Spray painting the CPU Heatsink

[BarryLlewellyn]

Hey, I'm gonna be doing some modding to my PC soon (Cooler Master 310 case at the moment. Getting a Z11 Plus in the next few weeks). One of the mods I'm considering to do is spray painting the cpu heatsink. Its the one that you pick as an extra when buying the PC. (The only air cooled one (triple copper heatpipe)). Here's a link if your unfamiliar with it: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Titan-Unive...d=1366217316&sr=1-5&keywords=cpu+cooler+titan . I know that spray painting it will greatly effect the heat dissipation as the paint will act as an insulator, so I'm thinking of spray painting the top, and then tilting the can at a very strong angle so it will only just about paint the tips of each layer of metal on the cooler. I haven't seen many people do this before, so it'll be an interesting project. Any tips/ideas welcome!

 

[tom_gr7]

why not just get a CPU cooler that is already the colour you want?

 

[Corfate]

Personally, i wouldn't go anywhere near anything that has to dissapate heat with paint!

I'd have to agree with Tom unfortunately (Hey tommy!), get one thats already that colour

 

[BarryLlewellyn]

I know, getting one that's the right colour seems like the more obvious option, but I already have the cooler, and it makes my system look like a mess because of its ugly colour. Have you ever felt your heatsink while running something like prime95? for an hour? The top fins are never hot. Go down to the bottom ones, and they can be pretty damn hot! So if I paint nothing but the top fin, there shouldn't be a problem in my opinion.. Even in the worst situation, where it does effect my temps, I can always sand it back down I still haven't had the time to disassemble my PC and get paint etc. but when I do I'll run some tests and see does it do anything in terms of performance.

 

[halox]

If you are keen to get this done there is a way to do it and improve the cooling performance of the heat sink. Black is better at absorbing and expelling heat. If you spray paint it you will reduce its efficiency due to the thickness of the paint. Depending on the coat thickness and the paint used.

A way to get the black look and improve its cooling efficiency would be to get it Anodising black. This is an easy thing to do. Give a few sheet metal companies in your area a call. If they have a plating shop they may have the Sulphuric acid and black dye you need. I would not imagine it will cost that much. Maybe £10, the equivalent cost of a good thermally protected tin of black paint. You would need to give them it for a day or two though.