a8n-sli chipset heatsink fan

[mrscintilla]

it lies right under one of the video cards. It's way too small. So if you are to replace it with something better, what would you use?

 

[alyks42]

pfft, can you even find one that size?

 

[bap4201]

Originally posted by: mrscintilla
it lies right under one of the video cards. It's way too small. So if you are to replace it with something better, what would you use?

Well the chipset does not lay under the 6800gts, and I've got two 6800gt's installed and the chipset and fan are clearly visible. The chipset fan lies BETWEEN the two cards and IS NOT COVERED BY ANY CARD, unlike the other version of sli boards like gigabyte and the proposed msi -sli verion. Now I'm not sure about the 6800 ultras...anyone know?

Asus laid this board out right, compared to the other sli boards i've seen. Downside you may have to sacrifice a 1x pci but the msi doesn't even have any!

Having said that I have not found a solution as to what to replace it with. I was hoping for other suggestions, but again it is NOT covered by the card.

 

[bap4201]

see this pic w/ two cards installed to show what i mean: A8N-SLI chipset w/ 2 cards

 

[mrscintilla]

small, indeed... so, how does it perform? not too loud? Frankly, I don't trust any small fan like that on a hot heatsink... But if asus thinks it's sufficient, perhaps it is. I don't know how often chipset fans fail on other boards.

 

[Kovie]

Its a small 8K rpm fan, and the chipset can get somewhat hot. Its rather loud, and Im fairly sure after a month or two its going to die on me anyways (was on my third IC7 fan).

Then again you cant hear it over a 6800GT's fan.

 

[mrscintilla]

so kovie, do you think replacing the asus heasink&fan with a zalman something.., just a tall aluminum heatsink, would be enough?

 

[barkeley]

Originally posted by: bap4201

Originally posted by: mrscintilla
Asus laid this board out right, compared to the other sli boards i've seen. Downside you may have to sacrifice a 1x pci but the msi doesn't even have any!

Having said that I have not found a solution as to what to replace it with. I was hoping for other suggestions, but again it is NOT covered by the card.

Asus' chipset fan is small, cheap and noisy. (and can't be replaced)

 

[mrscintilla]

are you sure it cannot be replaced? it looks like it's just the push pins that you have to take off.

 

[TheGeek]

hey bap4201, where did you get your 6800GT's?

 

[Dethfrumbelo]

Originally posted by: mrscintilla
are you sure it cannot be replaced? it looks like it's just the push pins that you have to take off.

You can probably replace the whole thing with one of Zalman's passive NB coolers and have a 120mm up front blowing over it. If it doesn't fit, you're only out $5.

 

[bap4201]

Originally posted by: TheGeek
hey bap4201, where did you get your 6800GT's?

chumbo dot com

 

[mrscintilla]

I just saw the picture of Gigabyte's nforce4 board, and it has a SMALL fan for the nforce4 chipset as well. Being active, that gigabyte has the same flaw as an8n-sli. I wonder whether all nforce4 boards require active cooling. As a personal matter, now I feel better about my choice of asus, since gigabyte is just as flawed and there gotta be an aftermarket replacement heatsink for all the nforce4 board...

 

[bookman]

Chantech's VNF4 has a passive heatsink for the Nforce 4 chip.

 

[barkeley]

Gigabyte's fan is a bit bigger when you see both mb by side, first reports from users I read say it is not noisy, but we have to wait for more reports.

 

[sal69]

the asus fan i by far the loudest thing in my case ....

but u can replace that for sure, but the problem is 4x4 fans will never be really silent since they need the rpm's
i hope smb finds a passive cooling sollution ...

sal

 

[mrscintilla]

Originally posted by: bookman
Chantech's VNF4 has a passive heatsink for the Nforce 4 chip.

really? then perhaps a big passive heatsink is enough for nforce-sli chip.... Has anyone tried it on A8N? I guess someone will soon enough. I am waiitng for my board to arrive. If it's loud enough, I'll make a little profject out of it...

 

[sal69]

so i simply did the following to my board =).

i removed the original fan which was barely 3cm and 8500 rpm.
then i mounted a 4x4 fan from titan which ran at 5.5k originaly.
with this baby my chipset never passed 37°
so i reduced the rpms to 3.5k and now its mx 40° which is ok for me.
but the noise is 10% of the original fan and its a cheap option.

sal

 

[hwan]

I'm thinking about replacing the stock fan/hs with this. Has anyone tried it?

http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/...jsp?ProductCode=371030

 

[JMag]

Originally posted by: hwan
I'm thinking about replacing the stock fan/hs with this. Has anyone tried it?

http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/...jsp?ProductCode=371030

Interesting... Right after I clicked on the link to check out what you are talking about I got a DoS attack. The I did a whois on the IP and it turned out to be googlegear which is now know as zipzoomfly.

HEH... now I can't even log onto their website...

 

[hwan]

Hm...interesting. The link works fine for me

 

[mrscintilla]

Originally posted by: sal69
so i simply did the following to my board =).

i removed the original fan which was barely 3cm and 8500 rpm.
then i mounted a 4x4 fan from titan which ran at 5.5k originaly.
with this baby my chipset never passed 37°
so i reduced the rpms to 3.5k and now its mx 40° which is ok for me.
but the noise is 10% of the original fan and its a cheap option.

sal

sal69, how did you mount the 4x4 ? Isn't it bigger than the original fan? If you have a picture, it'll help a lot of people to see how to go about doing it.

 

[sal69]

the original fan is inside, just remove the grid and you see the tiny fan.
3 screws later its outside and i attatched the 4x4 fan to the cooler.
maybe ill make a photo tomorrow now i go to bed =)

 

[Payto]

Originally posted by: sal69
so i simply did the following to my board =).

i removed the original fan which was barely 3cm and 8500 rpm.
then i mounted a 4x4 fan from titan which ran at 5.5k originaly.
with this baby my chipset never passed 37°
so i reduced the rpms to 3.5k and now its mx 40° which is ok for me.
but the noise is 10% of the original fan and its a cheap option.

sal

sal69, what did you use to measure the chipset temperature?
Also, do you know at what temperatures the chip ran with the stock cooler?

 

[spearsd]

Hi, all,

In my opinion removing ambient heat from the case between the graphics cards in combination with a good passive heatsink for the NForce4 chipset may be good enough.

I'm thinking of putting a quiet slot fan between the graphics cards and finding a passive copper heatsink to replace the noisy-ass NForce4 chipset HSF. I think this should help lower temperatures in the area of the graphics cards and the NForce4 chipset.

What do you all think? Think it will work?

-spearsd