Safe to run passive?

ChooChoo · Post by **ChooChoo** » Mon Aug 29, 2005 11:13 pm

I've been reading over a couple of posts regarding cooling NF4 chipsets passive using a Zalman or any other passive heatsink. Unfortunately I've had a hard time figuring out the general consensus.

(Assume a case with mediocre airflow and a high end video card)

Is the airflow from a nearby VF-700 good enough? or
Is a Nexus120mm mounted in the front of the case good enough? or
Is a Nexus80mm mounted to the HDD cage(pointed at the heatsink)?

Or is it unsafe to run NF4's without active cooling?

Ackelind · Post by **Ackelind** » Tue Aug 30, 2005 1:26 am

NF4 seems to run well even when it's hot. I have the ASUS A8N-SLI Premium with the heatpipe cooler for the NB, both the heatsink on the nb, the heatpipe and the radiator above the VCUs are smoking hot, you can seriously injure yourself by placing a finger there for more than a few seconds. However, I have no stability issues at all. My passivly cooled CPU is running cooler than ever, my GPU, also passive, is running cool too. I've been able to run prime95, 3dmark03 and rthdribl every night and day for a week now, and I have had no issues at all. My CPU is even overclocked to 2250MHz from stock 1800MHz.

~El~Jefe~ · Post by **~El~Jefe~** » Tue Aug 30, 2005 6:37 am

do you run the system 24/7 and NEVER turn it off?

has it been running for more than 6 months?

Do you play games on it like battlefield 2, ones that max out things?

if yes to all, that would sell me on the concept.

I am still quite wary of the super hot northbridge being "fine".

ronrem · Post by **ronrem** » Sat Sep 03, 2005 4:51 pm

the Coolermaster Blue Ice is like a mini Ninja,a chipset heatpipe tower. It comes with a fan-but remove that and its gotta be the most effective aftermarket unit. I favor exhaust fans in the rear. No intake or front fans. I'd be tempted to do a duct,a piece of PVC or copper plumbing pipe with a 90 degree elbow to deliver outside air to the area of the chipset and cpu A rear exhaust+the PSU fan should give enough draw. Some MOBOS crowd the chipset with,usually,the vidcard slots. I like the ECS KN-1 Extreme which has plenty of space.

JonV · Post by **JonV** » Sat Sep 03, 2005 5:22 pm

My NF4 chipset runs at 65C idle and 75C load, and those temps are taken on the *top* of the heatpipe block of my A8N-SLI Premium. I was worried about this, but contacted Asus and they told me not to worry. According to them, the max operating temp of the chipset is around 100C.

I can't give you any definite reassurance, since my system is only a week or so old, but what I will do is let you know the moment it dies

~El~Jefe~ · Post by **~El~Jefe~** » Sat Sep 03, 2005 7:56 pm

100C ah yes. a nice number. for death of a board!! not every piece of equipment can take that.

kinda dumb for them to say such things. it WILL fry some of the boards if it hits 100C.

who wants that temperature in their case anyways?

cool=quiet, not getting by with hot just before it melts.

there are other chipsets that stay much cooler.

JonV · Post by **JonV** » Sat Sep 03, 2005 8:30 pm

~El~Jefe~ wrote:who wants that temperature in their case anyways?

Are you saying everyone should just stop using NF4 because it generates an untenable amount of heat? It's not like using a better cooling solution on the chipset is going to somehow lessen the amount of heat being generated - it's still going to be there, and you'll still need to exhaust it from your case somehow.

It's not even necessarily the hottest part of a system - all current GPUs are rated for well over 100C, and I see plenty of people pushing them well past 75C at load. This is the reality of modern computer systems, they generate tons of heat, and you'll just have to trust that the board manufacturers have been aware of that when making their design.

As for modifying the cooling (as opposed to my stock heatpipe, where I'm trusting Asus), I suppose in theory you run the risk that some other component close to the chipset can't handle the heat. But plenty of people are reporting success, so following in their steps should at least have a decent chance of being safe.

vertigo · Post by **vertigo** » Sun Sep 04, 2005 3:14 am

Are you saying everyone should just stop using NF4 because it generates an untenable amount of heat?

I think Eljefe is just reacting to the fact that people generally don't take heat generation into account, or at least don't appreciate it. People worry if they CPU hits 50C but are happy to run their GPU at 80C. It just doesn't make sense.

If you are going to worry about high temperatures, at least do it honestly.

perplex · Post by **perplex** » Sun Sep 04, 2005 7:16 am

that's because GPU can take more heat than CPU