[enz660]

As you all have probably noticed from my many threads, I was planning on purchasing a scythe infinity & modding the **** out of it so I could lower my already amazing temps that a pressure mounted af freezer 7 pro can keep. Initially I wanted to order the scythe with Noctua fans that SPCR reviewed as the #1 quiet 120mm fan. I got sick of waiting around & instead, got 3 yate loons

So I get the cooler tuesday morning. Here are some beauty shots:







Now for a comparison between my old cooler & the scythe






as you can see, the scythe has not only more fins, the are larger than the freezers' (42 vs 58). From this alone, I was expecting better results right away, even while the scythe is stock. Here is a pic of my ultra ghetto setup (im working on my case as well so i have to run my pc on the foor for now ) This is where I tested the ac freezer temps as well as the scythe's.



I mounted the scythe with the zalman super thermal grease that gave me a bit better results than as5. The temps were....HORRIBLE! At least to my old cooler they were. They were overall 5c higher than the freezer's. At this point I want to rip the scythe off and throw it at my wall.

After a careful remount with the same thermal paste, I get much better results. Temps went down to around where the freezer's were, but about 1c better.

So now we get into pressure mounting the scythe. This has been done many times and has improved people's temps about 3-6c. Heres a thread about it.

Now before I begin, let me just say this: never work on your pc hungover, you dont think straight, and it takes you twice as long to do anything. I finally get the correct bolt through kit from jabtech (sent me am2 instead of lga775). I go out to ace hardware, get some screws, and pressure mount the scythe. The temps are worse than with the stock mount.

The next day, I do things differently, find some thermaltake brackets so the scythe's dont bend because of the pressure. Here are the parts I used:

[enz660]

This is a VERY strong mount for the scythe becuase of the backplate & brackets that I doubt anyone used to mount this scythe.

Why are the temps so bad? I was confused how this beast could be overthrown by a smaller freezer 7 pro!

There is one thing that is almost never shown in all the pictures of the scythe before you buy it: How the heatpipes are welded to the base. In the freezer, there is a solid block of copper all around the heatpipes. This cooler had 25% of each heatpipe touching the base. Yes, there is a small heatsink above the heatpipes as well, but it too is barely connected to base. Look at some photos and you will know what I mean.

SO! I begin the modding:

So first, I mount two fans (not really a mod, just w/ e)

I see a little improvment, about 2c. This is good.

I take it off, and lap it. It passed the ketchup test flawlessly, but I lapped it anyways. One example of OCD kicking in lol.



I remount it, still crappy temps.

I go ballistic on this thing and start bending the fins according to me erlier idea of modding them to look like the ultra 120's bent fins.

[enz660]

This process took about 1.5 hours. My main goal was to increase pressure inside the heatsink since two fans in push/pull config could handle it. The Air now hits the fins instead of flying across & not dissapating any heat.

Next I bust out the extra thermal paste I have. Some thermalright stuff that came with my v1 ultra, some evercool white junk, and the ASC that came with the easy pc lapping kit for free

This is the time in the scythe's life when it looses its virginity to a toothpick. Dont worry, something that size probably wont hurt it lol.

heres a pic of the rape scene:


This mod will create better thermal conductivity between the base, heatpipes, and small heatsink above the base. Took f**king FOREVER!

I also cut out some plastic sheet things from an old high school binder and covered the sides. (took them off lateer as they did nothing for the temps)


photos of the finished cooler:




So, time to remount. This time, I use as5 as I think im almost out of the zalman paste. I start her up, oc to 3.6, check the temps, and

not only am I using a slightly worse thermal paste, the temps dropped over 5c! Obviously once the as5 cures, they will go down another 5c. SO, now for some numbers.

----------------------------------------------
Dual Orthos Load 5min
TAT Monitor
Ambient Temp = 19-20c

AC FREEZER 7 PRO: 3 Heatpipes, 42fins.
SCYTHE INFINITY: 5 Heatpipes, 58fins.


Modded Ac Freezer 7 Pro + 53cfm(rated) vantec Stealth 120mm (80% Used) 42fins (zalman stg-1)

2.4ghz, AUTOvcore (cpuz Vcore = 1.32)

Idle - 32c
LOad - 41c

3.0ghz, AUTOvcore (cpuz Vcore = 1.32)

Idle - 33c
Load - 44c

3.4ghz, 1.43vcore

Idle - 38c
Load - 53c

3.6ghz, 1.53vcore (note: CPUZ Vcore Stuck at 1.213)

Idle - 45c
Load - 63c (note: VERY good for the heatsink)


STOCK Scythe Infinity + 53cfm(rated) vantec Stealth 120mm 58fins (zalman stg1)

2.4ghz, AUTOvcore

Idle - 32
LOad - 40

3.0ghz, AUTOvcore

Idle - 33
Load - 44

3.4ghz, 1.43vcore

Idle - 38
Load - 52

3.6ghz, 1.53vcore

Idle - 44
Load - 62



Modded Scythe Infinity + x2 47cfm(rated) Yate Loon 120mm 58fins (note: uncured as5 used)

2.4ghz, AUTOvcore

Idle - 29
LOad - 38

3.0ghz

Idle - 29
Load - 40

3.4ghz, 1.43vcore

Idle - 34
Load - 48

3.6ghz, 1.53vcore

Idle - 42
Load - 56
-------------------------------------------------------

again, temps with as5 will eventually drop even more, I will add the other temps at different clock speeds later. Enough for one day. I need a beer

Hope you have enjoyed reading all that, I certainly hated modding & moungint this thing. So happy its over. More updates on the way.

[nd4spdbh2]

ahhh nice a push pull setup ... *cough* shoulda just gota ultra 120.. instead of making a ultra 120 poser heatsink *cough*

and nice temps now... a lil more on the better side... heck a 6*c drop aint bad.

[enz660]

Originally Posted by nd4spdbh2

ahhh nice a push pull setup ... *cough* shoulda just gota ultra 120.. instead of making a ultra 120 poser heatsink *cough*

and nice temps now... a lil more on the better side... heck a 6*c drop aint bad.

lol send me an ultra 120 so we can see which is better

[nd4spdbh2]

Originally Posted by enz660

lol send me an ultra 120 so we can see which is better

lol you funny senior :P

[leojharris]

crazy mod job!

dude! the cooler looked *sick* with that plastic sleeving! i'd have left it simply cause it looked so clean.

i'm glad i didn't have to go to such lengths with my own infinity ... i just lapped it and pressure mod'd it and it worked like a dream.

(i still can't believe scythe made such a kick ass cooler but provided such a lame mounting system!! what kind of afteremarket manufacturer would use the default intel push/pin system!!!??)

BTW ... the thermaltake mounting brackets ... where did you find them?

here's a link for others to some of my own findings using a mount-modd'd infinity: http://www.overclock.net/intel-air-c...dd-zalman.html

[IKIKUINTHENUTZ]

Now I wonder if bending the fins on tower coolers will significantly make it better . Someone, bend your tuniq's fins and see if theres any improvements

[leojharris]

how did you bend the fin's BTW?

[enz660]

Originally Posted by leojharris

how did you bend the fin's BTW?

I used two small metal rods (about what you can cut out from a coat hanger) and a piece of folded aluminum that was strong enough for the task. I posted a pic up there somewhere, ill just post it down here as well:




also dude, would you mind raising your vcore to 1.53 and mhz to 3.6? I want to compare temps if its possible. Just to see how much hotter conroes run vs allendales. Thanks.

[(Clanger)(DOA)]

looks great enz660 nice work,

[leojharris]

Originally Posted by enz660

also dude, would you mind raising your vcore to 1.53 and mhz to 3.6? I want to compare temps if its possible. Just to see how much hotter conroes run vs allendales. Thanks.

thanks for the info on the bending; that's a nice bit of work you did. may do mine in the future ... (i think the ultra-120's are just *so* sickly designed ... although i think i get better temps with the infinity).

regarding the vcore request ... (i'm assuming you were talking to me) ... i currently, and have been running at 3.6 for 24/7 usage ... that's 450x8 for the cpu multiplier. i run at that frequency with a bios setting of 1.48v on the vcore. this setting is dual prime/orthos stable for at least 12 hours. my temps, are basically what you see in my sig.

do you want me to switch to a higher vcore simply for comparison's sake? i can do it if that's what your interested in. just confirm and i'll switch and let you know what i find at idle and load.

i can't be more pleased with the infinity; i'm idling at 35C right now with 21C ambients ... that's a mere 14C rise above ambients with a core 2 duo that runs stock at 2.1ghz overclocked to 3.6ghz. on air, it just doesn't get much better; it took some work ... as you know, re: our earlier conversations, but with minimal modding, i got it installed and working.

i had my own travails getting this thing pressure mod'd ... but i think it's on par now with the best of the best air coolers out there (i'm ordering a tuniq tower in the next month or so simply to do a side by side and i'll sell the tuniq when i'm through with the review)

congrat's on making it work, though ...

[enz660]

Originally Posted by leojharris

do you want me to switch to a higher vcore simply for comparison's sake? i can do it if that's what your interested in. just confirm and i'll switch and let you know what i find at idle and load.

please.

[leojharris]

...

i'll say it again ... even though you removed this mod, i can't tell you how totally *SICK* you made that infinity look by shrouding it in black plastic!

...



...

man! that's so nice looking!

it's like the *executioner* version of the scythe infinity ...

good job, it really looks exceptional compared to the stock version; i'd have left it just for show!

[leojharris]

Originally Posted by enz660

please.

okay ... i'll switch my vcore and report back what i find.

gimme half hour or so ...

[aliensRreal]

Do you have any idea what was up with the temps? It seems that in the link someone posted, that things went really smoothly. While your procedure seem to be a hell of a lot more intense than the other guy's.

[enz660]

Originally Posted by aliensRreal

Do you have any idea what was up with the temps? It seems that in the link someone posted, that things went really smoothly. While your procedure seem to be a hell of a lot more intense than the other guy's.

yeah I dont know...he used lower vcore than I did, and I hear conroe's run hotter than allendales. We will get an update soon as to how much hotter. Also, I was just trying to get the most improvent from my already amazing freezer 7 pro which performed extremely well for its size.

[leojharris]

also dude, would you mind raising your vcore to 1.53 and mhz to 3.6? I want to compare temps if its possible. Just to see how much hotter conroes run vs allendales. Thanks.

** following results gained with a room ambient of 20C ***

okay .. i raised my vcore to 1.53v in my MB bios while maintaining my 24/7 cpu freq settings of 450x8:

after running a E6400 at 3.6ghz, with a vcore setting of 1.53 ... my temps are the following:

idle: 36C
load: 54C

...

load temps are an average of the cpu temps after 45 minutes dual prime95 (in-place large FFTs).

very occasionally, my cpu temps would spike at 56C but this was a very infrequent reading and so i am going with the average temp as reported by motherboard monitor over a 45min period of time as the final temperature score:
...



...

good job, again, ENZ ... on making the infinity work for you ...

i know it's working good for me ... (now i'm going to go back to 1.47vcore ...)

[enz660]

alright, so I guess its ok to say that conroes run 5-10c hotter than allendales?

[Drinkyoghurt]

i think coretemp and speedfan give more accurate readings..atleast the difference was noticable between speedfan and my mobo utility, speedfan came around coretemp but my mobo monitor was way off..ooh and btw, nice setup. but put two enermax Warp 120mm fans on it, they push 44cfm @ 17dBa and 83cfm @ 32dBa

[leojharris]

Originally Posted by enz660

alright, so I guess its ok to say that conroes run 5-10c hotter than allendales?

my idle temp was a bit lower than yours, but at the same 1.53v's the load is within a degree or two ... like i said, it only hit 56 once, very briefly during the test and was 54 or so almost throughout.

my volts typically run at 1.475v in bios for the same 3.6ghz overclock ... and temps are slightly lower at that voltage.

your usage of the extra thermal compound is sort of interesting ... i wonder if it would be even more effective to use molten metal of some kind ... maybe copper to very carefully fill in some of those areas between the cpu block and the pipes? you could melt small bits of copper and apply it in much the same manner.

[enz660]

Originally Posted by leojharris

my idle temp was a bit lower than yours, but at the same 1.53v's the load is within a degree or two ... like i said, it only hit 56 once, very briefly during the test and was 54 or so almost throughout.

my volts typically run at 1.475v in bios for the same 3.6ghz overclock ... and temps are slightly lower at that voltage.

your usage of the extra thermal compound is sort of interesting ... i wonder if it would be even more effective to use molten metal of some kind ... maybe copper to very carefully fill in some of those areas between the cpu block and the pipes? you could melt small bits of copper and apply it in much the same manner.

lol I would....but I cant for two reasons. the first being that copper's melting point is over 1000c , the other is that when the heatpipes come in contact with someting so hot, I hear there is a chance they blow up lol.

[leojharris]

Originally Posted by enz660

when the heatpipes come in contact with someting so hot, I hear there is a chance they blow up lol.

cool!

[Sen5es]

how come you bent your interleave fins with the normal fins together? Is that better then keeping them separate?

Also, what is the purpose of the metal rods? Could you not have bend them with just the aluminum sheets?

[enz660]

Originally Posted by Sen5es

how come you bent your interleave fins with the normal fins together? Is that better then keeping them separate?

Also, what is the purpose of the metal rods? Could you not have bend them with just the aluminum sheets?

I don't quite follow, but the rods help isolate each bend to one fin at a time, plus it prevented the bonds between the fins & heat pipes from breaking..

[Mrr.guy]

Extremely well done, good job!
I would imagine bending the fins like that would increase air contact from the fans instead of just going straight through.

Can i ask what you did to bend the fins so pefectly? they look very...straight!

[Kuroimaho]

What did you do with the toothpick ? Apply some thermal paste on the pipes ?