Thermalright SI-128 SE : InstallationThe default mounting gear for Intel S775 consists of a single bracket, no back plate, it uses push pins and it snaps the SI-128 in place in only a few minutes;
While motherboard removal is not strictly necessary, for reaching those push pins underneath the heatsink, it can be much easier to do so.
The SI-128 can be orientated in steps of 90° but depending on the capacitors around the CPU socket, size of the northbridge heatsink and proximity of the memory slots on the board, you will have one or two possibilities.
The fan mounting clips have the same restriction as those of the Ultra-120, you need a open bridged fan in order for them to snap correctly in place.
The theoretical advantage of the fan set to blow down onto the mainboard is additional airflow of the motherboard components, north bridge and memory sticks, but since the air which is send this way is heated by the SI-128 is can actually have a negative effect if your case doesn’t have abundant cooling. If you have several large fans for in/out-take you will experience a positive effect of the SI-128’s fan orientation, if you have a silent setup however with only few slow case fans, warm air will be circulated inside the case, instead of expelled towards the rear as is the case with most “tower” design heatsinks.
Mounting the GlobalWin NCB required use of rubber bands and strips, but in the end it fit nicely:
Thermalright SI-128 SE : Installation – The new mounting gearAfter our first test results with the SI-128 came in, these were average at best, we discussed this with Thermalright and it was suggested that mounting pressure might have a larger role on performance than first expected. The Intel push pins are designed for heatsinks weighing approximately the same as the original reference HSF. With the SI-128 however we have 510gr + ~200gr (fan), which is more than double of the reference design; this extra weight will surely have an effect on the plastic push pins;
So Thermalright was kind enough to send over the mounting gear of their latest
IFX-14 monster heatsink. The bracket and back plate is universal for all current CPU platforms (Intel S775/ AMD AM2) and works for most of Thermalright current CPU heatsink line-up.
Below you can see the complete tool kit for all platforms:
For the Intel S775 the amount of gear needed is reduced to:
First step is to prepare the back plate, this took less than a minute:
Then install the small brackets on the mainboard; while these brackets can be placed to have the heatsink facing either way in 90° steps, on the ASRock motherboard we were limited as the brackets interfered with the capacitors around the CPU socket. We placed electrical tape on of them as it was touching the bracket.
Since the final mounting plate and screw is situated under the main body of the SI-128 we had to use the small wrench Thermalright included:
There is no doubt that with this mounting method the pressure on the CPU is increased, we’ll find out in the performance tests if it actually made a difference or not.
regarding fan tests: yes I have one lined up, no ETA though