Silent OTES & MOSFET Thermal Solution
晨怡热管
2008-2-3 21:46:23
Since the IC7-MAX3 series, the OTES (Outside Thermal Exhaust System) cooling solution has been Abit�s trademark for improving thermal management thus increasing overclock-ability and stability. Then there was this Dual OTES system introduced with the recent Fatal1ty motherboard series. Thanks to Abit Engineering, the AW8-MAX motherboard features a very unique OTES know as the Silent OTES. It�s called Silent OTES because it doesn�t come with any cooling fan or moving parts. All other OTES before this had cooling fans installed onto it which was then controlled by �Guru. Look carefully how perfectly the copper heatpipe is bent to provide maximum clearance for the CPU cooler.
The Silent OTES is specifically designed to silently cool the 955X Intel Northbridge chipset. It uses Abit-designed heatpipe technology to transfer heat from the Northbridge to the copper fins of the �Collection Module�. From there, heat is exhausted outside the case by air flowing from the CPU fan. Nevertheless, you may run into some cooling trouble when the CPU is being water cooled. It is advised to install a standard 80mm fan over the CPU area if the CPU is water cooled. As you can see, the shroud is made of aluminium and as the word �ABIT Q-OTES� embossed onto it.
The Collection Module is secured onto the motherboard by four screws which can be removed if you prefer.
Here are some pictures of the Silent OTES module removed from the motherboard. The Northbridge heatsink is made of aluminium with a copper base, which is fastened securely with screws onto the motherboard. Abit also placed some dampening sponges on the copper base to prevent the heatsink from wiggling. As stated earlier, Abit uses thermal tape material instead of typical thermal compound found on most heatsinks. A closer look at the Collection Module reveals that pure red copper fins are angled for optimum air flow that utilizes cooling air from the CPU fan to deliver excellent cooling minimum noise thanks to the larger surface area. The last picture shows the aluminium shroud being removed from the Collection Module.
The MOSFET Thermal Solution is also another integrated technology apart with the Silent OTES. Although the pictures on the packaged showed blue coloured heatsinks being used, it appears that the actual MOSFET heatsinks are in silver-aluminium colour. This solution also works best if an active air-cooled CPU cooler is used. Yet again, it will be a problem for water cooling enthusiasts as we find the PWM temperature exceeding 60�C when tested with our water cooling setup. We strongly suggest installing a cooling fan over the CPU area if you intend to water cool the CPU on this motherboard. The MOSFETs are cooled by a total of four aluminium heatsinks that is held in place using plastic spring-type clamps. Upon removing the heatsink, we found thermal pad being used to transfer heat from the PWM to the heatsinks. Since the motherboard comes with mount holes for the heatsinks, it would be welcoming news for overclockers who plan to fabricate water blocks for the PWM.
Basically this is how heatpipe technology operates. So we let the picture do all the talking.
Since the AW8-MAX comes with a very innovative cooling solution, we decided to record the temperature readings with and without the CPU fan. Note that the CPU was water cooled and we installed a medium powered cooling fan over the CPU area to simulate an air cooled CPU cooler. The voltages were set to 1.5 vCore, 1.8 vDimm and 1.6 vMCH. The motherboard was tested in a standard SilverStone TJ05 chassis. Below are the results:
Although the System (Northbridge) temperature was kept pretty cool (with or without the CPU fan), the PWM temperatures skyrocketed to above 72� C when the CPU fan was turned OFF. It looks like the System temperature gained little advantage with the CPU fan installed. We find the MOSFET Thermal Solution to work its best when the CPU fan is turned on as the PWM load temperatures close to the temperatures recorded when the system was idling without the fan running. Most users with their CPU water cooled might get into trouble with the PWM overheating. Things get a little out of control when we bumped the voltages which caused the PWM to reach close to 80� C! So if you are running this motherboard with the CPU water cooled, make sure you have a cooling fan installed over the CPU area to keep the PWM cool.
责任编辑: banye
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