NB Fan Replacement

[demandred55]

Hey guys,

My north bridge fan recently started becoming very noisy and slowing/stopping intermitently. I tried cleaning out the dust but it didn't really help so I ordered up a new one . Well it has arrived and I am now presented with a problem. It does not come with any means to attach to my motherboard (specs in sig). The original used a spring steel wire to attach to two metal staples in the board on either side of the fan. The new fan came with some plastic plugs that are supposed to fit into holes in the MB, holes I do not have! It also came with thermal tape, which according to the instructions, are for the heatsinks.

Now, I currently have the new fan attached to the chipset with the thermal tape and some wire ties connecting it to the staples on the MB so that if the tape gives out it wont fall on my video card. These ties do not really hold the fan against the chipset though, so if the tape gives out the fan will no longer be cooling the chip. Do you feel this is acceptable? The temperatures do not seem to have changed much during the whole process (old fan when it worked, old fan when it didn't work, and new fan), staying anywhere from 32-35 at idle, up to 45 max during game play.

I could cut off the spring wire from the original fan and rig it in some way, I think, but don't want to go through the hassle if it is not necessary. My other option would be to use the larger of the heatsinks with no fan, attached with thermal tape. I have a lot more confidence in the thermal tapes ability to hold the much lighter heatsink up than holding the fan. I have a side panel fan blowing almost directly at the chipset. Do I need the chipset fan?

Thanks for your help,
Demandred.

[Cricket]

If this were my motherboard, I would use thermal epoxy to attach the new heatsink to the northbridge...I never really cared for thermal tape.

Arctic Silver makes a thermal epoxy.

Cricket

[demandred55]

Cricket,

Thanks for the reply. You are saying you would use the heatsink rather than the fan?

Demandred.

[Cricket]

What I've done before is epoxy an old Socket 5 or Socket 7 heatsink to the northbridge (without a fan) to have passive cooling (no need to worry about fan failure).

But if the heatsink you have does have a fan on it, by all means use it. Modern chipsets do run hotter than earlier ones.

Cricket

[demandred55]

Again, thanks for the reply.

Thermal epoxy? Do you apply that directly to the die of the chipset, or do you use thermal grease on the die, and epoxy around the outside, essentially gluing it to the silicon surround of the die?

Demandred.

[Cricket]

Originally Posted by demandred55 Thermal epoxy? Do you apply that directly to the die of the chipset, or do you use thermal grease on the die, and epoxy around the outside, essentially gluing it to the silicon surround of the die?

After mixing the epoxy parts together, you apply a very thin layer to the CPU die and only the die...not the silicon around it. Then you apply a very thin layer to the contact area of the heatsink (where the CPU die would touch). Join them together and wait a day or two before using the computer. The thermal epoxy needs time to cure.

Cricket

[demandred55]

Thanks Cricket.

I have actually decided to go with this fan which is actually for this application. I have also ordered some thermal epoxy in case I can't get the clips to work properly (as one of the reviews says they had to use the clip from the original fan to get it to work) and also to attach the kit I already purchased to my vid card, which is it's correct application I believe.

Thanks again,
Demandred.