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Thermalright SI-120 upside down?


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hi folks,

 

been pondering over a new slightly bigger case with a view to water cooling in the next couple of months. but for now ill need to keep the air cooling working!

 

the case that caught my eye is the lian-li v-1000 plus.

 

as the motherboard will be upside down in this case, does anyone know if the thermalright si-120 will work ok when its upside down (it doesnt look as if it would fit the other way up because of the heatpipes hitting the ram). im not sure if i imagined it, but i think i read that the si-120 is only for use with the big heatpipes at the bottom, something to do with gravity perhaps?. does that make sense?

 

has anyone used this heatsink in the v1000 case and if so did it work ok?

 

thanks muchly :)

 

EDIT: i think i may have posted this in the wrong section.

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Just checked the thermalright.com site about this and I couldn't find anything about this install position for the SI-120, however I found something about the old SP-97 that might give some insight about how the heatpipes should work best:

 

sp97dim.gif

 

Heatpipes have a gas inside that changes state (gas/liquid) and between changes is how it takes more heat from one side of the heatsink to the other. I think gravity gets in the way of this gas/liquid movement inside the heatpipes. That graph shows the best position for the heatpipes to work, but I think it is not as mandatory as with the SP97/94 as it is with the new heatsinks. Email thermalright about this, they probably will share the information.

 

Good luck

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thanks sorrento! :)

 

i have emailed them and ill post my findings here.

 

i just double checked the instructions that came with it and it doesnt mention anything. now if i could just find where i read about it.

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Yeah, I remember a change in their design from the old SP94/97 heatsinks to the new XP-90/120 type ones, and one review mentioning how the position didn't matter now. I bet that if the motherboard is horizontal the heatsink would perform a little bit better, but this diference is now minimal I guess.

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Heatpipes work best when the ends are "up" and the loop is "down" since capillary action is the source of their function.

So this image from the old SP94/97 was wrong?

 

sp97dim.gif

I am not sure if its a "capillary action" what the heatpipes do, I read it was more of a change in state of the substance inside, and the movement was made by the change in density.

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My explanation follows exactly what the image shows. The X is over the one with the "loop" at the top which is bad.

 

The material in the heatpipe undergoes a phase change from "liquid to gas" but uses capillary action to move the liquid back to the "hot" side.

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The material in the heatpipe undergoes a phase change from "liquid to gas" but uses capillary action to move the liquid back to the "hot" side.

Interesting, I couldn't find how this return process works anywhere and so far you are the first one who have explained it... you are right I believe.

 

As for the position which is best to serve this effect, are you still sure the U is even better than the C? Btw, sorry for using so few words to describe each one, just remember the "me no english" clause :tooth:

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Actually, they amended their information to keep from losing sales.

 

Heatpipes work best when the ends are "up" and the loop is "down" since capillary action is the source of their function.

 

ExRoadie,

 

ill post my new temps when ive got the case built up. it should be tuesday or wednesday this week. it will be interesting to see what happens.

 

i think to make it a fair comparison, ill turn all the case fans off and take the side panel off. currently, doing that gives me an idle temp of 28/29c and a load temp of around 37/38c.

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Didn't mean to confuse the issue. The C position is the preferred as shown in the image.

 

If you have to use a "vertical" position it's better in the U position.

Interesting, I couldn't find how this return process works anywhere and so far you are the first one who have explained it... you are right I believe.

 

As for the position which is best to serve this effect, are you still sure the U is even better than the C? Btw, sorry for using so few words to describe each one, just remember the "me no english" clause :tooth:

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