Make cheap coolers great again

15. November 2024, 19:32

Hannover,

Germany

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Overheating problems with the Gamma have been reported many times in the community. However, it may not yet be well known that the problem has been identified and will be fixed with the next firmware. So it's not just a matter of retesting, but also of making an affordable cooler compatible with the Bitaxe.

3D printed adapter for the Bitaxe Ultra/Supra/Gamma

The standard yellow cooler remains a crutch rather than a functional cooler. But the 40x40mm aluminum cooler is much more massive and it is also cheap. Depending on where you buy it, it costs just $4-10 and can be used with any 40mm fan. Of course, it should be mentioned again that the Noctua NF-A4x20 should be preferred to achieve the best performance and noise level.

This cooler comes with steel pins for mounting, which works well with a lot of finger sensitivity and swearing. The connection is very fragile, the cooler can twist when mounted and possibly damage the ASIC on the Bitaxe. Likewise, the ASIC processor on the Bitaxe can be damaged if the mounting screws are tightened too much.

For this reason, a 3D adapter would make a lot of sense, even if the geometry of the cooler is not particularly optimal. The 3D adapter can also be used to maintain a safe distance to the ASIC, ensuring a secure attachment without the cooler being able to be twisted after mounting.

Printing the adapter is not without its problems due to the geometry. You should print the adapter at least with PETG, because of the temperature but also strength, because the construction is quite filigree. To ensure that the adapter can be printed cleanly and with a good fit, it should be printed with supports, especially in a mix of PLA & PETG.

The adapter fits, even if it may initially appear that it is too small. The fit has been extremely precisely engineered and optimized for pressure. Simply slide the adapter carefully into the mounting rails of the cooler. As straight as possible, slowly and with a little pressure – it is possible that some plastic will be milled off the cooler, that's fine. This ensures that the cooler sits firmly in the adapter without slipping or falling out after assembly.

The adapter is available for free download and can be printed for private and non-commercial purposes.

Aluminum cooler 40x40mm in size 3D printed adapter for the Bitaxe

Test

What is the best way to test the adapter? Right, by mounting the 40x40 cooler on Bitaxe Gamma without a fan on the OC'axe.

Semi passive cooling Bitaxe Gamma on OC'axe

The fit and contact pressure are so perfect that it is possible to overclock the Gamma even to 625 Mhz at 1.2 volts without any problems. If you consider that the temperature measurement bug is still present in the 2.3.0 firmware and will be fixed in the next update, that's really a super good result.

The cooler was not tested with the fan and adapter for the time being. What works semi-passively is guaranteed to work perfectly with active cooling on the cooler as well.

King of hearts the “Ötzi”

The adapter has also been adapted for the king of hearts, ‘Ötzi’. Unfortunately, the normal version does not fit because of the distance to the ASIC and simply has too much contact pressure, which can damage the ASIC. Here, the safety distance to the ASIC had to be increased slightly.

The print file can be downloaded here for free.