nForce4 Chipset Fan Replacement Thread

KorruptioN · Post by **KorruptioN** » Thu Apr 28, 2005 4:45 am

Not much mention of the Swiftech MCX159, but I hope to have it working with a Radeon X800XL + VF700-Cu. The footprint that the MCX159 occupies doesn't look very large, perhaps very comparable to the Zalman NB47J. The obvious advantage is that the nF4 chip will be running much cooler thanks to the much better thermal solution removing heat from it. Swiftech claims the Sunon 40mm fan produces only 18dBA of noise...

dwd3885 · Post by **dwd3885** » Thu Apr 28, 2005 8:55 pm

I just installed the Zalman heatsink on my Chaintech VNF4 nForce Ultra mobo. Everything is great!!! Temps are all fine. Fits perfectly with newly installed Zalman VF700 near silent vga fan. Together they have created an almost near silent computing environment for me. The only thing I think is the hard drive maybe? I have everythign else near silent. Maybe could use a quieter case fan? But I'm not sure.

ICERx911 · Post by **ICERx911** » Sat Apr 30, 2005 6:19 pm

I had to modifiy my NB47J so that it would fit with on my MSI Neo4 mobo and my x800XL. I looked at my temp thru speedfan and my bios and they said the temp was roughly around 33C idle.

however, i recently got a fan control and it came with a temp probe. I put the temp probe in the middle of the NB47J (within the fins) and it said that the temp is at 52C.

Which one should i trust? and should i be worried about my chipset temp being that high?

I took some pictures of my modified heatsink below.

http://student.ucr.edu/~ajaw001/pic3.jpg
http://student.ucr.edu/~ajaw001/pic2.jpg
http://student.ucr.edu/~ajaw001/pic1.jpg

Thanks

sixscrews · Post by **sixscrews** » Mon May 02, 2005 8:09 pm

I wonder if anybody is doing a heat pipe setup for this kind of problem (chipset coolers).

Has anyone seen one?

ss

m0002a · Post by **m0002a** » Mon May 02, 2005 9:58 pm

ICERx911 wrote:I had to modifiy my NB47J so that it would fit with on my MSI Neo4 mobo and my x800XL. I looked at my temp thru speedfan and my bios and they said the temp was roughly around 33C idle.

however, i recently got a fan control and it came with a temp probe. I put the temp probe in the middle of the NB47J (within the fins) and it said that the temp is at 52C.

Which one should i trust? and should i be worried about my chipset temp being that high?

Are you sure that your MB reports the chipset temp? It may be reporting the MB temp, which is not on the chipset.

Can you calibrate the temp probe against a different thermometer, my moving it either inside or outside your case?

HolyBastard · Post by **HolyBastard** » Wed May 04, 2005 7:32 am

someone know an other fan beside the papst that will fit in the same holes as the original fans (for the Asus A8N-E same as A8N-SLI)

Distroyed · Post by **Distroyed** » Wed May 04, 2005 8:51 pm

HolyBastard wrote:someone know an other fan beside the papst that will fit in the same holes as the original fans (for the Asus A8N-E same as A8N-SLI)

I too am interested in knowing this for the sake of options and buyers angst. However, what's wrong with the papst that you would want another?

HolyBastard · Post by **HolyBastard** » Thu May 05, 2005 3:45 am

I can't find it anywhere in Montreal.... I would have bought the papst if I had it but seems like 40mm fans aren't running around to much. Beside I would prefer to buy them in store because I'm not a huge fan of paying the same price for shipping as the item....

nici · Post by **nici** » Thu May 05, 2005 9:23 am

I just managed to install a Zalman GPU vaterblock on the chipset and keep the graphics card in the 16x slot

Temp is reported at the same 43c that it was with mangled NB47J with 80mm nexus at 12V. I willl post some pictures when i find the bloody USB-cable for my camera...

nici · Post by **nici** » Thu May 05, 2005 1:51 pm

Ok here it is, 3/8" silicone tubing and although the GPU block looks like copper its anodized aluminium so i dont need to worry about galvanic corrosion...

Sweendog · Post by **Sweendog** » Tue May 10, 2005 9:44 am

rpsgc wrote:What about the Gigabyte GA-K8N Ultra-SLI?

OK, so I've had my GA-K8N system (the one with the stock passive NB heatsink) up for some time now. Speedfan was reporting several temps but I think the NB wasn't one of them. I purchased a temp. probe and wedged it gently but firmly between the hold-down screw's spring, and one of the cooling fins. The reading at idle varies from 56 to 58 degrees C, going up to 60 during video intesnive gaming! Eek. I'm going to get one of the Zalman heatsinks, as they look larger, although I think I'm going to rig up a small case fan first, to see if I can direct some flow across the existing one. (There is almost ZERO room between the existing HS, which is quite low-profile, and the Cooler/Video board combo.

I'll try to get pics up soon.

Sweendog

EDIT: I forgot to mention that ambient internal case temp was around 25.5 C at idle when the NB temps were observed...

matt_garman · Post by **matt_garman** » Tue May 10, 2005 1:19 pm

KorruptioN wrote:Not much mention of the Swiftech MCX159, but I hope to have it working with a Radeon X800XL + VF700-Cu. The footprint that the MCX159 occupies doesn't look very large, perhaps very comparable to the Zalman NB47J. The obvious advantage is that the nF4 chip will be running much cooler thanks to the much better thermal solution removing heat from it. Swiftech claims the Sunon 40mm fan produces only 18dBA of noise...

So the Swiftech comes with a fan, and the Zalman is passive. If we take the fan off the Swiftech, which is the better NB cooler? The Swiftech looks better in my opinion, but that doesn't mean anything.

I'm hoping to build an AMD64 in the not-too-distant future, and (obviously) want to make it as quiet as possible. Even if the fan attached to the Sunon is ultra-quiet, I'd still rather not have it. One less thing to go wrong. I'd rather have the best vanilla heat sink, and concentrate on good general airflow in the case.

I think half the fun of building a new system is planning it

Matt

Edward Ng · Post by **Edward Ng** » Tue May 10, 2005 1:22 pm

KorruptioN wrote:...18dBA...

Off by several orders of magnitude. I owned an MCX-159 and that Sunon fan is really noisy at 12V.

-Ed

m0002a · Post by **m0002a** » Tue May 10, 2005 1:28 pm

matt_garman wrote:So the Swiftech comes with a fan, and the Zalman is passive. If we take the fan off the Swiftech, which is the better NB cooler? The Swiftech looks better in my opinion, but that doesn't mean anything.

I'm hoping to build an AMD64 in the not-too-distant future, and (obviously) want to make it as quiet as possible. Even if the fan attached to the Sunon is ultra-quiet, I'd still rather not have it. One less thing to go wrong. I'd rather have the best vanilla heat sink, and concentrate on good general airflow in the case.

I think half the fun of building a new system is planning it :)
Matt

Yes the Swifttech is better. It should be since it has a thick copper base and costs about 5 times as much as the Zalman. The fan on the Swifttech only puts out about 6 CFM, so you could certainly do without it. Also keep in mind that the stock HS's are pathetically small, especially since the fan takes up the largest amount of space (leaving very little for actual heat sink material), so that is why the Zalman can work without a fan.

But if there is concern about the Zalman, some people put larger fans attached to the drive cage which blows on the chipset heatsink, running a 5V. This provides some cooling for the drives and the chipset, but obviously depends on you case configuration as to how easy it is to do this.

Grubert · Post by **Grubert** » Wed May 11, 2005 4:20 am

Here's a nice little video (found on the Anandtech forum) demonstrating the less-than-quiet operation of the Asus A8N-E chipset fan:

For this video clip, I unplugged all the drives and fans, including the video card fan.

right-click, Save As ----> http://www.omnicast.net/~tmcfadden/A8N-E.AVI

The clip is taken from close range, so it will seem louder than it really is, but it gives you a feel for the pitch of the sound. I think silent-PC folks will find it somewhat annoying. Once the mobo is broken in and I'm satisfied it's healthy, I may put on a large passive heatsink in its place, but as a 15k SCSI user, it's not like I was expecting dead silence in the first place

I'd take a second clip that puts the noise into context of a fully-running system with all drives and fans operating, but as usual I'm practically out of space on my ISP. Maybe later I will do some in .WMV format that are more compact.

Cliff Notes version: not silent at stock speed. If this bugs you, plan to take corrective action.

Original thread at Anandtech: http://forums.anandtech.com/messageview ... erthread=y

swong · Post by **swong** » Wed May 11, 2005 4:55 am

twinturbo11 wrote:Hey guys,

I have an Asus A8n-sli delux in a Arctic Cooling Silentium case.

Before I even visited this thread, I just slapped a Zalman Fanmate2 on the chipset fan and lowered its speed from 8000rpm to 4500rpm - This made the chipset effectively noiseless (i really cannot hear it).

Isnt this a good , if not the best solution? considering that there are huge risks of busting the exposed chipset if you remove and replace the original heatsink and fan?

hey everybody, im planning on building a new quiet system with an nforce4. Can anybody confirm if using a fanmate2 to lower the speed is sufficient to quieten down the chipset fan to acceptable levels?
I don't really like the idea of messing around with delicate expensive components when there is a safer alternative available.

Distroyed · Post by **Distroyed** » Wed May 11, 2005 4:34 pm

I'm planning on going the Zalman heatsink route, but went ahead and emailed Zalman to see what they're opinion on using a passive solution on an A8N-E mobo is. Here's what they said:

To use NB47J on a hot north bridge chip like nForce3/4, adequate air flow should be provided around it.

If you use CNPS7000 or CNPS7700 series cooler, these cooler provide good air flow to surrounding components.

If not, or need additional assurance, we recommend to use FB123 fan in silent mode on top of the NB47J.

Best regards,

Support

Zalman USA, Inc.

I went ahead and ordered both (NB47J + FB123 = $16), since my Coolermaster cpu fan wont provide enough airflow given the gpu blocks the northbridge. I'll post my results. Im hoping the FB123 will be mountable from my Antec 3000B case and will reach close enough to the northbridge.

Thunder · Post by **Thunder** » Wed May 11, 2005 8:19 pm

my ECS KN1 Extreme
all I did was remove the fan and it runs about 48c

vapb400 · Post by **vapb400** » Sat May 14, 2005 8:07 am

Someone just posted this on XS:
http://koti.mbnet.fi/a020171/Kuva%20085.jpg
http://koti.mbnet.fi/a020171/Kuva%20087.jpg

It was an A64 Freezer.

Can you guys tell if all he did was hack out the center?

nici · Post by **nici** » Sat May 14, 2005 8:11 am

vapb400 wrote:Someone just posted this on XS:
http://koti.mbnet.fi/a020171/Kuva%20085.jpg
http://koti.mbnet.fi/a020171/Kuva%20087.jpg

It was an A64 Freezer.

Can you guys tell if all he did was hack out the center?

Thats pure genious

A madman at work... Why didnt i think of that?

vapb400 · Post by **vapb400** » Sat May 14, 2005 8:53 am

so as far as you can tell the center is just cut out?

nici · Post by **nici** » Sat May 14, 2005 10:21 am

Yes, as far is i can tell its just the middle part cut out

The mounting would be the trickiest part, but really thats just some bolts, nuts, and washers. I looked at various pictures of the Freezer and i cant see what else would have been modified on the thing..

Distroyed · Post by **Distroyed** » Sat May 14, 2005 2:46 pm

Alright, I finally got around to ripping out that horrible A8N-e Northbridge fan and replacing the heatsink with a blue Zalman and adding a FB123 case fan to blow on it.

I was hoping to perform the procedure without having to take apart my whole damn system just to remove the old heatsink, but unfortunately it's absolutely impossible to not do so without ruining other parts of the mobo on the front. So for those of you planning on doing this mod, the mobo will have to come off. But trimming the arrows off the back is quite simple. Do be careful not to apply too much pressure while unscrewing the stock fan. I heard it shift and thought I busted the chip (it didnt happen, thankfully).

I used regular 91% rubbing alcohol on q-tips to clean the chipset. That cleaned it off fine. I squeezed the hell out of the included thermal paste before realizing I had to puncture the end before anything would come out... It applies quite well, once you do that.

I found lining up the bolts to the mobo holes quite easy. You dont have to push all the way down to feel it in the hole, so you can line them both up and just push at the same time to avoid any rocking motion or pressure that might damage the chipset.

It does seem to be running kind of hot, so I modded my rig to hold the Zalman FB123 above the chipset. The fan is rated 20dB on it's 1600rpm mode, but in reality it's closer to 25. It's the loudest fan in my system, but quieter than what it replaced, and quite necessary imo. Can anyone recommend a very quite 80-90mm fan?

ZoD · Post by **ZoD** » Sun May 15, 2005 4:33 am

I have a K8N Neo4 Platinum by MSI, and also was very annoyed by the noise the northbridge fan made. I have used a Zalman fan mate to slow it down all the way to the minimum voltage the fan mate can deliver (5 or 6 volts I believe). Now it is reasonably quiet. I have checked the temperature by feeling the heatsink, but it is not even slightly warm. I think this could be a solution for the K8N Neo4 Platinum users. However, I have a Nexus Breeze housing. This housing has a 12 cm fan mounted in the bottom of the case, which blows directly up into the casing. This fresh air is directly blown onto the northbridge heatsink. So this might be the reason why it stays that cool.

Mockery · Post by **Mockery** » Sun May 15, 2005 6:30 am

Apparently there is a new version of the fan now being supplied...
Link

EDIT: Sorry, me stoopid. had a link to an old Zalman passive VGA HS...

The fan on the ASUS A8N series is the one I'm referring to.

halcyon · Post by **halcyon** » Sun May 15, 2005 12:44 pm

You have to see this:

Now that is one badass modified passive chipset cooler :)

Gholam · Post by **Gholam** » Fri May 20, 2005 1:02 pm

Here's my ghetto duct mod. I did the usual NB32J thing intially, but it still ran a bit too hot for my taste, so I decided to play it safe and broke out the cardboard, scissors, and glue

The case is a Coolermaster CM Stacker, the duct is attached to the drive cage, with an Aerocool Turbine 1000 fan mounted instead of the stock Coolermaster 120mm. I chose the fan because the duct is quite restrictive, plus there are dust filters and steel mesh up front, so the fan has to fight quite a bit of static pressure - perfect task for a 16-blade prop. The duct is enclosed from the right side (invisible on photo) as well, drive cables go through a small opening left between the edge of duct and the drive cage.

I don't have any monitoring on it, but finger test suggests that temperatures have dropped a bit, and there's definitely added airflow in there, so for the meanwhile, I'm happy. Still waiting for that XP-120 to arrive - once it does, I'll probably get another Turbine 1000, mount it as case exhaust, and duct it so it pulls air through the XP-120. In any case, the main noise maker is VF-700, and there's nothing more I can do short of water cooling the 6800GT, which I'm researching.

winguy · Post by **winguy** » Sun May 22, 2005 10:08 am

off topic: are there any articles that compare the heat dissipation of 939 chipsets? i presume nforce4 is the hottest, what about the rest (nforce3 ultra, via k8t800pro, k8t890, ati xpress 200, etc)?

m0002a · Post by **m0002a** » Sun May 22, 2005 11:32 am

winguy wrote:off topic: are there any articles that compare the heat dissipation of 939 chipsets? i presume nforce4 is the hottest, what about the rest (nforce3 ultra, via k8t800pro, k8t890, ati xpress 200, etc)?

When I had a Soltek 890-Pro-939 (before I exchanged it for an Asus A8N-E with NF4) I touched the passive chipset HS, and it was very hot. It was subjectively hotter than my passive Zalman on by A8N-E (but no measurements taken).

jackylman · Post by **jackylman** » Mon May 23, 2005 3:49 pm

Can anybody offer advice about using the Zalman HS on an EPoX EP-9NPA+Ultra?

I think I might have more success than others because the chipset is actually ABOVE my ATI X700, below my CPU.

What I'm trying to figure out is if my undervolted Panaflo 92mm on XP-90 will give any airflow to the NB. I also have a 120mm Cooler Master in front of my case relatively unobstructed (only 1 HD and round cables).

Will these 2 fans create enough airflow to make this feasible? Shoud I turn my Panaflo around and have it blow down to create airflow in that direction?

Ambient temp of MB is usually around 30C

Pic of the board in question...
http://www.amdzone.com/pics/motherboard ... +ultra.jpg

Thanks

nForce4 Chipset Fan Replacement Thread

Re: What about keeping the stock

Zalman HS on an EPoX EP-9NPA+Ultra?