Radiical Chipset Block

Radiical Chipset Block
Date Log; March 01, 2006

Like most other computer users we have noticed that chipset temperatures have risen remarkably quickly in recent years with the advent of faster CPU's and newer motherboards. Not only have these temperatures increased but the solution to these temperatures has become more and more irritating. I am talking about the little annoying chipset HSF fans that seem to be sub-standard in both sound level and thermal performance. I might point out here that I have a particular dislike to noise emanating from my computer. The reason I became involved with water cooling some years ago was as a direct result of putting up with an air cooled HSF that I think was called a CAK38. This thing whistled and screamed hour after hour. I am sure you have owned a CPU or chipset HSF such as this in the past. Anyway to avoid facing another CAK38 type situation I have, for some time, replaced these fan driven beauties with a variety of water cooled products from both Silverprop and Asetek with very satisfying results.

Now we are able to offer a chipset block that we have tested and are happy with. We have chosen a low profile but very solid design which has an internal micro channel structure. Having such a low profile means this block is able to fit some mother boards which,previously, would not accept a chipset block.

Features

This chipset block features a solid brass upper with a chrome plated finish and a micro channel profile in its copper base plate. The two barb fitting points are G1/4 tapped so that most sizes of barbs can be readily fitted. In standard form the chipset comes with two 10mm compression fittings to facilitate fitting to the Evolution Series kits. The chipset block can also be fitted with 3/8" and 1/2" fittings so its application to water cooling systems becomes universal. The base plate footprint is 40 mm diameter so it can fit within very tight confines. A full fitting kit comprising of mounting plate, shown above fitted to the chipset block, and fitting screws is included along with a small tube of thermal paste. A small metal backing late is also included to support the motherboard from potential flexure under the pressure of the mounting screws .

Application

Most chipset blocks are designed to fit motherboards with holes through the board. This limitation applies to the greater number of chipset's on the market in that they will not mount on what I like to call the "hook in the motherboard" type designs. Some chipset manufacturers have produced spring holding devices for "hook in motherboard" applications, however, some of these have been far from satisfactory in use. As a result a prospective purchaser is left with a number of very simple decision. They can buy one of the spring retainer chipset block mounting systems mentioned above and then Epoxy the chipset to the motherboard, or tie the chipset block down with cable ties or do without a chipset block altogether.

This chipset block follows the same trend set by most manufacturers for "through the motherboard" hole mounting of the block. However, during the course of our testing we came upon a very simple way of mounting this chipset block to a "hook in motherboard" type situation.

Handy Hint One

In our testing we have found that with a small modification the block mounting screws can be easily modified to suit either mounting system. To modify the mounting kit all that is required is simply to bend the retaining screw into a hook shape. Shown below is the type of modification that can be done to adapt the chipset block.

In the picture above the hooked retainers have been made to adapt an Asetek chipset block these are shown with the thinner mounting screw for our chipset block. In this picture it can be seen that the center section of our chipset block mounting screw does not have any threaded area. This makes the job of bending the screw into shape, similar to the Asetek examples, a very easy task. The bent sections can then be slipped under the hooks on the motherboard and when the thumbnut is tightened the block is pulled down onto the chipset to form firm contact.

Handy Hint Two

If you are anything like me small screws leave me all fingers and thumbs so I decided to reduce handling on the fitting screw rod by converting it into a screw. You can see in the picture above that a rod has been used to maximize potential for fitting the block in as many circumstances as possible. To avoid rotation of the nut behind the motherboard I simply screwed the nut onto the end of the rod until it just covered the end (see picture below) and then added a single pinhead sized drop of Loctite 243 onto the threaded end and nut.

Now I have no fear of the nut being displaced and if I ever need to remove the nut ( not that I think I would) I can simply cut the rod and finish with a new nut.

Motherboards

Okay, so we have our two mounting systems figured out so now it is time to answer the most pressing question of what motherboards will the block fit. For some time the most asked email question has been will this chipset block fit the DFI range of boards. Narrowing down the question to specifics " will it fit the DFI NF4 Ultra-D board". The answer looks as though that would be a very guarded yes. It is close but it does fit with about a millimeter to spare. (Please note that the block has not been fully tightened down so there may be a little more space available when that is done).

Next it is on to specifics. Due to the huge range of motherboards on the market we simply cannot confirm every motherboard fitting. To assist the potential purchaser in answering the question of fitting to their particular motherboard we have supplied the mounting hole dimensions. The mounting plate has mounting screw holes with the following dimensions. If you were to view the first picture of the chipset block above you will see that the minimum screw hole distance in the mounting plate is center to center 55 mm minimum the maximum distance is 76 mm. Therefore motherboards having mounting holes between the two dimension given will work with this chipset block. The overall distance end to end of the mounting plate, this determines potential component contact around the block, is 85 mm.

Finally. tubing space which is shown in the two pictures above would be sufficient for 1/2" tubing.

This chipset block can be found on our blocks page here.