Replacing Northbridge Cooler

[psd99]

Hi alll


I have a motherboard a Gigabyte 7400 pro 2 something like this!


there is a fan on there I messaged Flopps last night and he told me that the fan is the northbridge cooler its got 8x agp written on it i think its something to do with the nforce 2 chipset

its very loud for my liking because i have got all silenced components and this is not letting me sleep at night.

well if i just turnt it off it might be dangerous it may damage the board.
so i definetly want to replace it as long as its easy.

now im not to sure what to do now.

could someone explain to me properly about what to do?


do i need to replace the fan with a new one?
or what Ive never had a northbridge cooler before

your help is appreciated.


psd99

 

[floppybootstomp]

To replace the NB cooler:

First, you'll have to remove the motherboard.

There are two pillars holding the heatsink/fan in place, through two holes in the motherboard.

Locate the bottom of the pillars and squeeze the pillar lugs together, thus freeing them and the cooler. Mind you don't lose them as they're spring loaded.

Twist the cooler off, unplug it and remove.

Clean all thermal transfer paste off the chipset using meths and a clean cloth or cotton buds.

If you want quiet, I suggest using the Zalman fanless NB chipset cooler, it's about six quid from overclockers (Esnet).

Apply some thermal transfer paste to the chipset in the same way as you'd apply it to a CPU.

Then fit the Zalman cooler by pushing the pillars through the motherboard holes.

Done.

If, by some odd chance the Zalman cooler doesn't line up with the existing holes (unlikely) then as I said in the PM, use Arctic Silver Epoxy Resin to glue the cooler to the chipset. The epoxy resin is also available from Overclockers.

 

[psd99]

thanks



ill look very closely at it and get back to you.


will i need to remove both the fan and the heatsink?

is this wat i need:

http://www.overclock.co.uk/customer/product.php?productid=16980

something like this? no fan in the end rite?

 

[psd99]

ahhh maybe not this one

Compatible Northbridge Chipsets
ZM-NB47J is compatible with all Northbridge chipsets that do not have a built-in graphics chipset.



but something along the lines

 

[floppybootstomp]

will i need to remove both the fan and the heatsink?

Yes. Read above again. 'Cooler' refers to combined fan/heatsink. If you don't remove the heatsink, how you going to put a new heatsink on?

is this wat i need:

http://www.overclock.co.uk/customer/product.php?productid=16980

something like this? no fan in the end rite?

Correct.

 

[Cache-man]

I use one of those Zalman heatsinks on my Gigabyte GA-8IK1100rev2 mobo, as the original HSF was just too noisy.
In fact many NB HSF's are often unnecesarry, and are often only included on the board to make the board look more powerfull to buyers.
So, you should be fine with the Zalman NB heatsink.

ahhh maybe not this one

Compatible Northbridge Chipsets
ZM-NB47J is compatible with all Northbridge chipsets that do not have a built-in graphics chipset.

but something along the lines

Does your board have integrated graphics, or a graphics card?

 

[PotGuy]

or disabled intergrated gaphics

 

[floppybootstomp]

I sold him the board, no, it doesn't have integrated graphics, it's a Gigabyte 7400N Pro 2, Nvidia 2 chipset.

 

[psd99]

lol thanks i dont even knw wat i got!!!

so will this heatsink fit then
its the correct one?

ill sort this out soon!

 

[Cache-man]

Yeah, should be fine.
The Zalman NB heatsink is pretty universal

 

[psd99]

good thanks

cache man it is quite simply a job of removing the old heatsink and fan
then putting this zalman one in place?

 

[crazylegs]

The easy way around this is to just unplug the heatsink fan and leave it...you shouldn't have any probs as most of these north and south bridge coolers are just for show....


We don't have any fans running on any of the chipsets and test rigs at work and we don't get any problems whatsoever..

They just for show more than anything else...

 

[psd99]

The easy way around this is to just unplug the heatsink fan and leave it...you shouldn't have any probs as most of these north and south bridge coolers are just for show....


We don't have any fans running on any of the chipsets and test rigs at work and we don't get any problems whatsoever..

They just for show more than anything else...

i like your idea here
ive been thinking along the same lines

i dont use that system to play games
i watch dvds and movies

but i still think this is a bit dangerous to the board

what do ppl think?

 

[floppybootstomp]

Don't use cooling for the northbridge chipset at your own risk.

I'd disagree about the coolers being just for show.

Run the CPU at 100% usage for ten minutes then put your finger on the chip. Right, now go put some burn ointment on it

The Zalman passive will fit, will work and is good.

And as I'm now banging my head off of several blunt, hard, stationary objects with the frustration of tyrying to get the point across, this will be my last contribution to this thread.

Wanders off muttering to self.........

 

[psd99]

I'd disagree about the coolers being just for show.


And as I'm now banging my head off of several blunt, hard, stationary objects with the frustration of tyrying to get the point across, this will be my last contribution to this thread.

Wanders off muttering to self.........

i would disagree too
but i hope this isnt ur last contribution to this thread

i may need some advice and help when fitting the heatsink!

so please Flopps dont lose heart on a poor choice of decision because i will make the right one!

 

[muckshifter]

The easy way around this is to just unplug the heatsink fan and leave it...you shouldn't have any probs as most of these north and south bridge coolers are just for show....
We don't have any fans running on any of the chipsets and test rigs at work and we don't get any problems whatsoever..
They just for show more than anything else...

Whoa there ... while I agree they "look" gimmicky and a stupid idea to put a fan on in the first place ... I can assure you they are needed on todays motherboards.

You CAN fry an egg on them chips ... not to mention knuckles.

 

[crazylegs]

Don't use cooling for the northbridge chipset at your own risk.

I'd disagree about the coolers being just for show.

Run the CPU at 100% usage for ten minutes then put your finger on the chip. Right, now go put some burn ointment on it

Firstly Flopp's as much as i value your judgement on many subjects on this forum i still feel these fans are more show than go, yes they do get hot, i know as yes i have burnt a knuckle on them now and again, but we have 15 test rigs at work which run from 9.00am in the morning until 5.30pm at night non stop, we test hardware on them and they get there fair share of 3D games played on them.


And also i don't have a chipset heatsink or fan on my machine at home and thats been running sweet since i built it new from december 2004 to present, and i have played everything on my machine.....

However unpopular my opinion still stands....

 

[Cache-man]

While it is possible to just remove the fan from your current NB heatsink, I wouldnt advise it, as it would get unnecesarilly hot, due to the small and shoddy heatsink supplied with the fan on the board, as it is not intended to be run passively. As we all know PC components do not run at their most efficient when overheating, and also the possible lifespan of the NB will be shortened.

The Zalman NB passive heatsink is designed to be passive (no fans), and because of this it has elongated cooling pillars, giving it a large surface area to dissipate the heat. It is advisable to have good air flow through your case though for maximum efficiency.

It is easy to fit and does come with full instructions, although it will require removal of your motherboard to remove the current HSF's attachement pins, but once the old one it off, it's just a case of cleaning up the NB chip, and then attaching the cooler as per the instructions. Some good thermal compound, such as Arctic Silver is recommended here.


My Zalman NB cooler works very well, although I do have quite a bit of air being drawn accross it from the VERY CLOSE Arctic Cooling Freezer4 CPU cooler (just a few mm clearance on my setup). All works well though, check out the pic.

 

[psd99]

nice there cache man

what is that green thing?
underneath the zalman heatsink

it looks like a bloddy cpu!!!

 

[muckshifter]

nice there cache man

what is that green thing?
underneath the zalman heatsink

it looks like a bloddy cpu!!!

It is ...

But to save confusion they are called Nothbridge & Southbridge Processing Units.