Northbridge chipset heatsink...

[Crax]

I guess this fits under cooling? Anyways, my chipset fan on my NFS-7 board just crapped out and Im lookin to what Im gonna replace it with. I could order the exact same thing, but Im trying to decide if it would be more logical to go with something else. So my options are: heatsink+fan, just fan, or just heatsink. Any comments? Im having trouble finding much about this cause it doesnt seem that most people think the chipset needs that much cooling... At least what I have read so far at least. Gimme yo thoughts :)

[GanymedeTen]

Well, what speed do you have your FSB set at? That's what will determine it. I've found that the chips on my motherboard(back when I had one *sigh*) got hot enough to hurt my fingers when I touched them because I had my FSB fairly high. Sufficient case cooling with some heatsinks on the various chips as well as a HSF for your NB is a wise decision. However, if you don't take your FSB very high, simply using a heatsink alone will be fine.

[Crax]

Ok... Right now Im at 200fsb, but I plan on upping it some once I buy a new hs for my cpu...

[dantheman]

If it's at 200 Mhz right now and you plan on increasing it some, definitly get and heatsink with a fan for it.

[PCgeek]

the new thermalright NB hsf looks good

[GNXtreme]

Swiftech makes a sexxy one too...and I think there is one by ?micro cool? not sure if that is right or not...

[PCgeek]

Yeah, the microcool north pole, that's an awesome on too. It also comes with MOSFET sinks...

[Assimilator87]

Thermalright just released a copper verson of their NB cooler, NB1-C. Combined with a high performance Delta fan, that thing will yield some nice temps.

[chris000001]

Is a copper better than aluminum?

[ElrichMeister]

copper perfroms alot better when it has active cooling, but i heard that aluminum is better at passive cooling, but yea copper can desissapate (spelling?) more than aluminum ever can. im thinking of getting that NB heatsink too

[Ginsu543]

The word is "dissipate." I didn't realize Thermalright had a copper version... hmm... that sounds mighty tasty... I think I want some... hmm...

[TranceJunkieXL]

Damn, I just purchased the aluminum one. LOL. The thing I'm not to fond of about thermalrights is that on the NF2 chipset it doesn't cover the last 1mm of the upper and lower corner of the NB. Hasn't seemed to cause any problems on the EPoX though. It also comes with a 45mm fan rather than the common 40mm, so I couldn't fit on one of those more powerful 40mm without much hassle and greater efficiency. The North Pole not only is copper and has that higher cfm 40mm fan, but it comes with other chipsinks as well. Well worth the higher price.
Copper can conduct heat more rapidly than aluminum because it can absorb it faster. The problem is, without a fan the heat will not dissipate as rapidly as it would from an aluminum HS. Essentially it can pull the heat away from the heatsource faster, but will hold it longer and cause more heat buildup if you don't have a way to remove it rapidly (air or water).
Note, Thermalright also seems to have overlooked including any sort of instructions with their aluminum cooler, so you have to guess which adaptors to use to fit the chipset you want to cool. :-\
I see Sidewindercomputers has them now but at $28.95 I'd still have to recommend the North Pole for just $1 more (unless you have limited headroom).

[Ginsu543]

Which is better, the North Pole or the Swiftech MCX159? Is there any website that has done a comparison test on them?

[PCgeek]

The thing is that copper absorbs heat better, but aluminum dissipates it to the air better. So if your'e going passive, go with aluminum. If you're going copper u need a high cfm fan

[ElrichMeister]

i dont know if i have enough headroom for the north pole, i have the 947u and 92mm tornado

[Sadistic]

Im bumping mainly because Ive heard of alot of people just flat out removing thier NF7-S northbridge coolers and replacing them with a large static heatsink under the claim that it not only performs better but its less noise since its just the sink alone.

http://www.newegg.com/app/Showimage.asp?image=35-118-202-05.jpg

The link above is one of the ones I saw mentioned quite a bit. Right now Im not really pushing my computer to hard in the FSB department. I saw a NB cooler linked awhile back by PCgeek (I think it was the swifttech one) which seemd pretty nice.

My main concern is just how effective or ineffective the stock MB cooler is. Just from looking at it I noticed that there are a number of L shaped peices of metal which make up the edge of the cooler. There are 1/10th inch gaps in between each peice of metal to let air out. I havent actually taken the NB cooler out yet but can anyone tell me if these metal tabs can be done away with to let the lil fan breathe more or if they are required for the structural integrity of the fan. Im hoping to bend them all outward to allow more air to escape from the fan itself provided it doesnt goof the fan.

At any rate Im gonna have to take the darn thing off and drop some AS5 thats been sitting in my fridge for some time. Its quite lonely =p. Im assuming the usual rubbing alcohol will be ok to remove the compound the fan came with?

[Ginsu543]

Yes, isopropyl (rubbing) alcohol is fine to remove the white stuff under the stock NB cooler. As for bending the fins out, I personally think it would be better for you to just get a better cooler. This one (http://www.jab-tech.com/customer/product.php?productid=1529&cat=93&page=1) is an exact replacement to the stock NB cooler for the NF7-S (I've actually used one on my NF7-S Rev 1.0) but made of copper. I recently purchased and installed this one (http://www.jab-tech.com/customer/product.php?productid=2408&cat=93&page=1) when I got my NF7-S Rev 2.0. It works great for me.

[bluegreenshxt]

if you aint mad uppin the fsb you dont gotta drop in a new cooler...

those fins are basically like normal fins on a heat sink...they help dissipate heat by lettin air from the fan blow on them...so bending them down will probably do more bad than good...

you can always get a passive heatsink and add a small fan to it...

[Sadistic]

Yes, isopropyl (rubbing) alcohol is fine to remove the white stuff under the stock NB cooler. As for bending the fins out, I personally think it would be better for you to just get a better cooler. This one (http://www.jab-tech.com/customer/product.php?productid=1529&cat=93&page=1) is an exact replacement to the stock NB cooler for the NF7-S (I've actually used one on my NF7-S Rev 1.0) but made of copper. I recently purchased and installed this one (http://www.jab-tech.com/customer/product.php?productid=2408&cat=93&page=1) when I got my NF7-S Rev 2.0. It works great for me.


Ah rock on that is pretty nice and it comes with some extra heatsinks. Throw that extra badboy on the south bridge. Thanks for the links Ginsu =)

In the picture of the first link it looks like 2 heatsinks stacked up sitting next to the cooler, does it really come with both of them or just one of them?

Also I noticed alot of folks dropping sinks on the MOSFETs. At least in the NF-7s Case theres 3 of them all lined up vertically with some PCB seperating them. Has anyone cut a really long and thing heatsink to spread the heat between em or is there a better option.

[PCgeek]

yeah it comes with those 2 extra hsf's. U can use the small one for the SB and use the medium one for the mosfets...