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Moving To The Dark Side Of Cooling - Home Made Dice Pot

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How Tight Should a F1 Dark Be Tighten Down????

I just got my F1 Dark from KingPin Cooling :thup: I was reading different DICE mounting cooling options on the web, referring to the F1 Dark. Several of them mentioned tightening down the WING NUTS, mine did not come with wing nuts :( I even went to my local hardware store ( LOWES ) to try and get some, they don't make them that small :( I pick up several regular hex nuts and a 5/16" wrench to fit them. The F1 Dark came with round grooved screws ( to tighten by fingers ) for the rods. My fingers do not have the strength to tighten something down, lucky to hold a glass. Several members on the Benching Team even talked about tighten them to the point of bending the board, I can do that with the hex nuts :) I do not want to go too far and break the board, I've had a bad month on motherboards and CPU's :bang head
I have pic's of the foam that was included in the box from KPC. It looks too thick to try and mount the board but to leave it unmounted near the boards mounting posts??? Will this cause a short or condensation to form??? Just cooling with DICE :)

I also saw fans being used, is this to keep the cooling near the pot or away from the board?????
I Thank You All For Any Information And Help :thup:

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Okay... I ditched the idea of trying to make my own DICE/LN2 pot and bought a Dragon F1 Dark Extreme CPU Cooling pot from KingPin Cooling :thup: I just got it this week and have being reading up on how to mount it. Several of them mentioned tightening down the WING NUTS, mine did not come with wing nuts :( I even went to my local hardware store ( LOWES ) to try and get some, they don't make them that small :( I pick up several regular hex nuts and a 5/16" wrench to fit them. The F1 Dark came with round grooved screws ( to tighten by fingers ) for the rods. My fingers do not have the strength to tighten something down, lucky to hold a glass. Several members on the Benching Team even talked about tighten them to the point of bending the board, I can do that with the hex nuts :) I do not want to go too far and break the board, I've had a bad month on motherboards and CPU's :bang head

I have pic's of the foam that was included in the box from KPC. It looks too thick to try and mount the board but to leave it unmounted near the boards mounting posts??? Will this cause a short or condensation to form??? Just cooling with DICE

I also saw fans being used, is this to keep the cooling near the pot or away from the board?????

I did my first mounting of the F1 to see how well it was mounting, I got the KPC screws as tight as I could :( I didn't even move the TIM from the center of the CPU :( Should I go with the hex screws that I picked up, It looks like I need more pressure on the F1 to spread out the TIM???????

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If you tightened the nuts as far as they would go and still didn't have enough pressure to spread the TIM something is wrong. The foam my be being pinched between the IHS and the pot? You may also have it mounted incorrectly? Check your mounting of the pot, it's not going to make a difference if you use Hex nuts or wing nuts. The wing nuts are just easier to tighten by hand.

As far as fans I use fans to blow cooling away from the pot and board, this help keep the condensation down.
 
Just for a quick question, you did put the blue clamp ontop of the pot when you mounted it, correct? And used the nuts to tighten it down?

That's strange that your pot wouldn't come with any nuts at all, they are just small round nuts that fit easily over the top of the included mounting rods. If they didn't come with any I'd contact Vince and let him know about it. I always just tighten in a crossing fashion until I can't easily tighten with my fingers anymore (no use of a wrench or anything needed)

The purpose of the fan is to generally blow up and away to prevent the condensation from forming on the board.
 
Thanks R_T.. sorry for the dup. I posted the first one this morning and :facepalm: I remembered that I would get a quicker response from the Team. I tightened down the included screws that can with the pot, one drop of TIM in the center of CPU. I found a link to when E_D did a review of the F1 Dark ( back in like 2011~2012) and it shows E_D placing 5 dots of TIM on the CPU before he mounted the F1 Dark :) I'm taking pictures so that you guys can tell me where I have done something wrong. Going to start the DICE run with a PII 1100t, we don't have that many submissions for it at HWbot.
How long after a DICE run before you can use the board again???
I read that you should not shut down the board for to long between runs as condensation will form in the socket, is this like 10sec~30sec???? I ask because the best Driver to use when benching CPU only is 10.4 or 11.4 ( OpenCL Ver 1.1 ). I'll be using a XFX R9 290 video card and it will not work until I upgrade to 14.9~14.12 drivers to run the video benchmarks :)

Thank For The Help :thup:
 
It's OK, it happens and it's usually easier to merge them rather than sort it out or delete.
As long as you're being advised / helped. :thup:
 
Thanks R_T.. sorry for the dup. I posted the first one this morning and :facepalm: I remembered that I would get a quicker response from the Team. I tightened down the included screws that can with the pot, one drop of TIM in the center of CPU. I found a link to when E_D did a review of the F1 Dark ( back in like 2011~2012) and it shows E_D placing 5 dots of TIM on the CPU before he mounted the F1 Dark :) I'm taking pictures so that you guys can tell me where I have done something wrong. Going to start the DICE run with a PII 1100t, we don't have that many submissions for it at HWbot.
How long after a DICE run before you can use the board again???
I read that you should not shut down the board for to long between runs as condensation will form in the socket, is this like 10sec~30sec???? I ask because the best Driver to use when benching CPU only is 10.4 or 11.4 ( OpenCL Ver 1.1 ). I'll be using a XFX R9 290 video card and it will not work until I upgrade to 14.9~14.12 drivers to run the video benchmarks :)

Thank For The Help :thup:
Maddmutt once we see the pics we can better evaluate what is what.

As far as shutting down goes, shutting down to switch a driver and such is fine. The pot will stay cold enough where the condensation will stay frozen on it. It's only after it really increases in temperature where the frozen condensation will start to thaw and can lead to issues. This is not to say that you may run into issues with condensation while benching, this will all depend on what the air is like where you're benching. Chances are though, if you prepped the board well you should be good to go for hours. How much DICE you planning on getting? The 1100 T on all cores will eat it up fairly quickly. You'll notice when doing single thread benches you will need to add less DICE then when on all 6.

Once you're done for the day, strip the board down and let it dry for at least 24 hours. One suggestion I believe Metalracer had mentioned is, if possible, stick the board on a hot car with the windows up. It will help expedite the drying of the board.
 
On the amount of DICE : I read on the web that 5 pounds would do a 83xx. Should I get more????
Okay... When done for the day, let the board set for 30min~45min and strip the board. Then set it in car to bake :)
I never found a mention on how long to wait after you first pour in the Alcohol ( 91% ) and then add the Dry Ice before powering on the computer?????
I did not get a chance to install a K-probe between the pot and CPU. I bought a cheap one that does not fit the predrilled hole nor will it go below -40c. I will have to rely on the temp from the motherboard :(
Did not the AMD Phenom II have a problem with it's internal temp sensor?????

Here's pictures of it ready for benching :) I HOPE
PS.. The hex nuts are tighten down a full 6 turns and all the fans are blowing up ^ . I have a extra fan near the video card to blow extra air at it, to try and keep it cooler.

Fan Placement For DICE Board #3.jpg
Fan Placement For DICE Board #4.jpg
Fan Placement For DICE Board #5.jpg
 
5 pounds probably wont be enough for that 8 core. I usually go through about 10 pounds for an all day session on my late fx-4130 or Phenom II. You really don't need to have a temp prob on the CPU's that aren't cold bugged but it's nice to know where you're at temp wise.

You don't have to wait to power up the rig, but it's nice to let things cool down first. Then you can start hammering on it right away. Mandrake's tip to me for my first DICE run was to fill up the pot with Dice then add a little IPA at a time until you have the desired amount. If you pour the ISP in first then add the DICE you may get the volcano effect.
 
Could also use Acetone instead of alcohol, should get you a couple extra degrees IIRC.
 
I was looking at that Janus67 but to many web sites mentioned the bad smell when starting out :( I do not want to make the wife made on my first try :)

5 pounds probably wont be enough for that 8 core. I usually go through about 10 pounds for an all day session on my late fx-4130 or Phenom II. You really don't need to have a temp prob on the CPU's that aren't cold bugged but it's nice to know where you're at temp wise.

You don't have to wait to power up the rig, but it's nice to let things cool down first. Then you can start hammering on it right away. Mandrake's tip to me for my first DICE run was to fill up the pot with Dice then add a little IPA at a time until you have the desired amount. If you pour the ISP in first then add the DICE you may get the volcano effect.

I can pick up DICE at my local Supermarket for $.99 pound. I'm hoping to be able to run all of the CPU and GPU benching today :)
What is the max CPU speed that I can expect ( 5 ~ 5.5 GHz )???
Any tips on the CPU/NB speed and voltage??? The last time I played with this CPU, I was using a Gigabyte 790FX that maxed @ 2800 on the NB :( This time I'll be using a ASUS CHVFZ 990FX that should allow some good clocks :thup:
The wife would give me an ear full if I let it do the volcano effect, thanks for the FYI :)
 
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If you are running AMD, don't bother benching GPUs... just focus on the CPU.
Agreed.

5lbs of ice will not last long with the 1100t on all 6 cores get 10 lbs at least. The local place I get it from sells it for $1.00 a lb but 50 lbs for $30.00 so I usually just get 50 lbs. Which will last me a day of hard core benching.

Depending on the Pot, it can will usually take about 5 minutes for the temps to drop down into the -70 to -80c range. You can start it up right away just don't pour the coals to it until it gets cold. You'll notice when it's down to temperature it will stop "boiling" when not under load. Also with out a temp sensor just make sure your are diligent on adding DICE and you'll be fine.

I do not see any issues with the pictures, something must be keeping the pot from tightening down on the IHS. Check and see if the foam is pinching between the pot and IHS. Maybe a heatsink it stopping the pot?

Don't go into this with expectations, the 1100 T will do what it will do, good bad or indifferent, just have fun with it. It's likely it will do over 5.0 how much no one will know. The Nb on the Thubans is usually good so you may be able to get it up near 3600 but it will take voltage to get there.
 
I was looking at that Janus67 but to many web sites mentioned the bad smell when starting out :( I do not want to make the wife made on my first try :)



I can pick up DICE at my local Supermarket for $.99 pound. I'm hoping to be able to run all of the CPU and GPU benching today :)
What is the max CPU speed that I can expect ( 5 ~ 5.5 GHz )???
Any tips on the CPU/NB speed and voltage??? The last time I played with this CPU, I was using a Gigabyte 790FX that maxed @ 2800 on the NB :( This time I'll be using a ASUS CHVFZ 990FX that should allow some good clocks :thup:
The wife would give me an ear full if I let it do the volcano effect, thanks for the FYI :)

To avoid the acetone volcano, drop the DICE in first, then slowly add your acetone. Acetone first then DICE is what makes it happen.
I'd say at least 10lbs of DICE for a decent session that would last for a few hours if all goes well. I've ran into problems :bang head while figuring it out and wasted alot of it before over such.

I'd say plan on about 10 lbs for running with, about 5 lbs for getting things right but that could change as in it's all wrong no matter how much DICE you have.... Been there, done that too. :shrug:

If you figure out what your setup will run with you'll do much better the next time around and it will be easier to tune things - I'd also use the board's utility for saving profiles once you do have it going BUT be aware the profile that worked before may not work so well the next time. What the system "Wants" can change with each session but do note settings, you'll eventually get it figured out.
 
Just to verify and be clear. You didn't place the probe between the pot and CPU right? This will obviously prevent the pot from making good contact and would explain why your TIM didn't spread.

MaddMutt said:
...install a K-probe between the pot and CPU...
 
Typically one drills a tiny hole in the side of the pot at the bottom and slides the probe in that way...
 
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