40mm fan dying - replace?

[Andrew Kerr]

Hello,

I have a Gigabyte 7VAX motherboard, AthlonXP2000. The 40mm fan on the
chipset is dying a quick, noisy death.

The first question is, I guess, is this fan really necessary? I don't have a
case fan (computer didn't come with one) and the place I bought this
computer is out of business. My unofficial testing showed that the system
temperature rose from about 42C to 44C after a half-hour with the chipset
fan removed, though I wasn't doing anything on the computer at the time. I
could replace the fan and heatsink with a bigger heatsink but I'd rather not
fiddle with that, if the standard one is good enough. The heatsink was warm,
but not hot to the touch. There was quite a bit of air from the CPU fan
blowing onto the chipset heatsink.

I could pick up a 40mm fan from anywhere, but I don't know if I'd be better
off with a good 80mm case fan instead. If I do use a case fan, should I
mount it on the back, where it would be almost directly beside the chipset
heatsink, or in the front in the little fan holder?

Thanks,

Andrew

 

[S.Heenan]

Hello,

I have a Gigabyte 7VAX motherboard, AthlonXP2000. The 40mm fan on the
chipset is dying a quick, noisy death.

The first question is, I guess, is this fan really necessary? I don't
have a case fan (computer didn't come with one) and the place I
bought this computer is out of business. My unofficial testing showed
that the system temperature rose from about 42C to 44C after a
half-hour with the chipset fan removed, though I wasn't doing
anything on the computer at the time. I could replace the fan and
heatsink with a bigger heatsink but I'd rather not fiddle with that,
if the standard one is good enough. The heatsink was warm, but not
hot to the touch. There was quite a bit of air from the CPU fan
blowing onto the chipset heatsink.

I could pick up a 40mm fan from anywhere, but I don't know if I'd be
better off with a good 80mm case fan instead. If I do use a case fan,
should I mount it on the back, where it would be almost directly
beside the chipset heatsink, or in the front in the little fan holder?

If you're not overclocking, you can very likely do without the NB fan.
Unplug it and take note of system stability. Leave the heat sink attached.By
all means, add an 80mm intake fan and an 80mm exhaust, if you don't already
have them.

 

[kony]

Hello,

I have a Gigabyte 7VAX motherboard, AthlonXP2000. The 40mm fan on the
chipset is dying a quick, noisy death.

The first question is, I guess, is this fan really necessary? I don't have a
case fan (computer didn't come with one) and the place I bought this
computer is out of business. My unofficial testing showed that the system
temperature rose from about 42C to 44C after a half-hour with the chipset
fan removed, though I wasn't doing anything on the computer at the time.

The temperature is not of the chip under that fan. It seems more likely
to have changed temp based on the room temp change or simply a gradual
accumulation of heat in the chassis regardless of that fan.

I
could replace the fan and heatsink with a bigger heatsink but I'd rather not
fiddle with that, if the standard one is good enough. The heatsink was warm,
but not hot to the touch. There was quite a bit of air from the CPU fan
blowing onto the chipset heatsink.

With amply airflow off the CPU heatsink you probably won't need the
chipset fan, just remove it so that dead fan doesn't further impede
airflow. If you later find the system is instable then add a fan, but it
should be pretty tolerant of heat, being a KT400 running at only DDR266
(133MHz) as is spec for an Athlon XP2000... the slower the FSB is, the
less heat it produces and the more tolerant of heat it is.

If the heatsink is removable you might do that and apply a nice thin coat
of heatsink compound if you have any... sometimes they do a poor job of
applying the compound in the first place or occasionally even use
not-particularly-thermally-conductive foam tape, even worse than regular
thermal tape it acts as an insulator.

I could pick up a 40mm fan from anywhere, but I don't know if I'd be better
off with a good 80mm case fan instead. If I do use a case fan, should I
mount it on the back, where it would be almost directly beside the chipset
heatsink, or in the front in the little fan holder?

You ought to consider a case fan if the hard drive(s) or video card are
running too warm->hot. A case fan isn't a substitute for a chipset fan
though, _IF_ you need a chipset fan, which you probably won't.

If you use a case fan, it should be expelling air out of the case, or
pulling air into it, not just stirring around air within the case. The
best place for the first case fan is in the rear, right below the power
supply, exhausting out. It's just coincidence that this isn't too far
from the northbridge. If there is nowhere to mount an exhaust fan on the
rear then consider the front intake fan instead, though if there's a
stamped-in-metal fan grill there, it'd be highly preferable to cut that
out first.

 

[Andrew Kerr]

The temperature is not of the chip under that fan. It seems more likely
to have changed temp based on the room temp change or simply a gradual
accumulation of heat in the chassis regardless of that fan.



With amply airflow off the CPU heatsink you probably won't need the
chipset fan, just remove it so that dead fan doesn't further impede
airflow. If you later find the system is instable then add a fan, but it
should be pretty tolerant of heat, being a KT400 running at only DDR266
(133MHz) as is spec for an Athlon XP2000... the slower the FSB is, the
less heat it produces and the more tolerant of heat it is.

If the heatsink is removable you might do that and apply a nice thin coat
of heatsink compound if you have any... sometimes they do a poor job of
applying the compound in the first place or occasionally even use
not-particularly-thermally-conductive foam tape, even worse than regular
thermal tape it acts as an insulator.



You ought to consider a case fan if the hard drive(s) or video card are
running too warm->hot. A case fan isn't a substitute for a chipset fan
though, _IF_ you need a chipset fan, which you probably won't.

If you use a case fan, it should be expelling air out of the case, or
pulling air into it, not just stirring around air within the case. The
best place for the first case fan is in the rear, right below the power
supply, exhausting out. It's just coincidence that this isn't too far
from the northbridge. If there is nowhere to mount an exhaust fan on the
rear then consider the front intake fan instead, though if there's a
stamped-in-metal fan grill there, it'd be highly preferable to cut that
out first.

Thanks, I'm going to disconnect the chipset fan and add a case fan at the
back, then see what happens.

Andrew

 

[Shep©]

Hello,

I have a Gigabyte 7VAX motherboard, AthlonXP2000. The 40mm fan on the
chipset is dying a quick, noisy death.

Put a few drops of light oil on the centre of the fan.I use Sunflower
cooking oil.Does the job.I usually strip the small sticker,put two
drops in,then clean with clear Alcohol and a bit of bog
-roll<tissue)so I can replace the sticker.
Sometimes it's a lot easier than you think



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