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nate you ever thought of doing nickel plated versions? i would be interested on those... 

nickle plating is a bad idea
it doesn't transfer heat at the same rate, also you use electrologist to get the nickle on the copper. Basically insert copper and nickle into water and run some electricity threw it. After some time has passed it will begin to peal off. because of that it's better to just use copper
 

nateman_doo

I wouldn't say its bad, it just has to be done right.

I wouldn't say done right either because it also wears away. and if some of the nickle gets in the inside of the block it can affect the chemical properties of the distilled water, all in all it's a hassle for nearly no gain, just isn't worthwhile. If you could make it all out of nickle it may work but for that kind of money i would just make the jump to silver.
 
Also nickle is a mix of metals because of this it's nearly impossible to get "Pure" nickle, Silver or copper is another matter entirely.
edit 2: decided to add proof of this and reference what "Pure" nickle is generally used for in addition to how it would react as I stated. see link below
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raney_nickel
 
So in closing the movement being made by several CPU heat sink companies is more of a hoax to trick people into using an inferior metal that in the end would only give worse overall heat transfer rates because of the metals being forced to pass heat at different ratios. Ultimately the nickle should remain at a higher temp before the copper can leach the heat away. This would make the chip or chips in contact with the nickle get higher overall temps especially in the initial moments of a heat spike or even worse when a is unit first powering on.

oh i also felt obligated to take this one step farther, by giving you an exparement you can try at home to see
just how bad an idea it really is. take a aluminum can and expose it to open flame, if it gets hot enough it will just melt and let out a poisonous gas do NOT IN HAIL THE FUMES!!!!! so that's 1-4 parts per million that you would be melting on your chips. And that's ONLY if it went threw the process perfectly when usually it isn't.

nateman_doo

I still think it would be fun to try

Now that's a point i cannot argue with.... cheater :P lol

ritboliver

Work in progress

that looks sexy
 

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ritboliver

I actually like the finish on the SR-2 better :)

I can probably do the same to your CPU blocks if u want.

Wow this thread is truly impressive! I am inspired...  

ritboliver

Work in progress

 
Heh, mine looks nearly identical :D now, I had issues mounting the top VREG block due to the way the mount on the CPU block works, I couldn't get it nice and flush, are you having any similar issues?
 
H3||scr3am

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Man that looks killer....what a cool project.

Just thought Id chime in and say"looking good" Nate.
 
Hope youve made some progress on the custom mill.
 
 
 

RBIEZE

Just thought Id chime in and say"looking good" Nate.

Hope youve made some progress on the custom mill.

Thanks!  I am fixing my current mill.  The Z axis took a dump mid project.  I have 0 milling capabilities at the moment and have resorted to my old school cross-vise/drill press arrangement.
 
As for the over tightening, I can find you some washers if u want?