[Michael Dornisch] was surprised to discover that the primary processor of the Raspberry Pi reaches about 56 degrees Celsius (about 133 degrees F) while streaming video over the network. He believed it may assist the durability of the gadget if he was able to awesome things off a bit. however why stop with just the processor? He added warm sinks to the SoC, Ethernet/USB chip, as well as voltage regulator.
From his parts bin he grabbed a little warm sink that was most likely utilized on a graphics card. After measuring the three chips with his digital calipers he cut out the footprint he needed, resulting in three smaller warm sinks. We didn’t recognize that thermal compound has sufficient gripping power to hold the sinks in location without any type of mechanical fastener, however obviously it does. [Michael] mentions that it’s possible to utilize other adhesives, like JB Weld. What’s important is that you utilize something (ie: thermal compound or a liquid adhesive) to prevent any type of air space from coming between the chip surface as well as the aluminum.
He determined the result as a 17.3 degree C (31 degree F) decrease in temperature. We looked around as well as it seems there’s no interior temperature sensor on the Broadcom chip so these surface readings will have to suffice. Do you believe this will prolong the life of the board if it is used regularly to play back high high quality video? We already understand that these temperatures are within the specs for the hardware.
[Thanks Simon]