nForce4 Chipset Fan Replacement Thread

Xfinity · Post by **Xfinity** » Tue Jul 05, 2005 6:03 am

I noticed when setting the NB47J up that its relative unstable on the nforce4 chip.

Using Prime95 and looking at a thermometer that I have placed against the NB47J and closed case I reach around 41.7 degrees Celsius.

Update:
43.1 when playing BF2.

Gerbil · Post by **Gerbil** » Tue Jul 05, 2005 10:07 am

Xfinity wrote:I noticed when setting the NB47J up that its relative unstable on the nforce4 chip.

Using Prime95 and looking at a thermometer that I have placed against the NB47J and closed case I reach around 41.7 degrees Celsius.

How is it unstable? I haven't had even one crash with mine. 42C is cool.

Xfinity · Post by **Xfinity** » Tue Jul 05, 2005 10:18 am

Gerbil wrote:How is it unstable? I haven't had even one crash with mine. 42C is cool.

More the fitting on the chip, its moves rather scary to one or the other if you press on side on the NB47J. Some pads would have been nice when I installed it. I am thinking of refitting it.

I had one crash so far, booted up and begun surfing the new with Firefox - a few seconds later the system froze. Haven’t happened since, irritating not knowing why

.

Jaer · Post by **Jaer** » Tue Jul 05, 2005 10:36 am

Since I bought my new A64/Asus A8N SLi Premium system and started to look at temperatures on different components I've gotten more and more confused about what it is I am actually looking at. Not that NB cooling seems to be a problem with the heatpipe solution on the A8N SLI premium.

But while browsing for different sensor chip information and what the different HW monitors that are commonly used are detecting I came across this info in an Asus press release,

This is the first time I've seen a spec temp for the NForce4 SLI chip. If the normal fan solution only have a 10C marginal to the spec. temp I would be careful if I saw a 5C increase in temperatures on an external thermistor that I do not know where it is.

As we all know, the System or Motherboard temperatures given by different motherboards/programs are not from the NB. And I think it is pretty useless to try and compare them if the location of the termistor on the motherboard is not known.

I know that a lot of people have made this a switch to a passive solution and for the absolute majority it is no problem. I just wanted to share the information.

/Jaer

Gerbil · Post by **Gerbil** » Tue Jul 05, 2005 1:38 pm

Xfinity wrote:
Gerbil wrote:How is it unstable? I haven't had even one crash with mine. 42C is cool.
More the fitting on the chip, its moves rather scary to one or the other if you press on side on the NB47J. Some pads would have been nice when I installed it. I am thinking of refitting it.

I had one crash so far, booted up and begun surfing the new with Firefox - a few seconds later the system froze. Haven’t happened since, irritating not knowing why .

Did you tighten the nuts? I aligned mine to fit and then tightened them so they won't move. My NB47J doesn't budge.

madman2003 · Post by **madman2003** » Wed Jul 06, 2005 12:22 am

When i first mounted the thing i could slightly move it, it is attached properly judging the temperature of the heatsink. I had a temperature probe(a box and a "stick" with two metal points at the end) a few days ago(loaned). The heatsink was just under 60 degrees celsius, so it must be working properly

Gerbil · Post by **Gerbil** » Wed Jul 06, 2005 2:43 am

Jaer wrote:This is the first time I've seen a spec temp for the NForce4 SLI chip. If the normal fan solution only have a 10C marginal to the spec. temp I would be careful if I saw a 5C increase in temperatures on an external thermistor that I do not know where it is.

I e-mailed Gigabyte and asked them if they could supply me with the nF4 thermal specifications and they told me that the "Tcase" specification was "0-90C". I'm glad to see Asus and Gigabyte concur on the matter, so that probably is nVidia's specification.

I'm completely done with my own A8N-E and NB47J modding. I posted this over at Anandtech (very end of the thread), but I'll post it here anyway. After spending two weeks listening to my loud BBA X800 XL, I finally bought a Zalman VF700-AlCu. You can view my complete system specifications and a few more pictures in the link in my sig.

As I'd expected from reading through this thread, five fins of the VF700 push down on the NB47J. It's probably safe because the fins are exceptionally thin and bendable. The nF4 core is fragile, but the minute amount of pressure from the VF700's conflicting fins surely would have no effect on it. In fact, the heat might actually transfer from the NB47J to the VF700.

However, I came up with an easy solution to remove the conflict entirely. The nF4 runs hot, so maximizing its heatsink's surface area was my highest concern (and I didn't really want to remove the motherboard to modify the NB47J). Instead, I used needle nosed pliers to bend the five conflicting fins of the F700. It took about two minutes, and now the VF700 does not touch the NB47J at all.

I'm also glad to find out that my NB47J feels cooler than before. The VF700's fan, running at 5V, moves air past the NB47J. Even while gaming, the X800 XL runs cool enough that the air from the VF700 cools down the NB47J. The X800 XL is running cooler than it did with the stock hsf as well.

I think I posted my initial testing results earlier in this thread. To summarize, I've been running my NB47J + A8N-E for almost three weeks now. It has endured intense Prime95 Torture Testing, plenty of gaming, and I didn't reboot or shut it down for over 8 days...I finally needed to install a few things that required me to reboot though. Anyway, I haven't had any instabilities.

As I've said before, the Zalman NB47J gets very hot. It's not too hot to touch indefinitely; however, it's only a few degrees from being unbearable.

Both Gigabyte and Chaintech sell passive nF4 boards (I'm referring to the cheap boards--not Asus and Abit's expensive heat pipe boards). Judging by the fact that I can touch my NB47J and nVidia rates the nF4 up to 90C, which would not be touchable, the NB47J alone should work fine, although incredibly hot in any computer. Nevertheless, I think it's a much safer idea to get some air moving around the northbridge to cool off the heatsink as I've done.

Xfinity · Post by **Xfinity** » Wed Jul 06, 2005 6:57 am

Gerbil wrote:Did you tighten the nuts? I aligned mine to fit and then tightened them so they won't move. My NB47J doesn't budge.

Yeah I refitted the NB47J last night and now it doesn't budge either - good stuff

KorruptioN · Post by **KorruptioN** » Wed Jul 06, 2005 7:35 am

Gerbil, you've got the AlCu version... aluminum fins are always much easier to bend. I will likely get the full copper version - the fins may not be as flexible.

Gerbil · Post by **Gerbil** » Wed Jul 06, 2005 2:17 pm

Copper is also a very malleable metal. The copper fins on my VF700-AlCu aren't quite as flexible as the aluminum, but they'd be just as easy to bend with pliers as the aluminum fins were. It was an extremely easy task. When I folded the fins, it was almost like working with paper.

jamesm · Post by **jamesm** » Fri Jul 08, 2005 11:16 am

I sent an email to gigabyte regarding their passively cooled nf4 board:

"What is the operating temperature of the nForce 4 chipset on this board? I am worried it may be running too hot."

Their response was:

"hello

The system been tested under our burn in chamber to operate at over 80c
You do not need to worry about the chipset even if it appears to be warm.

Thank you"

Gerbil · Post by **Gerbil** » Fri Jul 08, 2005 12:53 pm

jamesm wrote:I sent an email to gigabyte regarding their passively cooled nf4 board:

"What is the operating temperature of the nForce 4 chipset on this board? I am worried it may be running too hot."

Their response was:

"hello

The system been tested under our burn in chamber to operate at over 80c
You do not need to worry about the chipset even if it appears to be warm.

Thank you"

LOL, "warm"!? More like flaming.

jamesm · Post by **jamesm** » Fri Jul 08, 2005 8:48 pm

Looks like I found another passive northbridge cooler:

Cooler Master product page

and, to purchase:
Fry's Outpost Item Page

It's nearly the same dimensions as the Zalman NB32J. (the zalman is 37mm x 37mm x 32mm and 36 grams while the Cooler Master is 37.5mm x 37.5mm x 32 mm and 33 grams). Both are made out of aluminum.

Gerbil · Post by **Gerbil** » Fri Jul 08, 2005 9:20 pm

A few people have used that Coolermaster heatsink. I think it's been just as successful as the NB32J.

fisher999 · Post by **fisher999** » Sat Jul 09, 2005 3:58 am

Gerbil wrote:A few people have used that Coolermaster heatsink. I think it's been just as successful as the NB32J.

I'm still trying to figure out how to "subscribe" to a thread over here; maybe responding to a post will do it ! ? ! ?

kloppe · Post by **kloppe** » Sat Jul 09, 2005 8:17 am

"Watch this topic for replies"

Underneath the New Topic and Reply buttons.

Edit: Removed the link. I'm probably not the only one clicking on links blindly. >.>

fisher999 · Post by **fisher999** » Sat Jul 09, 2005 9:14 am

kloppe wrote:Watch this topic for replies

Underneath the New Topic and Reply buttons.

OIC it now !!!

Tanks

ki_cz · Post by **ki_cz** » Fri Aug 05, 2005 9:35 pm

I am interested in doing this mod, although I have the a8n-e board with the 45 degree angled fan. Will this mod still be easy to do, or possible at all?

Gerbil · Post by **Gerbil** » Fri Aug 05, 2005 9:37 pm

That's the new hsf. The board has the exact same layout and the original design would fit in the normal position. So yes, an NB47J will work.

ki_cz · Post by **ki_cz** » Fri Aug 05, 2005 9:41 pm

Do you think that a zm80d VGA cooler would also fit, or would the NB cooler require some modding?

Gerbil · Post by **Gerbil** » Fri Aug 05, 2005 10:18 pm

I doubt it would fit as it is stock. Look at the link in my sig to see how tight my NB47J and VF700 are. I had to mod the VF700. I'm guessing that a massive heatsink like the ZM-80 would cause some trouble. I think a few people have managed it though. Look through this entire thread and the one at AnandTech for pics.

Brue · Post by **Brue** » Sat Aug 06, 2005 4:55 pm

Im planning to get a MSI Neo4-F but have no idea what to do with it. I cant seem to find the ZM-NB47J at my place, so can anyone help me out. Will be using the Gigabyte 6600gt passive card.

Gerbil · Post by **Gerbil** » Sat Aug 06, 2005 4:59 pm

Zalman ZM-NB47J: ~$7 shipped First-Class. That's where I got mine.

Brue · Post by **Brue** » Sat Aug 06, 2005 5:12 pm

Sadly I cant order online.
The Zalman NB32J sounds like a good choice but will everything be running cool and quiet if I use it without a 40mm fan?

Specs:
A64 3500+ - stock replaced with Thermalright XP-90 paired with a Nexus 92mm fan
MSI K8N Neo 4-F
PC 3200/400 Corsair CL2.5 1GB
Samsung P120 200GB
MSI NX6600GT - placing a VF700
Benq DW1640 16x DVD+-RW
Cooler Master Centurion 530 - fans replaced with Nexus 120mm
Antec True Power 480W v2

Gerbil · Post by **Gerbil** » Sat Aug 06, 2005 5:17 pm

The NB47J alone is barely enough. I have minimal airflow on mine and it still runs above 60C by my estimates. You probably shouldn't uses an NB32J unless you give it some airflow. I don't think it would be safe running 100% passive.

Can you buy parts from message boards? I've come across a few NB47J heatsinks for sale in the AnandTech forums. I could order one for you, but I'm leaving for college in one week.

Brue · Post by **Brue** » Sat Aug 06, 2005 5:25 pm

Thanks for clarifying. Any other alternatives for the Paspt fans?

Sorry but I just dont have the method of payment and I am from Asia.

*After seeing the picture of the mobo with vf700 and nb47j, i dont think i can fit the 32j with fan, and a vf700.

rei · Post by **rei** » Thu Aug 11, 2005 12:17 am

still worried about nb47j running into a sapphire x800xl ultimate/vf700

http://www.bigbruin.com/reviews/chipsmodiv/

has anyone considered these? they seem to be lower in height

rei · Post by **rei** » Thu Aug 11, 2005 12:18 am

nvm, clips look bad.

iakovl · Post by **iakovl** » Thu Aug 11, 2005 1:14 am

i was thinking of buying a NB47J
but im thinking of making one myself from a A64 sink i have
any tip or ideas ppl?

Gerbil · Post by **Gerbil** » Thu Aug 11, 2005 12:21 pm

Go for it if you think you can do it and it's worth saving $7.

As for the NB47J + VF700, I think it's an easy and effective solution. I didn't modify my NB47J at all and I only spent about 2 minutes bending five fins on the VF700.