Asus RT-N16 cooling mod(s)

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Masterman
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Joined: 24 Aug 2009
Posts: 2070
Location: South Florida

PostPosted: Tue Jun 01, 2010 12:34    Post subject: Asus RT-N16 cooling mod(s) Reply with quote
Ok, first off, sorry for the quality, but all I have is an iPhone.


Basically the CPU heatsink is a for a north bridge IC chip on a motherboard. It is 12v (I have it running at ~8v via a riostat due to noise. It is attached to the BCM 4718 CPU with a mixture of Arctic silver thermal paste #5 and arctic silver thermal adhesive. The heatsink itself is copper and the fan has a blue LED in it for power indication.

It is fairly cheap:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103155


The green heat sinks are designed for nVidia GPU's and come as a kit that winds up being perfect for the RT-N16. The Extra ones I had left over went on to the USB and LAN port housings (I know, kindly silly). They are also attached via Arctic Silver thermal compound and adhesive mixture.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835887017


So far, it has been working great. I can literally touch the heatsinks with my fingers when the router is under full load and not get burnt at all. They are probably staying under 130 degrees F.

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redhawk0
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Joined: 04 Jan 2007
Posts: 11563
Location: Wherever the wind blows- North America

PostPosted: Tue Jun 08, 2010 20:25    Post subject: Reply with quote
OK...I finally got all my parts to finish my mod.

I used DDR RAM heat sinks for the RAM chips, and 2cm X 2cm sinks for the radio and switch.

The fan is 50mm X 50mm X 10mm so it fits INSIDE the case. The fan guard is external....the fan is blowing out (or up).

The fan control circuit is very simple...(this link provides the basis for the circuit...I just use components that I have laying around, as indicated below)

http://www.overclockers.com/small-and-simple-fan-voltage-regulator/

a 2n3904 NPN transistor and a 25K 10-turn pot. Clockwise speeds up the fan (will supply up to 11.3V) and Counter Clockwise will reduce fan speed until the fan's low 7V threashold is reached....I like keeping mine in the 7.5-8V range....it still produces enough air movement yet it is whisper quiet.

Hope it helps someone....

redhawk

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redhawk0
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Joined: 04 Jan 2007
Posts: 11563
Location: Wherever the wind blows- North America

PostPosted: Tue Jun 08, 2010 20:26    Post subject: Reply with quote
One more pic....the router assembled.

redhawk

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ctbear
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Joined: 01 Aug 2011
Posts: 5

PostPosted: Mon Aug 01, 2011 6:54    Post subject: Reply with quote
redhawk0 wrote:
OK...I finally got all my parts to finish my mod.

I used DDR RAM heat sinks for the RAM chips, and 2cm X 2cm sinks for the radio and switch.

The fan is 50mm X 50mm X 10mm so it fits INSIDE the case. The fan guard is external....the fan is blowing out (or up).

The fan control circuit is very simple...(this link provides the basis for the circuit...I just use components that I have laying around, as indicated below)

http://www.overclockers.com/small-and-simple-fan-voltage-regulator/

a 2n3904 NPN transistor and a 25K 10-turn pot. Clockwise speeds up the fan (will supply up to 11.3V) and Counter Clockwise will reduce fan speed until the fan's low 7V threashold is reached....I like keeping mine in the 7.5-8V range....it still produces enough air movement yet it is whisper quiet.

Hope it helps someone....

redhawk


May I ask...where did you get those blue chipset heatsinks? They look exactly like the ones on my Asus x58 mobo...
ryandigweed0
DD-WRT Novice


Joined: 26 Jan 2012
Posts: 17

PostPosted: Fri Feb 03, 2012 23:59    Post subject: Reply with quote
Great mod, thanks for the high quality pics, so i can better understand the circuitry. Smile Will do then when i get a new router some day Very Happy

This router is really a beast! !
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