SPCR

Has anybody out there tried a Zalman HP (80a or 80c) with the Abit IS7? The fan on my 9600 pro is now the loudest thing in my system and it's beginning to drive me nuts. I have the "new" northbridge HSF which is much quieter than the old one, but it is also a lot taller and sits really close to the agp slot.

Any experiences/opinions?

Thanks,
kansakilla

What exactly is it you think a graphics card cooler has to do with your specific motherboard?


As long as your graphics card has the mounting holes the GPU cooler will work fine, and help you attain silence.

Are you asking about the size of the Zalman Heatpipe solution when it is attached to the video card? Are you wondering if it occupies the adjacent PCI slot on your motherboard?

Could you explain your question in terms of what the Abit motherboard has to do with it?

Try searching at the zalman board. http://www.zalman.co.kr/english/board/board.htm

Otherwise post there, they are very good at quick responses.

Cheers

Thanks for the replies and suggestions, guys.

To answer the questions above, the specific issue with the board is that there were two revisions of the Northbridge cooler from Abit for the IS7 - the original version which featured a very wimpy-sized heatsink with a screeching fan, and a newer version that was not only more "meaty" but also had a quieter fan at stock speeds. I ended up getting the newer revision hsf combo for the board separately, and replaced the wimpy one. It was definitely quieter, and the larger heatsink made me feel better about the cooling of the northbridge.

The problem is that since I've replaced the northbridge fan with something much quieter, the stock fan on my 9600 pro is now the loudest thing in my system (thanks ralf, by the way, since I copied a lot of your suggestions from the forums). I tried connecting the fan's plug-in to a Zalman MFC, but the extensions weren't long enough. Next step was to consider a heat-pipe type cooler, eg ZM80C.

Problem is, the northbridge is situated in a "diagonal" configuration such that the pointed edge is really close to the AGP slot. The NB cooler is a round monster that sticks up from the board over 2 fingers' width. Therefore, I'm really not sure if the VGA cooler would fit, since the "backside" of the cooler would abut the NB hsf. Not really worried about the PCI slot, since I'm not using it anyway.

I had wondered if anyone had any experience with this particular combo, hence the post.

I read a review somewhere (can't seem to find it at the moment) that showed approximately equal cooling of the ZM80C using the "front" heatsink only compared to the "front and back" configuration with the heatpipe. I might just do that, if the puppy won't fit. My local comp shop is in the process of ordering the 80C, so I have to wait.

Sorry if this is a bit rambling, but I've been up all night on call, and don't really know my head from my butt (which should make lunch interesting).

Many thanks for the replies,
--KansaKilla

KansaKilla wrote: Sorry if this is a bit rambling, but I've been up all night on call, and don't really know my head from my butt (which should make lunch interesting).

LoL...never heard that one before. Let us know how lunch goes.

Is this what you are talking about?

Interference with the Motherboard Components and Other Peripherals

If the northbridge heatsink that is 25mm or taller in height (measured from the motherboard's surface) is away from the AGP slot in the direction of the CPU by 5.5mm or farther, this product can be installed.

If CNPS7000 (Zalman's noiseless CPU cooler) is also to be installed, the CPU retention guide needs to be 35mm or farther away from the AGP slot for this product to be installable.

http://www.zalman.co.kr/english/product/ZM80C-HP.htm

They also have a diagram.

I have a ZM80C-HP arriving in the mail today, however I have an Abit TH7-II which has an average sized chipset heatsink and plenty of room.

Yep, I guess that's it. Thanks. I'll be picking the part up soon.

--KansaKilla