Replace MSI K8N Neo2 - Northbridge fan with this heatsink??

xxkrnxstylezxx · Post by **xxkrnxstylezxx** » Sun Dec 19, 2004 2:35 pm

I'm not sure if I want to buy the MSI because of the loud NB fan. I was just going to buy the Asus, which comes with passive cooling, but I ran across this.

People say the Zalman heatsink fits on the Neo2, unless you have an Arctic Cooling NV5, in which case the Zalman is too tall.

So I came across this, which is significantly shorter, but the length/width are a bit different from the zalman.

Would I be able to fit the Alpha on the MSI with the NV5? Also, will it cool the northbridge well enough to keep it stable/safe?

Thanks

Tephras · Post by **Tephras** » Sun Dec 19, 2004 3:35 pm

It will probably fit. How are you going to mount it, thermal adhesive?

xxkrnxstylezxx · Post by **xxkrnxstylezxx** » Sun Dec 19, 2004 3:59 pm

Oh, I thought it was going to be held on by screws but I guess i was wrong..

Well, I guess thermal adhesive would be the best option. Do you have any suggestions? I'm thinking maybe something buy arctic silver...

Thanks for the reply

xxkrnxstylezxx · Post by **xxkrnxstylezxx** » Sun Dec 19, 2004 4:28 pm

hmm new problem.

If I have to use thermal adhesive to keep it on, that means I can't remove it...Yes that is a problem...

Does anyone know of a northbridge cooler that is short but has mounting holes?

Thanks

TMonte · Post by **TMonte** » Sun Dec 19, 2004 5:00 pm

Good idea! I've been thinking about doing the same, but couldn't find the appropriate heatsink. (I have an Alpha PAL15 1U which is too big)

What you can do is drill and tap the Alpha so you can use screws. I've done it before with the PAL15 for video cards. You can pick up a 4-40 drill and tap package at a local hardware/home improvement store (Home Depot). You can also get some 3/4" 4-40 screws and some fiber or rubber washers to insulate the bottom of the mobo from the screw heads.

I'm gonna order one of those 35mm Alphas soon. Thanks!

Tom

Slaugh · Post by **Slaugh** » Sun Dec 19, 2004 5:18 pm

xxkrnxstylezxx wrote:Does anyone know of a northbridge cooler that is short but has mounting holes?

I'm not sure if this is good or will work, but I found that Dynatron make short northbridge heatsinks that use mounting holes. Take a look at http://www.dynatron-corp.com/products/chipsetcooler/chipsetcooler.asp. There's 3 passive coolers here but none designed for A64, the closest is made for an Intel 850 chipset. They put the dimensions in their specs so you can see if it can fit. But be careful, these chipset coolers are not that big. Zalman is probably way better but bigger too! Sorry but I have an Asus K8N-E deluxe so my chipset is already cooled by a passive heatsink... Hope you can archive the same thing with your MSI!

Trelane · Post by **Trelane** » Sun Dec 19, 2004 6:00 pm

I'm replacing the stock heatsink this week on my 865PE Neo2 PFS (which uses a spring clip instead of mounting holes).

There are a few options available:

1) Thermal adhesive. Too permanent for me so I'm not even considering this one.

2) Re-use the stock heatsink clip. I am going to try this one first. According to users on the MSI forum, it takes a bit of force with a wedge to remove it (it's clipped onto the heatsink), but once it's removed it mates perfectly to both Zalman NB heatsinks.

3) Use 16 guage utility wire and make a new clip. I'll try this if number 2 fails. See http://www.overclockers.com/tips1163/ for more more information.

xxkrnxstylezxx · Post by **xxkrnxstylezxx** » Sun Dec 19, 2004 8:32 pm

TMonte wrote:Good idea! I've been thinking about doing the same, but couldn't find the appropriate heatsink. (I have an Alpha PAL15 1U which is too big)

What you can do is drill and tap the Alpha so you can use screws. I've done it before with the PAL15 for video cards. You can pick up a 4-40 drill and tap package at a local hardware/home improvement store (Home Depot). You can also get some 3/4" 4-40 screws and some fiber or rubber washers to insulate the bottom of the mobo from the screw heads.

I'm gonna order one of those 35mm Alphas soon. Thanks!

Tom

Do you have any pictures of these? This would help me out, but I'm not sure what you're talking about.

Slaugh, I think 2 of them would fit, but 1 is probably more effective. I only found 1 place selling that, and it's $15. Not sure if it would work tho...

http://store.yahoo.com/logicalplus/dys6pachcofo.html

Slaugh · Post by **Slaugh** » Sun Dec 19, 2004 9:23 pm

xxkrnxstylezxx, this heatsink looks exactly like the one on my Asus mobo... I don't think you need a very big heatsink, it's a NForce3 chipset like me after all, and Asus use passive cooling without any trouble... Do you plan to overclock the system?

xxkrnxstylezxx · Post by **xxkrnxstylezxx** » Sun Dec 19, 2004 9:55 pm

yes, but probably not too extreme...

wow the only place that sells that heatsink charges $10 for shipping...I don't think I wanna pay $25 for a little heatsink...

Slaugh · Post by **Slaugh** » Sun Dec 19, 2004 10:09 pm

So that thing is "more" expensive than the Zalman NB47J cooler? 15$ ??? It looks like a standard chipset cooler to me! I'm sure there is something else elsewhere that do the exact job for less... Sorry, I didn't look at the price!

xxkrnxstylezxx · Post by **xxkrnxstylezxx** » Mon Dec 20, 2004 7:08 am

Well it's $25 shipped when the other chipset heatsinks are $10 shipped. Think they're expensive since only 1 place sells them. 1 place that has bad reviews/bad customer service.

TMonte, could you explain a little bit more about how to make it mount?

Thanks

TMonte · Post by **TMonte** » Mon Dec 20, 2004 1:48 pm

That Dynatron heatsink isn't even smaller than the 35x9mm Alpha. The Dynatron is 37x10 - though with a smaller "fin count" it offers less surface area.

As far as explaining the method I plan to use - you'd drill and thread the heatsink so that you could use machine screws to run through the bottom of the motherboard and into the heatsink. I can provide pictures of my vid card if you like - I've yet to do this on a motherboard, but when I do I'll share it.

Tom

xxkrnxstylezxx · Post by **xxkrnxstylezxx** » Mon Dec 20, 2004 8:54 pm

pictures would be great, thanks

p5 · Post by p5 » Tue Dec 21, 2004 7:04 pm

I have an MSI K8N Neo2 motherboard and run the stock northbridge active cooler silently.

Instead of buying a zalman northbridge cooler and modding it, or trying to find one that fits, what i did was run MSI's Corecenter program, and manually set the northbridge fan to run at 5/8 speed, which is inaudible in my system (may have to go down to 4/8 in completely silent systems).

It auto starts up at windows, and sets the fan speed, when i close the program, the fan speed still stays the same at what i set it.

TMonte · Post by **TMonte** » Tue Dec 21, 2004 7:43 pm

I'm doing the same thing with Speedfan right now (running at 50%). I still think a permanent passive solution is better.

I'll post some pics as soon as I can dig up the ones from the R9700.

Tom

Spod · Post by **Spod** » Tue Jan 04, 2005 5:13 am

It does look like the 35x9.5mm Alpha Z Series Heatsink mentioned in the first post ought to fit under the NV5 silencer, but only just - you may have to break off a couple of fins where there is a screw sticking out from the underside curve of the NV5 fan housing, depending on clearance. Shame about the lack of easy fitting options.

I modded an NB-47J to fit, see the thread in my sig for details (no photos yet). It wasn't too hard, and I mention a couple of ways in which others may make it easier for themselves.

Dysanovic · Post by **Dysanovic** » Fri Mar 25, 2005 5:18 am

p5 wrote:I have an MSI K8N Neo2 motherboard and run the stock northbridge active cooler silently.

Instead of buying a zalman northbridge cooler and modding it, or trying to find one that fits, what i did was run MSI's Corecenter program, and manually set the northbridge fan to run at 5/8 speed, which is inaudible in my system (may have to go down to 4/8 in completely silent systems).

It auto starts up at windows, and sets the fan speed, when i close the program, the fan speed still stays the same at what i set it.

I've recently bought a MSI K8N NEO4 Plat. edition motherboard, and my NB fan is also far too loud (it's running at ~7000 rpm).

What I want to know is how did you use the CoreCenter program to alter the NB fan speed? I have version 1.7.3.0. When I click on the "CoreCentre" text it allows me to choose "Cool n Quiet" or "User Mode". When I select "User mode" it only allows me to alter the CPU fan speed.

What do you reckon is an acceptable rpm for the NB fan? I guess that my 7000 rating is far too high. Whats yours run at? If I can't get the CoreCentre to control the NB fan I think I might opt for the Zalman fan mate 2 to do the job.

p5 · Post by p5 » Mon Mar 28, 2005 6:43 pm

Dysanovic wrote: What I want to know is how did you use the CoreCenter program to alter the NB fan speed? I have version 1.7.3.0. When I click on the "CoreCentre" text it allows me to choose "Cool n Quiet" or "User Mode". When I select "User mode" it only allows me to alter the CPU fan speed.

That is how I set the speed in corecenter, selecting user mode, and two bars appear for adjusting the fan speeds of cpu fan and northbridge fan.

Dysanovic wrote: What do you reckon is an acceptable rpm for the NB fan? I guess that my 7000 rating is far too high. Whats yours run at? If I can't get the CoreCentre to control the NB fan I think I might opt for the Zalman fan mate 2 to do the job.

Well these days I tend to run the 'northbridge' fan at 3/8 or 4/8. I can't guarantee it'll be safe but I don't have the room to put a zalman nb cooler there unfortunately

The vga silencer on my r9700 runs right up against the chipset cooler.

Dysanovic · Post by **Dysanovic** » Wed Mar 30, 2005 3:06 pm

p5 wrote:
Dysanovic wrote: What I want to know is how did you use the CoreCenter program to alter the NB fan speed? I have version 1.7.3.0. When I click on the "CoreCentre" text it allows me to choose "Cool n Quiet" or "User Mode". When I select "User mode" it only allows me to alter the CPU fan speed.

That is how I set the speed in corecenter, selecting user mode, and two bars appear for adjusting the fan speeds of cpu fan and northbridge fan.

Dysanovic wrote: What do you reckon is an acceptable rpm for the NB fan? I guess that my 7000 rating is far too high. Whats yours run at? If I can't get the CoreCentre to control the NB fan I think I might opt for the Zalman fan mate 2 to do the job.
Well these days I tend to run the 'northbridge' fan at 3/8 or 4/8. I can't guarantee it'll be safe but I don't have the room to put a zalman nb cooler there unfortunately The vga silencer on my r9700 runs right up against the chipset cooler.

Thanks for the info.

My newer motherboard wont allow me to alter the NB fan speed using CoreCentre.

I think I'm going to use the passive Zalman NB47J heatsink to cool my NB, and I'm also tempted to get a Zalman CNPS7700 ALCU to help dissapate the addition heat which I'm guessing the new heatsink will generate.

Dysanovic · Post by **Dysanovic** » Sat Apr 30, 2005 5:03 am

I purchased the Zalman NB47J heatsink only to find that it is far too tall to fit on my Mobo. It's height meant that it would interfere with my X850 XT graphics card.

I probably could have bent the heatsink so that it would fit, but as it was so close to the graphics card I didn't think that there would be sufficient air flow to keep the chipset cool.

What I've done instead is used a Zalman Fan Mate 2 to reduce the NB fans speed from ~7300 rpm to ~3000 rpm. It makes a big difference in sound volume and it has meant that the chipsets temperature has only risen by 2 degress Celcius!

I'm still tempted to put a better heatsink/fan combo onto the chipset. Has anyone tried the Akasa Chipset Cooler AK-210? It looks as if it has a height thats low enough to fit under most new, long, graphics cards.

xarope · Post by **xarope** » Tue Jun 28, 2005 9:01 pm

Looks like I'm in the same boat, I have a MSI Neo4 Ultra (non-sli), a Sapphire Toxic X850pro, and that darn NB fan is running at 7-8krpm. So far the sapphire is the loudest component in there, but I'm sure once I replace the stock cooler with a silencer or vf700 the northbridge will come back to haunt me.

looking.... looking...