A8N32-SLI chipset cooling question

[liquid51]

I already posted this in the mobo forum, but realized it probably belongs here instead.

Well, I love my case, except for that feature I once thought was nice, although I can't remember what I thought was nice about it other than the fact that the cpu is lower as far as thermals are concerned . Anyway, I have been using a couple of vantec CCB-A1C's to do the job, and although it pained me to remove that nice quiet heat pipe, they've worked nicely. Well, one of them is making some noise now, and I've been contemplating replacing it with either a zalman ZM-NBF47 or ZM-NB47J (sorry, javascript. else I would've posted direct links). Would one of those be sufficient? Might they actually work a bit better? I know theres not a whole ton of heat dissipating surface area on those vantecs...

 

[AVP]

The curved one, sorry not going to look at which model number, was a pita to install on the a8n, though I finally got it in, after an hour. Guess what? the pressure from the angle I put it made one of the pins burst out, and now mine is just hanging there. Essentially I am waiting for my mobo to implode, though its temp has never hit 40 idle , even without a proper heatsink.

 

[dawza]

What was it about the heatpipe that made you go to the Vantecs in the first place?

I have no experience with the Vantec-CCB-1Acs, but I do have an A8N-SLI on which I installed the heatpipe found on the Premium model. A temp probe read the base of the heatpipe (the square block on top of the NB) as 55-60C idle, and 60-65C full load (FSB = 240). I know some people who have replaced the stock chipset fan on NF4 mobos with the Zalman NB-47J (not the newer NBF), and saw temps of >80C on full load, as measured with IR thermometers. With some airflow, provided by either a 40mm fan taped on the side of the HS, or with an 80mm fan blowing over it, reported temps were much lower (45-65). From others' experience, as well as my own, I would not trust the NB-47J alone to sufficiently cool an NF4 NB core unless there was some sort of dedicated airflow going over the HS.

The NBF-47 supposedly is much more effective than the NB-47, so I am not sure if this would apply. I recall a couple of reviews that observed as much as a 25C decrease when using the NBF-47 vs. the stock passive heatsink.

I recently installed the smaller NB-32K on my Biostar T-force 6100 939 mobo, and in my micro-ATX case with low airflow, a temp probe gave me an idle temp of ~60-65, and a load temp of >70C. Sticking a 40x10mm fan on top of the HS with double-sided tape, and running at 5V, the idle and load temps dropped by ~25C. One benefit to this method is that fan replacement literally takes a minute (just tape a new fan on), and you have your choice of fans. Another is cost ($5 for HS, $5 for fan).

AVP: The NF4 cores are rated for up to 90C according to ASUS, but there are scattered reports of instability when temps get above 75C. In any event, you definitely need some sort of HS on the core, and if you go with one of the older Zalman models, even a little bit of airflow will allow for very safe temps. It was, IMO, a terrible oversight to not include some sort of temperature monitoring for the NB on the majority of the NF4 boards; many people assume that the case or mobo temperature (which rarely ventures above 40C) = NB temp, which is untrue. These chips run hot and need a good passive sink, or a small actively cooled HS of some sort.

 

[aigomorla]

sorry, after my brothers board had instability with a zalman nb cooler, i vowed to ban zalman entirely.

YES i had one of those expensive ones, that looks like a CPS-7000 series cut in half.


If you want good cooling, i highly recomend you look at thermalrights HR-05 series.

The tower if you can fit it, costs only 19.99

The SLI version will allow you to fit it in a tight spot, so thats another alternative.

But on a NF4 class or higher, i dont think those zalmans work very well.


And dont get me started on the 680i chipset. Even my DD maze4 waterblock has issues keeping it cooler then 35C. STupid nvidia chipsets.

 

[liquid51]

Holy crap. Those HR-05s are crazy. Hmm... I can definitely see how they might cool a bit better than the zalmans. I guess I might look into those, if I think I can get them to fit (the A8N32-SLI is listed as incompatable).

Dawza: I had to remove the original heat pipe because the mobo is mounted upsidedown.

 

[aigomorla]

Originally posted by: liquid51
Holy crap. Those HR-05s are crazy. Hmm... I can definitely see how they might cool a bit better than the zalmans. I guess I might look into those, if I think I can get them to fit (the A8N32-SLI is listed as incompatable).

Dawza: I had to remove the original heat pipe because the mobo is mounted upsidedown.

they fixed that issue by dual chambering the heat pipe.

So gravity doesnt play that big of a role on it anymore. Unless you have a really really old revision.

And i dont see how the HR-05 SLI wouldnt fit. Also theres no way a zalman would fit, and the HR-05 wouldnt fit. It has less top footrpint then the zalman on the board side.


But please and i say PLEASE, get a heatpipe chipset cooler. The NF4 runs rediculously hot. Not as hot as my STUPID 590SPP. But hot enough to be a concern.

 

[dawza]

The NF4 do run hot, but a heatpipe-based heatsink is not necessary if one is willing to add some targeted airflow to a passive heatsink. Now, if one wishes to go passive, then a heatpipe chipset cooler would be in order. Passive really is the way to go if you can, as you will never have to worry about fan failure and there will no additional noise generated.

There were some reports of overheating with inverted mobos using integrated heatpipe chipset coolers, but I believe, as aigomorla pointed out, that the newer versions (and I would consider the A8N-32 to be "newer") do not suffer this flaw. It is entirely possible that the stock heatpipe would work just fine- I would do some additional research to confirm this though.

And yes, the HR-05-SLI should definitely fit without any problems. One issue with the majority of chipset coolers, passive or active, is that they tend to block access to the PCI-e slot and/or other regions of the mobo. The Vantecs you are running right now are low-profile, but if you went with a taller heatsink (such as one of the Zalmans), you might run into this problem. The SLI version of the HR-05 was designed to avoid this issue.

 

[aigomorla]

Originally posted by: dawza
The NF4 do run hot, but a heatpipe-based heatsink is not necessary if one is willing to add some targeted airflow to a passive heatsink. Now, if one wishes to go passive, then a heatpipe chipset cooler would be in order. Passive really is the way to go if you can, as you will never have to worry about fan failure and there will no additional noise generated.

There were some reports of overheating with inverted mobos using integrated heatpipe chipset coolers, but I believe, as aigomorla pointed out, that the newer versions (and I would consider the A8N-32 to be "newer") do not suffer this flaw. It is entirely possible that the stock heatpipe would work just fine- I would do some additional research to confirm this though.

And yes, the HR-05-SLI should definitely fit without any problems. One issue with the majority of chipset coolers, passive or active, is that they tend to block access to the PCI-e slot and/or other regions of the mobo. The Vantecs you are running right now are low-profile, but if you went with a taller heatsink (such as one of the Zalmans), you might run into this problem. The SLI version of the HR-05 was designed to avoid this issue.

hmmmmm my hr-05 keeps my nas running low 40's with a nice 60mm fan on top and bottom 120's blowing up.

Thats hot if you ask me. I was getting high 40's on my evercool VC-R1.

But yeah, if you can duct, it will help. however, more fans = more noise. something you should be aware of..

http://i125.photobucket.com/albums/p73/aigomorla/IMG_0406.jpg

 

[dawza]

The NF4s can take the heat- there are many users on SPCR who have reported temps in excess of 65C with no stability issues whatsoever. The limit for these chips is 90C, although it is probably a good idea to stay well south of this figure in the interest of long-term reliability.

But yes, more fans certainly = more noise; worst of all are the small 40mm fans so commonly found on active chipset solutions, due to their annoying high-pitched whine.

As an aside, how do you like those AC fans in terms of noise?