU and crank the lever down. This now applies the required 40-45 lbs of downforce to seat the cpu properly. Then all you need to do is to install the TDX or heatsink with jsut enough pressure to keep it from falling off. No large 40 lbs of downforce any longer!

Sorry if it seems off topic. Just wanted to finally spill that out somewhere (been telling everyone locally).

Jas said:

Thats pretty darn respectible with a prescott. I think the 10 degree delta between idle and load might be a bit high, considering you are using a BIX 3 though.

Click to expand...

A 10 degree delta isn't because of the BIX III, it's the ability/combination for that waterblock and thermal paste to conduct that additional heat and transfer the wattage to the water. The BIX III is only there to remove the heat from the water.

I have a BIX III and an TDX. I see about these same temps (34 idle, 42 under full HT load). But I'm running at 4.2Ghz and at a 1200mhz FSB. It aint the radiator.

I was concerned about that delta because I missed the fact he has a GPU block in the loop. With the GPU block in the the NV-68, I can see a 10c delta.

Jas said:

I was concerned about that delta because I missed the fact he has a GPU block in the loop. With the GPU block in the the NV-68, I can see a 10c delta.

Click to expand...

Makes me wonder about the differences I'll see when I add the NB to my loop... Running at that speed. Humm.

Having had two spring-loaded blocks work their way loose over time I started applying a drop of breakable loctite to the top of each mounting screw. If you're satisfied with your mounting job and temps, and don't want it to change, I'd recommend this process.

As for TDX mounting, I tightened just short of complete compression. I may be a chicken here, but the A64 TDX mount looks like it can apply a fair amount of warping stress to the area around the ZIF.