North bridge fan died

[Coherence]

The North Bridge fan on my ABit IC7-G mobo has died (again, this is like the fourth one to die on me), and ABit's website says the replacement fan is no longer available. I would like to go with a water-cooling setup at this point (to get away from replacing fans every 6-12 months), but I can't particularly afford to do so, right now.

Any recommendations for a replacement northbridge cooler? I think some people have sworn by a particular Zalman passive heat sink (don't remember which), and others have said it's best to stick with the regular fan-based cooler (which isn't available).

So, active, passive, or inexpensive water-cooling?

 

[fishmonger12]

I don't know why a passive heatsink wouldn't work. Cheap, silent, and effective.

Do you have your system significantly overclocked? If not, watercooling is definitely not economically feasible.

 

[Coherence]

I don't have my rig overclocked at all. My one attempt at overclocking (and it wasn't a very significant overclock) resulted in graphical artifacts, so I went back to stock specs.

I'll probably order a ZALMAN ZM-NB47J or NBF 47 from Newegg. The NB47J looks like it would be easier to install (and cheaper), particularly since the replacement cooler on my video card has a large plastic mounting block on the back of it which may keep me from using the NBF47.

I guess I answered my own question. I'll still check here today for other recommendations before I place my order, though.

 

[Operandi]

A passive solution from Zalman is really the best way to go.

Most stock chipset HS/Fs are cheap junk; I either preemptively replace them from the beggining or just choose a board that comes with good passive cooling stock.

 

[dfuze]

I've got a Zalman installed on my Asus board for over a year. No temp problems at all.

 

[imported_kiwik]

Are there any alternatives to the Zalman NB coolers?

 

[Arcanedeath]

The evercool VC-RE VGA/chipset cooler works fairly well I'm using one on my DFI NF4 SLI-DR

 

[WobbleWobble]

Originally posted by: kiwik
Are there any alternatives to the Zalman NB coolers?

If you want to spend a bit more money, there are Thermalright and other northbridge tower heatsinks available. But it's an older board and the Zalman will do the job for less than 10 bucks.

 

[Coherence]

Bloody hell, the Zalman arrived, and it doesn't have the fracking hook connectors I need to mount it to my motherboard. Damn it. I thought it was supposed to include both hooks and pushpins.

Well, that's $10 down the drain. Any other recommendations?

 

[pkrush]

Just bend a piece of paper clip or other stiff wire into a hook shape and use that.

 

[WobbleWobble]

I guess you bought the older non-flower Zalman heatsink. Check out what this guy did to make the NB47J fit his P4 motherboard - Custom Mount for the Passive Zalman ZM-NB47J

 

[Coherence]

Originally posted by: pkrush
Just bend a piece of paper clip or other stiff wire into a hook shape and use that.

Sure, that sounds safe. And if it falls apart and shorts out my rig? Any other suggestions? I don't think I'd trust thermal tape to hold this thing in place, either. Can hooks like the ones pictured here be found sold separately?

I found the Thermalright HR-05, and it includes a hook-type connector, but Newegg is out of stock.

 

[Coherence]

Originally posted by: WobbleWobble
I guess you bought the older non-flower Zalman heatsink. Check out what this guy did to make the NB47J fit his P4 motherboard - Custom Mount for the Passive Zalman ZM-NB47J

You must mean the ZM-NBF47. I wasn't aware that it had hooks. Maybe I'll order that one, next. :\ I'll also check the custom mount you linked.

 

[308nato]

This is the best little cooler i have ever used. Quiet and works great. Just had to remove the crappy tim and lap it a bit to work the best. I have had mine on several boards.

I have been trying to buy a couple of more for a while but as they are no longer made I couldn't find any. The thread prompted me to look again.

This says they have them......... anyone ever buy from this place.

***edit....I tried to order and it says no longer available......anybody know where we can get these from?

 

[Operandi]

Originally posted by: Coherence

Originally posted by: pkrush
Just bend a piece of paper clip or other stiff wire into a hook shape and use that.

Sure, that sounds safe. And if it falls apart and shorts out my rig? Any other suggestions? I don't think I'd trust thermal tape to hold this thing in place, either. Can hooks like the ones pictured here be found sold separately?

I found the Thermalright HR-05, and it includes a hook-type connector, but Newegg is out of stock.

If you can bend the paper clip into the proper shape it would be perfect safe, essentially thats all the metal hook is anyway.

Alternatively you could use Artic Silver thermal adhesive. If you want to make it removable you can mix the adhesive with regular thermal compound.

 

[Zepper]

308Nato -
"Item no loger available" message when you go to the site. I hate those sites that supposedly have all this neat stuff we have filed in our memeories and when you go there - OOS. Of course they never did have it in stock - just a ploy to get another hit on their site. Like the sites that have the Chenbro Gaming Bomb II listed... :disgust:

.bh.

 

[Coherence]

Well, after a trip to three different PC part stores, I ended up at my local Fry's, and came home with a Thermaltake Extreme Spirit II Northbridge Chipset Cooler (CL-C0034). I was disappointed that nobody had a passive cooler available, and I could have saved money ordering another from Newegg, but I didn't want to wait until Tuesday (the soonest one would have arrived) and be without my PC over the weekend.

I'll say this about the one I got, it was a MAJOR pain in the arse to install. I even broke one of the loops on my motherboard doing it (good thing there was an extra set on the board). However, I immediately noticed a speedier boot after all was said and done.

 

[Coherence]

Here's an update, and not a good one.

Lately, my rig has been getting slow while gaming, or not correctly burning a dvd (DL coasters are expensive, too!), so I peeked into my case and discovered that the retention loop my new NB cooler was connected to has broken away, and the cooler is more or less just dangling off the motherboard. Worse, it is the loop on the same side as the one that had broken off while mounting it in the first place, which means I have no loops left for securing a cooler on that side of the NB.

So, am I basically stuck buying a new motherboard (and I'm sure it won't be easy to find an AGP board, nowadays, that will fit my P4C CPU and ATi 9800 Pro videocard), or is there a decent stick-on NB cooler I can use? Or, can I use a good piece of thermal tape for this cooler reliably, without it being fully mounted to the board's loops?