Question Cooling recommendations

GC64

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What do people recommend for cooling the n64? I've seen people use copper plates over the chips along with a fan, but can't I just use the heatsinks they came with? I planned to just use the thick aluminum heatsinks provided along with a small 30mm fan run off of the 7805. Is this set up good enough to entirely cool the system?
 

Noah

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As long as you've got a decent amount of vents for airflow and decent heatsinks you don't need a fan. The N64 doesn't get hot enough to warrant a fan unless you're putting it in a tight space.
 

GC64

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As long as you've got a decent amount of vents for airflow and decent heatsinks you don't need a fan. The N64 doesn't get hot enough to warrant a fan unless you're putting it in a tight space.
Will the original 3 heatsinks that came with it work?
 

Beta

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The aluminum blocks alone won't give you meaningful cooling unless they are coupled to a heatsink like in the N64. You need a good conductive path, like copper or aluminum, with lots of surface area. You can achieve that with fins, or just a big sheet. A fan is probably overkill.
 

ShockSlayer

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I have a sheetsink in a portable with little to no vents, and the N64 doesn't crash, but it gets fairly warm by the end of the battery cycle. I maintain that the N64 doesn't need a fan, but your portable might benefit from one.
 

GC64

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I think what I'll do is get a copper sheet and put it over the three chips, then when the portable is almost done I'll run it dead to see how hot it gets, which will determine if I need a fan.
 

E64

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Im using a copper sheet and using the n64 aluminum sheet ive put the aluminum sheet on top of the copper sheet works pretty good for me :D
 

Matthew

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I used these mini heatsinks superglued to the N64 and I've never had a problem. Unless you've crammed your N64 in a tight space with almost zero ventilation then it's very unlikely that you will need a fan.
 

E64

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Dont forget about getting some thermal paste
 

Matthew

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Dont forget about getting some thermal paste
E64 makes a good point. The heat sinks I recommended came with some thermal compound on them already which is really convenient but it won't hurt to add some thermal paste.
 

fibbef

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When I bought mini heat sinks years ago for my 64, they had adhesive on the bottom so I could stick them wherever they needed to go. I was iffy about that because I didn't know how well it would conduct heat, so I scraped off all the adhesive, cleaned the sinks with rubbing alcohol, and applied my own thermal compound.

Anyone else run into the stick-on heat sinks? Know if they're as effective as using thermal compound?
 

Matthew

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When I bought mini heat sinks years ago for my 64, they had adhesive on the bottom so I could stick them wherever they needed to go. I was iffy about that because I didn't know how well it would conduct heat, so I scraped off all the adhesive, cleaned the sinks with rubbing alcohol, and applied my own thermal compound.

Anyone else run into the stick-on heat sinks? Know if they're as effective as using thermal compound?
That's the heat sinks I was referring to in my above post. I've been using them for 4+ months with no issues at all.
 

GC64

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I used these mini heatsinks superglued to the N64 and I've never had a problem. Unless you've crammed your N64 in a tight space with almost zero ventilation then it's very unlikely that you will need a fan.
Sounds like a great deal! I'm using a zn-45, so if I apply these heatsinks and put a lot of ventilation holes in the case, that'll be the only requirement for cooling I need?
 

Matthew

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Yeah it should be. Of course test your set up. I've never worked with a zn-45 before but I believe that you will be okay.
 

JoJo

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That's the heat sinks I was referring to in my above post. I've been using them for 4+ months with no issues at all.
This is good to know. I'm planning to use these in combo with a fan, but now I'm reconsidering to save space. Haven't designed my case yet, so it still could be pretty cramped in there.
 

Miceeno

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I think what I'll do is get a copper sheet and put it over the three chips, then when the portable is almost done I'll run it dead to see how hot it gets, which will determine if I need a fan.
Here's a copper sheet heat sink I threw together for one of my portables. I wasn't confident in a single piece of copper doing the job so I built a heat sink with "fins" and a larger thermal mass. I used 3 pieces that were the max size for my case, 2 pieces that were only just large enough to cover the CPU/RCP/RAM, and 2 pieces stacked high enough to make contact with the RAM. They were stacked like so:

Large
Small
Large
Small
Large
RAM Spacer
RAM Spacer

I soldered/brazed them together with a lot of flux, a lot of solder, and a Wagner heat gun. And then I attached it to the N64 with a thermal paste epoxy/adhesive.

I have had no problems with this cooling solution but I would recommend building it bigger if you can.





 
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