Cooling ChoicesWhen it comes to Phase Change cooling, two such solutions would be the Vapochill and the Prometeia (which I will be using), the Prometeia Mach II to be exact.
Very briefly the Mach II is made up of three important parts - namely the compressor (a Danfrost NL11F using R134a refrigerant), the condenser or heat exchanger and the evaporator which is the part with the copper plate that actually mounts onto the processor itself.
With the right ambient temperatures, the evaporator on the Prometeia Mach II can reach – 51’C. Its bigger brother the Mach II GT can go even lower than this though. We’ll be overclocking at around -12’C to work out just how far we can push the FX-57 processor.
Sure there are other options as well, like Dry Ice, Liquid Nitrogen or building your own triple cascade. However, these commercial units are far more practical and can actually be run 24/7 all be it with a slight dip in your monthly electricity bill.
InstallationNow it comes to installation of the phase change and one of the first things to do is to mount the supplied heating element on the back of the motherboard where the processor would be.
The heating element is to prevent any moisture from forming on the rear of the motherboard. This element is covered by an acrylic backplate. Then the CPU is placed in the motherboard and a front CPU bracket is screwed into the back plate.
The evaporator is then attached to this CPU bracket to complete the installation. Sealing string is also placed between the back plate and the motherboard, CPU bracket and the board and the evaporator and the CPU bracket to ensure that the housing is 100% air tight.
