Replacing northbridge fan on Asus A7V133

[Andrew Z Carpenter]

Hi folks,

Working on a machine which has a failing northbridge
chipset fan. Never having had to replace one of these
before, I'm not sure exactly how to proceed.

The fan itself is 40mm. It appears to be attached to
the board with two screws at opposing diagonal corners,
with plastic lugs at the remaining two corners.

Is this a standard design, or something proprietory to
this Asus board?

Picture here:
http://www.angelfire.com/ego/andrewc/files/DSCF0145.JPG

These chipset coolers don't yet seem to be so readily
available to buy as processor coolers, so my choices
were a little limited.

I've found one which seems to be a good price and looks
like it's the right size, but I'm unsure if the fitting
mechanism will be compatible?

http://www.thecoolingshop.com/product_info.php/cPath/98_3/products_id/787

In fact, I can't even see a fitting mechanism in that
picture. I guess if all else fails I could just replace
the fan and leave the original heatsink in place.

I'm a little wary of ordering an unsuitable part, so
I'd like some advice from you guys. Will this replacement
HSF be compatible? If not, do you have any recommendations
on which product will be, and that is available to the
UK market?

Many thanks in advance,

Andrew

 

[Aksel]

Hi folks,

Working on a machine which has a failing northbridge
chipset fan. Never having had to replace one of these
before, I'm not sure exactly how to proceed.

No need to replace it, just pull the powerplug to stop the noise, works
perfectly without fan, I hav run mine without fan for 2 years.

Greetings Aksel

 

[GSV Three Minds in a Can]

No need to replace it, just pull the powerplug to stop the noise, works
perfectly without fan, I hav run mine without fan for 2 years.

Is actually better to just remove the fan, which gives the HS a larger
area to dissipate through (the fan is a pretty fair insulator). Mine is
still running that way, after ~3 years (but I don't overclock or
over-volt). (Well, not the Northbridge, anyway).

 

[S Akky]

Andrew Z Carpenter put fingers to keyboard and typed...

Hi folks,

Working on a machine which has a failing northbridge
chipset fan. Never having had to replace one of these
before, I'm not sure exactly how to proceed.

The fan itself is 40mm. It appears to be attached to
the board with two screws at opposing diagonal corners,
with plastic lugs at the remaining two corners.

Is this a standard design, or something proprietory to
this Asus board?

Picture here:
http://www.angelfire.com/ego/andrewc/files/DSCF0145.JPG

I had the exact same fan on my asus a7m266 and the same problem. Like
yourself I was looking to replace the fan but adivce from this site
directed me to the zalman passive coolers i.e. no fan, just a whacking
great heatsink.

http://www.thecoolingshop.com/product_info.php/cPath/98_3/products_id/696


The screws just secure the fan to the heatsink, the two plastic pushpins
secure the assembly to the motherboard. I had to remove the motherboard,
flip it upside down and use a pair of pliers to squeeze the ends of the
pushpins while i pulled the cooler off.

It was a simple job lapping the heatsink, assembling the 'arms' for the
new pushpins, applying thermal compound and fitting (full instructions
included).

It works a treat!

 

[S Akky]

S Akky put fingers to keyboard and typed...

http://www.angelfire.com/ego/andrewc/files/DSCF0145.JPG

PS for god's sake a little Hoovering wouln't kill you! ;o)

 

[tomcas]

Hi folks,

Working on a machine which has a failing northbridge
chipset fan. Never having had to replace one of these
before, I'm not sure exactly how to proceed.

The fan itself is 40mm. It appears to be attached to
the board with two screws at opposing diagonal corners,
with plastic lugs at the remaining two corners.

Is this a standard design, or something proprietory to
this Asus board?

Picture here:
http://www.angelfire.com/ego/andrewc/files/DSCF0145.JPG

These chipset coolers don't yet seem to be so readily
available to buy as processor coolers, so my choices
were a little limited.

I've found one which seems to be a good price and looks
like it's the right size, but I'm unsure if the fitting
mechanism will be compatible?

http://www.thecoolingshop.com/product_info.php/cPath/98_3/products_id/787

In fact, I can't even see a fitting mechanism in that
picture. I guess if all else fails I could just replace
the fan and leave the original heatsink in place.

I'm a little wary of ordering an unsuitable part, so
I'd like some advice from you guys. Will this replacement
HSF be compatible? If not, do you have any recommendations
on which product will be, and that is available to the
UK market?

Many thanks in advance,

Andrew

Most people just take the fans off and leave the heatsink by itself. I
find if you take the fans apart and oil them you can get a couple of
years before it needs it again.

 

[spodosaurus]

Hi folks,

Working on a machine which has a failing northbridge
chipset fan. Never having had to replace one of these
before, I'm not sure exactly how to proceed.

Buy a zalman northbridge fanless heatsink. Install it. Be happy

The fan itself is 40mm. It appears to be attached to
the board with two screws at opposing diagonal corners,
with plastic lugs at the remaining two corners.

Is this a standard design, or something proprietory to
this Asus board?

Standard design for northbridge heatsinks with fans. Like I said above,
get a Zalman heatsink. No moving parts = no fan failures.

Picture here:
http://www.angelfire.com/ego/andrewc/files/DSCF0145.JPG

These chipset coolers don't yet seem to be so readily
available to buy as processor coolers, so my choices
were a little limited.

The zalman northbridge heatsink should fit most motherboards with the
two pin approach, like you've described.

I've found one which seems to be a good price and looks
like it's the right size, but I'm unsure if the fitting
mechanism will be compatible?

http://www.thecoolingshop.com/product_info.php/cPath/98_3/products_id/787

The same shop has a newer version of the zalman heatsink I've been
talking about (the one I use on my Gigabyte GA7-VA motherboard after its
northbridge fan died in the first week):

http://www.thecoolingshop.com/product_info.php/cPath/98_3/products_id/696

 

[Andrew Z Carpenter]

Buy a zalman northbridge fanless heatsink. Install it. Be happy

No moving parts = no fan failures.

The zalman northbridge heatsink should fit most motherboards with the two pin
approach, like you've described.

The same shop has a newer version of the zalman heatsink I've been talking about
(the one I use on my Gigabyte GA7-VA motherboard after its northbridge fan died
in the first week):

http://www.thecoolingshop.com/product_info.php/cPath/98_3/products_id/696

Spodosaurus and everybody else that has replied in this thread,

Thank you for confirming that this is a standardised fitting design.

Looks like the general concensus is to dump the fan and go for the
zalman heatsink.

Many thanks,

Andrew

 

[Postermon]

buy a new asus board, for god's sake... they're so inexpensive, unless
you enjoy tinkering with this setup.

 

[Andrew Z Carpenter]

buy a new asus board, for god's sake... they're so
inexpensive, unless you enjoy tinkering with this setup.

*cough splutter*

Replace the entire board because the fan doesn't work so
well any more? What kind of mentality is that? Do you
buy a new pair of shoes if your shoelace snaps?

 

[Ronald Cole]

*cough splutter*

Replace the entire board because the fan doesn't work so
well any more? What kind of mentality is that? Do you
buy a new pair of shoes if your shoelace snaps?

Yes, because by the time my shoelace snaps, it's well past time for a
new pair of shoes!

 

[Alex Fraser]

*cough splutter*

Replace the entire board because the fan doesn't work so
well any more? What kind of mentality is that? Do you
buy a new pair of shoes if your shoelace snaps?

I might, if the shoes were so worn that they didn't have much more useful
life anyway, and the cost of a shoelace was a significant fraction of the
cost of a new pair of shoes (complete with shoelaces).

Alex

 

[David Maynard]

buy a new asus board, for god's sake... they're so inexpensive, unless
you enjoy tinkering with this setup.

Send me your broken parts, please. Because I'd love getting a motherboard
for the cost of a 3 buck fan.

 

[M Brundage]

I had the exact same fan on my asus a7m266 and the same problem. Like
yourself I was looking to replace the fan but adivce from this site
directed me to the zalman passive coolers i.e. no fan, just a whacking
great heatsink.

http://www.thecoolingshop.com/product_info.php/cPath/98_3/products_id/696


The screws just secure the fan to the heatsink, the two plastic pushpins
secure the assembly to the motherboard. I had to remove the motherboard,
flip it upside down and use a pair of pliers to squeeze the ends of the
pushpins while i pulled the cooler off.

It was a simple job lapping the heatsink, assembling the 'arms' for the
new pushpins, applying thermal compound and fitting (full instructions
included).

It works a treat!

Thanks Shabs,

Just got done ordering that heatsink for my A7V266E that has the same
heatsink-fan combo. ( I can't understand why ASUS installed so many of those
junk fans on their motherboards.) I came here to see if I could find out
how to install it. I'd been lubing it every few months since I got the board
and finaly got tired of it.

Gotta love newsgroups ! What easier way is there to find info like this ?

 

[spodosaurus]

Thanks Shabs,

Just got done ordering that heatsink for my A7V266E that has the same
heatsink-fan combo. ( I can't understand why ASUS installed so many of those
junk fans on their motherboards.) I came here to see if I could find out
how to install it. I'd been lubing it every few months since I got the board
and finaly got tired of it.

Most motherboard fans and video card fans are poor quality in my
experience. ASUS isn't the only company guilty of using poor fans.
That's why I like Zalman

Gotta love newsgroups ! What easier way is there to find info like this ?

--
spammage trappage: replace fishies_ with yahoo

I'm going to die rather sooner than I'd like. I tried to protect my
neighbours from crime, and became the victim of it. To jump to the end
of the story, as a result of this I need a bone marrow transplant. Many
people around the world are waiting for a marrow transplant, too. Please
volunteer to be a marrow donor:
http://www.abmdr.org.au/
http://www.marrow.org/

 

[GSV Three Minds in a Can]

Bitstring <[email protected]>, from the wonderful person M

Just got done ordering that heatsink for my A7V266E that has the same
heatsink-fan combo.

You are wasting your money unless you are overclocking.

( I can't understand why ASUS installed so many of those
junk fans on their motherboards.

1) they're cheap
2) mugs think they are neat - a marketing feature.
3) they aren't necessary anyway, so if they fail, 'no problem'.

) I came here to see if I could find out
how to install it. I'd been lubing it every few months since I got the board
and finaly got tired of it.

Gotta love newsgroups ! What easier way is there to find info like this ?

Google - groups.google.com. This has been discussed about 100 times in
the last 4-5 years, and the answers haven't changed at all (except we
now have 3-4 years more data that says the fan is not necessary, except
maybe in Death Valley).

If Northbridge cooling was critical, Asus would have probably bothered
to get a flat top on the N'bridge packaging, and to fit the HS with
something other than double-sided sticky tape (or in some cases
'nothing').

 

[jykkejee]

Replace the entire board because the fan doesn't work so
well any more? What kind of mentality is that? Do you
buy a new pair of shoes if your shoelace snaps?

Well, I always enjoy meeting people like me. People who rather save
money than burden waste dumps with perfectly good motherboards And
you can save even more money. In all probability, your motherboard will
function very well without the fan. Many motherboards with the same
chipset don't have a fan. (Maybe some of them have a bigger heatsink to
compensate.) Anyway, I'm sure the biggest damage you can do by running
without the fan is having an instable computer. Try it out. If it's
stable without the fan you can forget about getting a new one. And your
computer will be quieter.

 

[Andrew Z Carpenter]

Well, I always enjoy meeting people like me. People who rather save
money than burden waste dumps with perfectly good motherboards And
you can save even more money. In all probability, your motherboard will
function very well without the fan. Many motherboards with the same
chipset don't have a fan. (Maybe some of them have a bigger heatsink to
compensate.) Anyway, I'm sure the biggest damage you can do by running
without the fan is having an instable computer. Try it out. If it's
stable without the fan you can forget about getting a new one. And your
computer will be quieter.

Well, the machine was passed to me for inspection because one of the
symptoms was hard lock ups with screen corruption (green and black vertical
lines usually). I've seen this particular symptom before and the reason
then was overheating due to a busted cpu cooler retention mechanism, so
when I opened the case and saw the stopped chipset fan I felt pretty
certain I'd found the culprit. I guess I'll find out for sure when the
parts arrive in the next day or two

 

[jykkejee]

Well, the machine was passed to me for inspection because one of the
symptoms was hard lock ups with screen corruption (green and black vertical
lines usually). I've seen this particular symptom before and the reason
then was overheating due to a busted cpu cooler retention mechanism, so
when I opened the case and saw the stopped chipset fan I felt pretty
certain I'd found the culprit. I guess I'll find out for sure when the
parts arrive in the next day or two

OK, then you may have a legitimate reason to try a new fan ;-)
Just out of curiosity, let us know if it helps.

 

[Andrew Z Carpenter]

OK, then you may have a legitimate reason to try a new fan ;-)
Just out of curiosity, let us know if it helps.

It worked, the machine now seems stable. I also added an 80mm
case fan at the rear of the machine to promote air movement over
the Zalman heatsink.

Thank you everybody.