Serious cooling ?

[Szech]

Curious... what kind of paint did you use? I wanted to paint my heater core, and I found some high temperature paint that contained ceramic at AutoZone. Not sure that's the best stuff out there though.

Also, did you test the temperatures before and after you painted the heatsink? How much of a difference did you find? I would think that it would make a bigger difference in a passively cooled heatsink perhaps, but not in an actively cooled heatsink.

[This message has been edited by Szech (edited 07-10-2001).]

[randy48]

IMO if you want to paint a heatsink black, go to the photo store and get a bottle of camera paint! High quality, long lasting and THIN! It's more like a stain then a paint!

Thanks GEC! I think I'll give it a try this weekend http://www.sysopt.com/forum/smile.gif

[GEC]

To start off, I have been a Product and Application Engineer for many years and also a Field Service Tech for computer power systems, so this is not just off the top of my head.
My overclocked system started to have problems when the temp in my computer room got to 85F/28C. I upped the volts one notch and the CPU was solid but very HOT. Time for a better heatsink so off to the local Mom & Pop puter store and found what I needed.
I have read about heatsinks on a lot of BBS'S and I never saw any thing about the color of heatsinks. FLAT BLACK is the best for radiating heat, Heat sinks that shine are the worst. Now I know a lot of people have a GOLD this or a CHROME that but if your serious about cooling, FLAT BLACK is the only way to go. Check the radiator in your car: FLAT BLACK, Grannies cook stove: FLAT BLACK, the pot bellied stove a the Feed Store: FLAT BLACK. Why, because flat black radiates heat best and thats what radiators and stoves are supposed to do. If you plant a early garden and it looks like frost might get it, you are told to cover the plants but never use BLACK PLASTIC because it radiates heat from the earth. Enough said.
The first thing I do to my new heatsink is to paint it flat black using just enough paint to cover it making sure not to get paint on the CPU/HEATSINK surface.
I installed the heatsink and was able to lower the voltage and things are now cool.
The point to all this is why not try flat black, its worked well for about a hundred years and can be removed with paint remover if you want it off.
GEC

[krusty the klown]

Good point, Randy48!

THIN is important - you don't want to use some really thick stuff, as it will will be worse than nothing at all http://www.sysopt.com/forum/smile.gif

[GEC]

The paint I used was the cheapest I could find at Home Depot. The stuff from Auto Zone is for Very hot conditions and a heater core does not get that hot. Use the cheap stuff. A thin coat is correct and cheap spray cans do a great job. My Mobo does not have any temp sensors so I dont have a before and after temp figures other than the tip of my finger. Believe me when I say it was hot but the proof was that I could reduce the voltage and the system is solid and the tip of my finger is happy now.
GEC