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Pictures, and a few words about a giga-quad, crazy-cool, big typhoon duo - Page 2

By Greig Mackenzie

(See also, Part 2: Custom DQ6/TTBT Heatsink Fan Duct Mod)

Backplate preparation

8. Peel away the adhesive covering of the Mylar shim.

9. 'Don't worry, there's no foam'. Adhere Mylar directly to the back-plate (leave it off all together if you want, but I recommend it as this does help the back-plate to fit snugly against the 'Crazy Cool' heat-spreader-see step X). Also, if you are wondering, there is a 'foam' (of sorts, I believe) between the heat-spreader and the back of the motherboard, so I see no reason to include more, besides, it's too thick.

10. With Mylar attached, the back-plate would be pressed hard against the motherboard tray.

11. Metal washer doesn't quite cut it.

12. Ah, Nylon washer, perfect... or not. When this shot was taken, all was deemed well, however, the (incorrect) round-head M3 bolt was overlooked. It protrudes a good 1+mm above the back-plate. Nevertheless, as you will see later, it all fits together perfectly.

13. See, metal washer. 14. See, nylon washer.

15. To relieve the bolt heads, nylon washers were added to the motherboard standoffs. The rear connectors still fit the case back-panel cut-out without problem. They were a little low anyway, probably due to the slight warp in the board (I suspect 'Crazy Cool' and all the copper heat-pipes and radiators).

TIP: Drilling relief holes in the motherboard tray directly behind the bolt heads has been suggested by an 'Xtreme Systems' forum member and will be performed next build, although individual holes may be replaced by the removal of an entire section behind the CPU, in conjunction with other open sections for cable management. Drilling sufficient sized holes (6-8mm dia. depending on drilling accuracy) eliminates the need to use washers on the motherboard tray standoffs and reduces the potential for shorting the motherboard

Placing a sheet or pieces of non-conductive material between your MB tray and the bolt heads will also serve the purpose of reducing any chance of short-circuiting your motherboard. It may lift the MB slightly (directly behind the CPU socket) though.

16. Motherboard standoff fitted to the motherboard with the nylon washer in place.

17. DO NOT DO THIS: Fit 4 x 6mm M3 Nylon stand-offs, not metal (from your local electronics store). Get the stand-offs, but don't fit them yet. This was a mistake and will be rectified shortly... err, see step 21.

18. If you ignored my instructions, you would fit the back-plate and bolt assembly to the reverse of the motherboard and hand tighten the metal stand-offs, with washers, to the motherboard.

TIP: Look at those fragile pins just waiting to be broken (squint). Help reduce the repercussions from accidents and carelessness--INSERT YOUR CPU SOCKET PROTECTOR INSERT that came with your motherboard, once you have removed your CPU and before embarking on these adventures. Be warned! Apparently I did manage to break a CPU socket pin somewhere during this whole process.

19. If you continued, you would notice that there is a slight gap between 'Crazy Cool' and the Mylar beneath the back-plate. I wanted a good snug fit so that the back-plate and heat-spreader would work together to stiffen this area of the board.

20. See, there is a gap.

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