Can heatpipes be bent?

[MoDsOuRcEdOtNeT]

I ask this because I have a couple old heatpipe heatsinks that id like to utilize; ghetto style and see if my temps improve.

If they can, how many degrees might be too far (obviously 90 would stop the flow. Hopefully someone has an idea.

Thanks.

Edit:

Secondly, I have an EVGA 7600 gt.

http://www.vr-zone.com/?i=3330

Is that mod safe for stock cooling?

 

[Arcygenical]

Yes. heatpipes can be bent. Traditionally you'll want to heat them with a propane torch... The regular butane doesn't burn hot enough (I've been told) to heat the "wick" inside... When you don't heat the wick, the tube will bend but the inside piece won't, and that hurts your cooling performance.

Chances are... You'll screw up the bend. Nothing against you of course, but you have to be a master blacksmith/robot/glassworker to apply the perfect amount of heat, pressure, and at the right angle.

I've bent a heatpipe, and it worked alright. Now... to be honest this was a really thin diameter one in an old laptop, and was alot easier to bend (all the nice nickle plating flaked off ). I didn't notice any higher temps on my core after the bend (an 867mhz G4 PPC powerbook laptop that I turned into a picture frame). I screwed the first one up because i used pliers.

I asked a friend of mine who works for a local aluminum company, and he suggested I go buy a small pipe bender from a local craft/hobby store, It produced a much better bend. Sadly, however, I destroyed the laptop/picture frame as some nearby construction vibration knocked it off the wall .

Google provides lots of results for the query "Bending heatpipes". Go slow, and don't use pliers!