Bowing the Apogee GT

[Cptn Vortex]

I'll add pics later, but it is actually very simple, and you don't need to mess around with grease or anything trying to hold the o ring in place.

Basically, just remove the 4 bolts holding the plate on. Then take the old o-ring out, and give the block a little cleaning (water and a toothbrush works fine) I noticed my block had some gunk stuck in the little barbs, needed a cleaning.

Next, you just set the oring around the pins on the base plate. make sure it is Around the pins, and not on top of any of them. Next, you just set the top part of the block onto the bottom, and press firmly. Slowly, with a blunt object of some sort (had a pen lid lying around that worked), work through the gap between the base plate and the top, pushing the rubber o-ring into place all the while squeezing the two parts together. after you get around each side, the ring should be in place, and there should only be a little gap between the sections. Now just put the screws back in, and tighten away! Took me no time at all, literally less than a minute. No fuss, no leaks!

[sswilson]

Originally Posted by Cptn Vortex

I'll add pics later, but it is actually very simple, and you don't need to mess around with grease or anything trying to hold the o ring in place.

Basically, just remove the 4 bolts holding the plate on. Then take the old o-ring out, and give the block a little cleaning (water and a toothbrush works fine) I noticed my block had some gunk stuck in the little barbs, needed a cleaning.

Next, you just set the oring around the pins on the base plate. make sure it is Around the pins, and not on top of any of them. Next, you just set the top part of the block onto the bottom, and press firmly. Slowly, with a blunt object of some sort (had a pen lid lying around that worked), work through the gap between the base plate and the top, pushing the rubber o-ring into place all the while squeezing the two parts together. after you get around each side, the ring should be in place, and there should only be a little gap between the sections. Now just put the screws back in, and tighten away! Took me no time at all, literally less than a minute. No fuss, no leaks!

Heh... that's the way I did it. Still took me a couple of hours to actually get it in there..... :)

I think there might be a couple of different O-Ring manufacurers for Swiftech and one of them uses some pretty stiff rubber. :)

[Scart]

Where do you get the special o-ring? i can't seem to find it.

And how do you mount it to the mobo to ensure it fits? I read in the review here it took a few tries.

[enaberif]

I stuck the black piece and the o-ring in the freezer for a couple of hours and when removed the o-ring becomes "Sticky" due to the material its made out of and then just put it in.

[Cptn Vortex]

This is all I did:

I put the new oring on the CPU plate like this:

Then as I was tightening the 4 screws, I gave the occasional nudge to the oring through the crack between the two parts. I used a small glasses flathead screwdriver for this.

[magictorch]

Thanks for the pics vortex but I'm a bit confused. I've been seriously thinking of going for the VORTEX solution this week.

Does this mean ill have to "bow" a new apogee GT block.

[sswilson]

I was under the impression that new(er) GTs would ship with the larger o-ring already installed.

From the amount of folks who've recently posted about installing the o-ring that appears to be incorrect.....

With any luck, Miso will see this post and be able to verify.

[Cptn Vortex]

Hmm the 2 I got both came with the standard oRing, but the thicker oring was in the package. If you do it my way, bowing should be simple and take less than a minute or 2.

[magictorch]

ok ill wait and see if i can find out more about whats included with the block. Once i get a wc on the cpu ill be ready to fold for the forum

[Cptn Vortex]

Also, I should point out that you do not Need to bow it. It performs great just the way it is. Bowing might knock 1 or 2 degrees, but it is not a night and day solution. If you are milking your CPU for every last MHZ, go for it, but if you just want good temps and simple, leave it stock! I only bowed mine because I had to open it up to clean it anyway, and I figured since I went that far, I might as well install thicker O-ring.