Danger Den Maze 4-1 GPU Guide

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Danger Den Maze 4-1 GPU Guide
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Fancy installing some major cooling for that hot little graphics card? You've come to the right place. But hang on installing a peltier is dangerous? Sure, if you have problems installing a new graphics card you might want to skip over to PC World and buy some neon lighting instead. But if you are comfortable building a computer system, have some experience with water cooling or can follow simple guides, read on for some Blue Peter Danger Den style loving...

This is basically a walk through for fitting a Danger Den Maze4 – 1 Tec Block Kit but with a bit of common sense could be adapted in most instances where the Neoprene foam is to be cut free hand for most other GPU tec blocks.

OK, lets first take a look at whatÙs included in a Danger Den Maze4 – 1 Tec Block Kit and the items that will be needed for the installation.

Included in the Maze4 –1 Tec Block kit are:-

1x Maze4 –1 Tec GPU block and copper cold base plate
1x 80watt Potted Pelt
1x GPU Hold Down Kit & Allen Key
1x Pre-cut 1/8” thick Neoprene Foam Gasket
1x Pre-cut 3/8” thick Neoprene Foam Gasket
1x Sachet of Dielectric Silicon Grease
1x Lucite Hold Down Brace

An 80w peltier draws about 7amps from the 12volt rail of a power supply. If your PSU is a sub 420w jobbie, you'll need to invest in something with a little more meat before you start you peltier adventure! If you are in the market for a new power supply it's best to get one that allows the adjustment of all the rails - such as the Antec Truecontrol - or even better buy a PC Power and Cooling PSU.

Other items that will be required are:-

Thermal compound (IÙll be using Artic Silver 5 and Artic Silver Ceramique)
Sharp scissors or craft knife
Male or female Molex connector and a couple of pins for connecting the pelt up.
…..ohh a steady hand and a little bit of patience is always good.

As you can see I will be using a Hercules 9800XT and a custom polished Maze4 –1 block.
Firstly start off by carefully dismantling the stock card cooler and heat sink from the reverse side of the card (so thereÙs the Warranty gone eeeek) and place it on the bench, core side facing up.

Take the thinner 1/8” thick Neoprene foam gasket but donÙt peel of the protective backing paper just yet as youÙll need to do a bit of trimming to it first, and lay it sticky side down on the card over the GPU core.

You will probably find, depending on which GFX card you are using that resistors and the like will be stopping the gasket making good contact with the pcb board, so a bit of trimming is needed here using either a craft knife or scissors.
Take your time and try to get a good neat fit - it'll help reduce any chance of condensation. Once your satisfied with your handy work and the gasket is able to lie on the card making good contact, you can peel off the protective backing paper and stick it firmly to the card. Push down to remove any air pockets from under the foam.

Here's one I made earlier!

ItÙs now time to assemble the GPU block itself and mount the pelt in between the block and cold plate.
Start by undoing the 4 Allen bolts that are holding the cold plate to the base of GPU and remove the cold plate all together.

At this stage it's very important you find out which side of the pelt is hot and which is cold. To do this you will need to hold the pelt between your finger and thumb while touching the red wire and the black wire to 12v power for a split second. If you don't fell safe doing this, call over a love one and ask them to help you out with a hot and cold test ;-)

While holding the black wire of the pelt to a black line on a powered Molex connector, literally brush the red wire of the pelt against the yellow line on the Molex connector. This will be enough to determine which side of the pelt heats up and which side gets cold. Once you have determined this mark either an H on the hot side or C on the cold side with a pencil for future reference.

I found it easier to jam the Black wire into the Black line on the Molex connector with a match stick leaving 2 hands free to literally brush the Red pelt wire against the Yellow line on the live Molex a couple of times.....

Note: only brush the red wire against the yellow powered Molex line for a split second as permanent damage could be done to the pelt if this is done for prolonged period without adequate cooling

Now lay your GPU block on its back and apply a thin layer of Artic Silver 5 to the hot side of the pelt.....

......and a thin layer of Artic Silver Ceramique to the cold side and lay the pelt onto the GPU block so the hot side of the pelt is in contact with the GPU block and the cold side of the pelt is facing up, making sure to have the red and black wires of the pelt are oriented for the easiest hook up to power later.

You can now lay the copper cold plate on top sandwiching the pelt in between the block and cold plate. Tighten down with the 4 Allen bolts in a diagonal/corner to corner motion, not too tight but sufficient to hold the pelt firmly in place. You can also screw in the 2 threaded posts from the hold down kit into the appropriate mounting holes for your type of card on the GPU block.

I took this opportunity to cable braid the red and black pelt wires and to add a male Molex connector for hooking the GPU block up to the PSU once the card is installed into you system.

Next up, add a thin layer of Artic Silver to the GPU core like so.

Follow this up by packing around the core with Dielectric Grease (prevents moisture condensation where it's not wanted) taking care to fill all other holes around the edge of the GPU core shim and any other holes or cutting mistakes in the Neoprene gasket that may not be in use.

Now pay attention grasshopper. You need to take the thicker 3/8” neoprene gasket and match it up to the first and trim down accordingly for protruding resistors etc, justas you did with the first gasket.

Another tip is to cut 2 grooves into the neoprene with your craft knife for the wires from the pelt to lie in which can also be packed with a little splodge of Dielectric Grease.

Once your happy with the trimming and fit, you can peel off the protective backing paper and stick it on top of the thinner gasket. Again make sure to press down firmly getting rid off all air pockets.

When your satisfied the thicker layer is stuck firmly on top of the thinner layer, you can smear a liberal amount of Dielectric Grease to the inner edge of the pre-cut hole and offer up the GPU Block so that it is sitting on top of the GPU core correctly. Pack up any gaps between the gasket and the cold plate with liberal amounts of grease so no air is able to come into contact with the copper cold plate or peltier.

At this point your installation may now differ from the card I have here. If you donÙt plan on using any heat sink on the reverse of the card, you can flip the card over and stick the last piece of 3/8” pre-cut Neoprene onto the back of the GPU core. Basically this means both sides of the card are completely covered, sealed and almost ready for action.

A good safety tip is to run a bead of Dielectric Grease around the entire outer edge of the Neoprene Gasket with your finger where it meets up with the PCB board on both front and back sides of the card.

Your now ready to start adding the rest of the mounting hardware and hold down device to the 2 threaded posts sticking through the card from the GPU block . First slide on 1 of the T shaped nylon washers followed by a spring followed by another T washer and repeat on the other threaded post.

Now you can slide on the Lucite brace followed by a normal nylon washer on each post and finally the brass thumb screws. Tighten down equally so that the block is firmly secured - finger tight is fine.

Phew. If you have made it this far, give yourself a big pat on the back, stand back and admire the work! Your Danger Den Maze4-1 Tec block should now look something like this - ready to plumb up to your system. You will need to monitor it very closely for any signs of moisture that could build up as the block goes below ambient temperature. Fingers crossed the Dielectric Grease will do the job. The only other thing you should be aware of is the heat a peltier kicks out. On a normal watercooling system if the pump dies the machine will continue to run until the machine eventually overheats and hangs. The system will not power off. If you have a peltier running in your system, this will continue to heat up until it melts something, possibly causing a major leakage. So be careful not to leave your machine running for long unattended periods. Chances are something will break when you are not around!

Now that's a cooling system.

All that remains is to fire up 3DMark 2003 and break some world records!!! Enjoy and good luck for a trouble free installation.

Special thanks to Paul aka Coolmiester. You can purchase all of the products in this feature from Coolercases.co.uk - the UK's number one watercooling specialist.

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