We are in a rut

[BikerEcho]

I haven't participated with anything besides me complaining about the kids here.
So here is a little something. Nothing exiting really.

I just fixed the 4 Sata power wires the kid cut in half. (He also cut a Sata cable in half)

I started by stripping down some of the wire insulation and then bending the wires on each other.
That makes the wire stronger when it has been soldered.


I then soldered it


Then i added some isolation tape.


I did this with all 4. Turned out nicely and took only 10 minutes.

 

[setishock]

1000 views since 08-16. Nicely done to all involved. Let's keep it up.

You know BE you might try heat shrinking tubing next time. But that was nicely done.

 

[BikerEcho]

Sounds like a good idea. But i only had isolation tape.
It might look like it doesn't hold on very well, but the loose end of it are closed together.

I also took apart a Logitech G510 keyboard. I wanted to see how the lighting works.

Here it is without it's back cover. You can see it has a white layer. That is used to help reflect the lights up to the keycaps.


Removing that layer, you can see a transparent plate with some texture were the keys are. that texture catches the light coming from the edges of the plate.
It all looks very bright, but the end result is still rather dull.


Here is the led's at the edges of the plate. There are a pair of 2 small LED's close to each corner. So 8 in total.


Smart, but not very effective

 

[setishock]

Edge lit clear panels don't really work all that well unless the panel is etched where you want the light to show up. If each key had an etched ring or dot under it, it would light up brighter and more evenly.

But for running on 5 volts from the USB port it's not all that bad.

 

[BikerEcho]

Makes sense. It's a shame they didn't do that and added an extra USB cable for more power. I still like this keyboard, but I have yet to find the perfect keyboard for me. It always has a compromise. In this case it's the light.

Sent from my SM-G920F using Computer Forums mobile app

 

[setishock]

I like my video card and don't have any problems with it. EVGA Nvidia GTX650ti.

I had to do a total tear down of my system after an 8 month absence. My AC got swapped out for a POS and there was mold and mildew every where. And worst of all in the case.

I wound up having to completely take apart the video card to clean it. It was awful.

But while I was working on it I got to thinking why are video cards hung upside down? Heat rises so it would make better sense to have the heat sink and cooling fan facing up. But since it is what it is I'm thinking of replacing just the fan. The current fan is mounted on a bracket that is an integral part of the shroud.

Being this way if I wanted to replace the fan it would have to screw directly to the heat sink. So the mounting bracket made in to the shroud either would have to be cut out or simply the shroud would have to go.

As you can see in this picture the heat sink has 4 arms that end in a claw like structure. I would venture based on their appearance, they are for mounting screws. These are not the mounts for the heat sink to this board so they are free to use.

The predrilled holes where the shroud screws down are in the same location as the screws to hold the heat sink to the chip. This simplifies the manufacturing process. But take note of the fins being trimmed on the top, bottom, and more so on the left side. So it is keyed to how it goes on.
Also take note of the "tuning fork" fins. This is the same concept as Intel uses on their OEM CPU cooler. The forks give more surface area exposed so more heat can get dumped off. The down side to that concept is the more air you force through the forks, the more they vibrate. They actually hum as the fan ramps up. They vibrate and in turn vibrate the core and the core being screwed to the board, the board acts like a loud speaker.

So having said all that my only question really at this point is 2 fold.
1> What is the spacing on the claw end screw mounts?
2> What is the spacing on the screw holes for the shroud where it screws down the heat sink?

I don't have a metric ruler is why I'm asking. If I find out the spacing I can then order an aftermarket fan for it. (There isn't enough clearance for an aftermarket cooler.)

 

[setishock]

Going for personal best.

 

[setishock]

Couldn't get it to go any lower.
I am, however looking in to moding the crap out of my video card's cooling system. I have a post up over at EVGA's forum asking about screw hole spacing and really need to wait for a reply before ordering anything.
Here's the post they're looking over.
Happy GTX 650ti user has some questions - EVGA Forums

I need that info before ordering any thing. So let's hope they respond soon.

 

[BikerEcho]

No need to get the temps lower. They are already great.

I fixed a DVD drive today.
It always wanted to be open. Whenever i closed it, it would just open again.
So i took it apart and found a foot from a keyboard inside. A student must have broken off the foot and inserted it like a CD. It must then have felled through an opening in the tray and jammed something.
That's a new one. Damn kids.

 

[setishock]

I use the Cougar Vortex fans in my case. As you can see in the pics on pages 4 & 5 of this thread around the ones in the roof there are some holes in the vent still exposed. I'm thinking of taking the fans out and either laying down some white double sided tape around where the fan sits to seal off the holes and secondarily to have something fairly soft to lay on and cut down even further the vibrations transferred to the case.

I'm thinking maybe cut a custom gasket or just go with the tape. I have some Styrofoam take out boxes that are thin. But I'm wondering if static would build up from the Styrofoam. Don't need that. What do you think?