cooling questions.

[Sarah]

Hi, I found this site when I was looking for a new northbridge cooling solution so I came to the forums to ask for help.

Firstly, the cooling solution on my motherboard is rather strange, the heat sink seems overly huge compared to the chip underneath it and it gets extremely hot, even though any programs I use to see the temperature say the motherboard is around 40*C, even the bios, I would prefer peace of mind and to replace it.

This is the current cooling solution on the motherboard.



and this is what it is actually cooling underneath it



Would I be ok with replacing the current cooling solution with something for example like http://www.quietpc.com/gb-en-gbp/produc ... -hr-05-sli orr can anyone see any problems with that?

Also how would I remove the old heat sink? I know you have to remove the motherboard, I assume you have to somehow squeeze the white ends so the peg goes through the hole?

Also the cooling on my MSI 8600GT (fan version) is a little noisy, can anyone suggest something a little quieter for me?

Thank you for your time.

[WR304]

To remove the heatsink it should be a case of just squeezing the plastic pushpins through from the rear of the the motherboard. You use a pair of pliers to squeeze the pins together, and whilst holding the pins in tight, push them through. The heatsink will probably only have thermal paste on it, making it easy to remove.

There might be a problem fitting a Thermalright HR-05 SLI to that motherboard. The mounting kit is designed to line up symmetrically with the chipset but on the Asus M2N-E SLI the holes appear different.

If you look at the HR-05 SLI fitting instructions that could stop you being able to use the clips:

http://www.thermalright.com/new_a_page/ ... 05sli.html

You might have more success with something such as a Noctua NC-U6

http://www.quietpc.com/gb-en-gbp/produc ... ling/nc-u6

Installation:
http://www.noctua.at/pdf/manuals/noctua ... ual_en.pdf

or a Zalman ZM-NBF47

http://www.quietpc.com/gb-en-gbp/produc ... ling/zm-nb

Installation:
http://www.zalman.co.kr/Upload/product/NBF47_eng.PDF

Both of those have more fitting adjustment than the HR-05 SLI. You might not end up covering the entire chipset with the heatsink but it should get a reasonable contact.

The other option to consider is using thermal epoxy to fit the heatsink. Thermal epoxy gives you a very strong bond making it difficult to remove the heatsink in future:

http://www.quietpc.com/gb-en-gbp/produc ... r-adhesive

That would be a last resort if the clips don't fit.

For the graphics card you could try slowing down the fan using Rivatuner. It will make the card run hotter but also a bit quieter.

http://www.vaguesoft.com/users/dwood/bl ... rivatuner/

There are quite a few different options for a replacement graphics card cooler. The 8600GT is quite a cool card so you should be able to use a passive heatsink.

If you have enough clearance a Thermalright HR-03 rev A mounted above the card would work well:

http://www.quietpc.com/gb-en-gbp/produc ... a/tr-hr-03

You can fit it beneath the card too, but it could run into clearance problems depending on your choice of aftermarket motherboard heatsink.

[Sarah]

thanks a lot for your help, I guess I'll have to have a look at the chip properly to see what would fit, I have some thermal paste so I can put it back on afterwards. That passive graphics card cooler looks quite nice I might have to get myself one of them

[Step666]

That passive graphics card cooler looks quite nice I might have to get myself one of them

Just be aware that they're quite big.
There are two ways of mounting them so they are pretty flexible in that respect but you need to make sure there's enough clearance.

This picture is a good illustration of the two ways it can be mounted:



The top one has the cooler 'wrapped round' the card, it's a more compact way of mounting but, depending on where your card slots into your board, it may not fit (ie if it's towards the top it may interfere with your CPU cooler).

The bottom one is the alternative mounting method, the cooler 'hangs' from the card. The disadvantage of this is that it can block off an additional slot or two, so if you have a number of cards (sound card, TV tuner, a second graphics card, etc) that might not be suitable. However, the flip-side of mounting it this way is that should you choose to mount a cooling fan, it would also be in the right position to cool the RAM chips on the card.

[Sarah]

Aye I would probably have to mount it underneath, on my motherboard the 24pin connector is pretty much right above the graphics card so I don't think it would be possible to mount it on the top:



Plenty of clearance on the bottom though I think, even if I chose to go sli'd in the future, my side fan also blows right onto the graphics card so I could probably run it passively without a problem.

[Step666]

Yeah, looks like bottom it is.

But, if you can't think of other cards you'd want to add, then that's not really a problem.

[WR304]

Another graphics card cooler that may be worth considering is the the Thermalright V2. It's more compact that the Thermalright HR-03 so shouldn't interfere with a replacement motherboard cooler.

http://www.quietpc.com/gb-en-gbp/produc ... lers/tr-v2

Review:
http://www.tweaknews.net/reviews/therma ... /index.php

Review using 8600GTS card showing clearance:
http://www.hardwarecanucks.com/forum/ha ... eview.html

The 8600GT isn't a particularly hot card (Power consumption of 20 watts at idle and 60 watts approx under load) and is cooler than the 8600GTS so it should work without a fan.

http://enthusiast.hardocp.com/article.h ... VzaWFzdA==

If you can fit it along with the replacement motherboard chipset cooler the larger Thermalright HR-03 Rev A (or HR-03GT which uses the same mounting holes) would be a better choice though.

Taking out some of the PCI blanking plates beneath the graphics card will help with cooling too, by stopping any hot air getting trapped in the space under the graphics card.

[Sarah]

Right I tried that rivatuner thing with my graphics card and it doesn't work at all, I think my card lacks any kind of pwm control, it does have a strange wire for the fan though:



If I run the card like that its really noisy, but if I remove the extra Y bit of wire in the middle and plug the connector to the board I would say it runs at about 60% which is quieter but still the loudest thing in my system. I've tried using Rivatuner with both that bit of wire in and out and it still can't change the speed, I'll probably just stump out for that passive one or a zalman one when my next paycheck comes through if I can't figure it out

Must be kinda weird talking to a girl geek?

[Step666]

Can't help with the RivaTuner thing but this caught my eye...

Must be kinda weird talking to a girl geek?

No, it isn't. Should it be?
I can't think of a forum I post on (well, at least semi-regularly anyway) that doesn't have a (small) number of women on it, all of whom would probably be classed girl geeks in their own way.

[WR304]

It's a shame Rivatuner didn't work. Everyone who makes Nvidia 8600 cards seems to use their own custom design.

The good thing about a cooler like the Thermalright HR-03 is that you can transfer it from card to card. It's compatible with most current ATI and Nvidia graphics cards.

The tricky bit is going to be that chipset cooler. I've been trying to find any link where someone has fitted a Thermalright HR-05 to a M2N-E SLI motherboard without any luck.

You can fit it to Asus M2N-E or M2N-32 SLI motherboards, but they have a different layout to the M2N-E SLI.

http://www.asus.com/products.aspx?l1=3& ... odelmenu=1


Asus M2N-E Motherboard

http://www.asus.com/products.aspx?l1=3& ... odelmenu=2


Asus M2N-E SLI Motherboard

If the chip is in the same place as the M2N-E , relative to the white pushpins, then any cooler should fit. Your best bet would probably be to take the stock cooler off and have a look at the layout before actually ordering anything.

[Sarah]

ok I removed the heatsink off the board with a little force, the compound used is very hard, I think its that thermal glue you can get? Anyway heres where the holes are etc.





I put a tiny dab of thermal paste on just as a temp measure until I can get a new cooler, it is still making good contact because the heatsink is still burning hot, the temperatures don't seem to have changed so it will do for now.

Are the holes in a suitable position for a third party cooler?

How do you remove thermal glue, some kind of solvent?

[WR304]

You can fit any aftermarket cooler with that layout. The Thermalright HR-05 SLI you were looking at originally would be best to give you plenty of clearance.

It's just going to be very solid thermal compound on the chip. The best thing to clean away thermal compound is Arctic Silver Arcti-clean:

http://www.quietpc.com/gb-en-gbp/produc ... kacc/acl60

Acetone (nail polish remover) or surgical spirit works fairly well but can leave a residue.

With the really solid compound on Asus motherboards you need to leave it to soak for a while.

If it still doesn't come away use I'd use a craft knife to gently scrape it off.

[Sarah]

ok, will the cleaner damage the board in any way? I was thinking of saturating some cotton wool in it and leaving it to soak over night, but obviously don't want to do that if I ended up with a melted pile of plastic in the morning

[WR304]

If you're lucky it could just wipe off with Arcti-clean straight away.

I'd leave the chip to soak for 5 minutes or so rather than overnight. I don't think Arcti-clean would damage the components but there's no point risking it.

Soak the aluminium heatsink for as long as you like though.

http://www.arcticsilver.com/arcticlean.htm

[Sarah]

Thanks for all your help guys, I really appreciate it