Zalman says NB47J Northbridge cooler fits A8N-SLI

[imported_ptr]

Does ASUS/Nvidia provide a tool which can read the temperature of the Nforce4 chip ?

Can anyone list the normal core temp with the standard noisy cooler and afterwards with the Zalman Northbridge heatsink solution and perhaps with airflow though the Zalman ?

A soon to be A8N SLI fan. (the only thing which is holding me back is the Nforce4 noise problem)

 

[orlenfrost]

I also have the Zalman ZM-NB47J installed with two GPU's. So far zero stability problems. But as everyone is pointing out it does get hot. I took some un-scientific readings with a heat probe that I got at Fry's electronics. I picked a spot on the base of the heat sync between the heat sync fins that was easily accessible to the probe and measured in the same spot each time.

I would close up the side of the case and let the computer run at idle or under load for at least 20 minutes and then I would take the side off and measure the temperature again.

Here are the results:

Northbridge Chip:
With stock 8500 RPM Fan
33 c/91.7f Idle with case closed
43.2c / 109.7f under load with case closed

With Zalman ZM-NB47J
48.1c/118.5 Idle with case closed
53.c / 127.4f Under load with case closed

With the side of the case open the temperatures were dramatically different:

Case open with Zalman ZM-NB47J:
33.4C/92.12F Idle
Have not tried it under load yet sorry.

What I have decided is that I need some additional case cooling just to stay on the safe side as it does get almost too hot to touch after 20 minutes of Call of Duty with the case closed. But just with that little bit of air moving on it the zalman seems ample cooling and I think it will be ok.

My plan is to ad either a 92mm or 120mm fan to the side of my case blowing directly on the chip and two 6600gts in sli config. Then I would like to ditch the two GPU fans, but as of yet I have not found fanless coolers that look like they will work with the SLI bridge that runs from card to card. (any body know of one?)

Anyway, so far no problems with the Zalman, and it made a dramatic difference in noise reduction. I give it the THUMBS UP!

 

[HKSEvo8]

It seems that the Zalman ZM-NB47J won't fit with a 6800GT From Skinner's pics. The 6800GT has another small heatsink near the end of the card and the little capacitors or whatever which look like they would hit the ZM-NB47J.

 

[imported_ptr]

Nice test results

I think it is nessary with some airflow through the Zalman ZM-NB47J because the nforce4 chip simply must not be hotter than the stock cooler.

Do anyone have tempature test with airflow through the Zalman ZM-NB47J ?

What about the thermalright nb1-c does it gives lower tempatures ?

 

[imported_caf2461]

Thanks to this board I ditched the screaming demon and installed the Zalman ZM-NB47J. I did not really noticed any temp difference (39C) even when playing games.

Running two Leadtech 6600 gt's. Plenty of room around the heat sink. Easy install. Using an Antec Sonata case with a Zantec stealth front fan blowing over the video cards and Zalman ZM-NB47J. I think the secret to success is if you can blow any air at all over the heat shink. The Sonata case front fan blows warm intake air from the hard drives and yet it still works well.

I'm overclocking only to 220mhz bus, but don't think more would be a problem. I did not tell the wife, but she commented on the noise difference right away. Again, thanks - fast and quiet.

 

[hwan]

I'm using the NB47J with a 6800GT just fine. My only problem is the 6800GT is getting all the hot air from the NB47J and currently idles at 62-63

 

[HKSEvo8]

I've just switched to a Cooler Master Praetorian so I've got a lot of air going through the case thanks to the 4 fans it came with so I've been thinking about using the Zalman chipset heatsink. I wouldn't have dared to use it in my Wave Master since it doesn't have the air flow of the Praetorian. And now the damn thing kind of loud and the Asus chipset fan isn't going to make it better.

Has anybody tried using Arctic Silver Ceramique with the Zalman? Everybody is recommending AS5 but the Ceramique is only 2C - 3C higher than AS5. And the best thing about Ceramique is that it won't void your warranty like AS5.

 

[HKSEvo8]

Originally posted by: hwan
I'm using the NB47J with a 6800GT just fine. My only problem is the 6800GT is getting all the hot air from the NB47J and currently idles at 62-63

Can you show me a pic of your setup? I want to see how much clearance there is. And I'm sure it'll help a lot of people with 6800 cards that want to use the Zalman.

 

[hwan]

Here it is

http://home.comcast.net/~hwan-td/SYS1.JPG

 

[HKSEvo8]

SWEET!! My ears are saved!! Is your case a Praetorian too?? It looks like one from the front I/O port wires. If it is, there should be plenty of cool air coming in with the stock fans. The 6800GT should be running cooler than the temps you posted.

Maybe if you turned the Zalman 90* so that the thin side of the fins are facing the fans. I would think that the thick side of the fins would restrict airflow through the fins.

 

[hwan]

It's a Praetorian and yes, I'm actually thinking about turning the Zalman the other way. I'll probably try that this weekend and see how it turns out.

 

[vidguru83]

Is that a different I/O panel on the praetorian? hwan, i've been trying to figure out how the ones on mines go on the motherboard.

 

[SupraNormal]

Originally posted by: mrscintilla
Zalman emailed me back and stated that

Thank you for your interest.

Our ZM-NB47J is compatible with your ASUS A8N-SLI deluxe mobo.

If you have further enquiry, please contact us.

Regards,
Support/Zalman


So, start replacing that noisy buggers with Zalman!! I looked at the board and found that the push pins are kinda hard to be taken off. Anyone has ideas? tools?

This passive cooler fits under two vid cards?

 

[hwan]

Originally posted by: vidguru83
Is that a different I/O panel on the praetorian? hwan, i've been trying to figure out how the ones on mines go on the motherboard.

The motherboard came with its own I/O back panel. I just took the old one out of the case and pushed the new one in if that's what you're wondering.

If you mean the front USB ports, there are several sets of USB headers on the board and I plugged the cables to the lowest numbered ones.

My case is old though. It was the ATC-201SX before they came up with the Preatorian line.

 

[seregost]

I purchased an A8N and currently have it running Prime95 solid with the following configuration:

FSB @280
A64 3000+ @2520 w/ 1.45v
PDP RAM 2x512 DDR333(5:4) @229 w/ 2.85v 2.0-3-3-5 1T
MSI 6600GT X1 @ 550/1060
2XHitatchi 160GB in Raid0
OCZ ModStream 520W psu
Thermaltake SViking case

I think that's everything.

Now, the problem I'm having is that the chipset fan is making nasty sporadic resonance sounds. It runs between 8000-8900 rpm, and sounds horrible. I can hear it in most parts of the house. Off and on, it will resolve whatever problem its having and sound better. But mostly it sounds like its in the process of dying. Its got me scared to leave my system on unmonitored.

So, question is, what are my options for replacement? I optimized the purchase of parts with the intention of overclocking to the extent shown in my configuration above. I've read in this thread that people are replacing the stock option with a Zalman solution. However, most people agree that this causes the NV4 chip to run alot hotter. I'm worried this might significantly compromise the stability of my OC.

Has anyone had success with replacing the stock fan with a better (aka quieter/more reliable) active cooling solution? Or perhaps the Zalman really doesn't effect overclocking thresholds that much?

Overall I'm satisified with the board and its overclocking capabilities. Just the fan that's bugging me!

Thanks,
Steve

 

[bookman]

If you are going to overclock heavily, passive cooling is not for you. You might find better cooling solutions for the northbridge at www.silentpcreview.com

 

[seregost]

Bookman,

Thanks for the info. I'll look around at that site.

I'm wondering if this is as simple finding another more reliable fan and hooking it to the top of the preexisting heatsink.

I haven't tried this yet, but there are four screws on top of the northbridge heatsink/fan combo. If you unscrew these, does the fan popout easily? If so, I'd think it would be relatively easy to find another fan that fit back in. Maybe I'm missing something.

You'll have to excuse me if I'm completely off the wall. I'm not much of a hands-on hardware kind of guy. I'm a computer programmer who just happens to like building computers. ;-)

 

[gixxer]

I was wondering if anyone has read anything about the DFI cooling solution for this chip? Here is a clip from their web site ( http://www.dfi.com.tw/Press/pr...RL=arch343.jsp&SITE=NA )

"To provide rock solid stability, both nForce4 chipset based motherboards feature Japanese aluminum electrolytic capacitors, magnetic levitation north bridge cooling fan with fan speed control, and all aluminum heat sink on mosfets. The conductive polymer (electrolytic) aluminum solid capacitors provide high resistance to over-voltage and reverse voltage as compared with other capacitors, making them the ideal choice for overclocking and mission critical motherboards. To further provide maximum cooling on-board, both motherboards feature DFI?s first magnetic levitation chipset cooling fan that moves almost twice the air compared to standard chipset fans while producing extremely little noise. Thanks to magnetic levitation technology, the spinning fan blades ?float? in a magnetic field and thereby dramatically reduces friction, wear and tear, and heat generation. All of these hardware implementations directly contribute to cooler, quieter and longer lasting motherboards."

I highlighted in bold some of the interesting points.

If this is true, does anyone know if this fan can be purchased seperatly and mounted to the ASUS board.

Gixxer

 

[hwan]

Originally posted by: gixxer
I was wondering if anyone has read anything about the DFI cooling solution for this chip? Here is a clip from their web site ( http://www.dfi.com.tw/Press/pr...RL=arch343.jsp&SITE=NA )

If this is true, does anyone know if this fan can be purchased seperatly and mounted to the ASUS board.

Gixxer

Directron has this magnetic levitation fan but they don't have any specs regarding airflow or noise though

http://www.directron.com/kde1204pfb2.html

 

[ImJacksAmygdala]

Here is a reply I have compiled about problems with the Asus A8N chipset fan...

Read these threads on how to remove the crappy chipset cooler and install a Zalman NB-47J. You might also want to think about using a Zalman FB123 to mount a quiet fan to blow air on the the chipset cooler if you are using SLI or overclocking. Its tight between two video cards in SLI. You could still use the Zalman fanless NB47 and then cool it with Zalman FB123 in quiet mode. The motherboard probably needs more airflow between the video cards and the chipset cooler anyway. Asus really dropped the ball with the active cooling solution for the A8N-SLI.

http://img132.exs.cx/my.php?lo...&image=p10100279od.jpg

http://www.ocmodshop.com/default.aspx?a=244&p=696

Issues
During testing several issues or minor annoyances were encountered. For one after about a week the active heatsink on the nForce4 chipset began to make an irritating grinding noise. Most likely due to the fact that the fan is close to failing and the fan blades are hitting the interior of the heatsink. DC fans are not always the most reliable and long life product on the market, but I have an issue with anything starting to fail within the first week of use.

Read this thread for pictures and clearance of the Zalman NB47J using two GF6800GT cards in SLI.
http://forums.anandtech.com/me...234&messageid=17199134

http://www.abxzone.com/forums/...Zalman+NB47#post975626

http://www.abxzone.com/forums/...Zalman+NB47#post975606

http://www.zalmanusa.com/usa/p...ew.asp?idx=15&code=016

http://forums.pcper.com/showthread.php?t=375435

http://www.hardforum.com/showt...7169896#post1027169896

DFI uses active cooling aswell, but it appears they don't want to repeat the mistakes Asus made. Too bad Nvidia is now punishing those companies who tried to hack SLI without paying Nvidia for it. The DFI-SLI board may stay in short supply for awhile...

http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=20959

The news comes as we hear additional primordial rumblings that MSI and DFI are going to be facing a lack of allocation of NForce 4 chips. Nvidia are reportedly apocalyptic at these two companies for attempting to avoid the $20 premium that GraphZilla charges for an NForce 4 SLI chipset by hacking standard NForce 4 chips to work with its dual-graphics technology.

Mainboard companies are said to be increasingly unhappy with Nvidia's attempts to make money 'any way they can', according to murmurings from one key partner. The $20 SLI premium, as well as the SLI brand tax that the INQ reported last week, are putting a giant's squeeze on manufacturers in an industry where margins are increasingly on a knife edge. Whilst DFI and MSI have already announced SLI-hacks, we hear that Asus and Gigabyte are also readying their own devious solutions. Whilst we know that Nvidia is unhappy with DFI and MSI, it seems unlikely that it can break the will of all four major players by witholding chips because then it won't have enough boards on the market to satisfy the baying masses.

http://www.dfi.com.tw/Press/pr...RL=arch343.jsp&SITE=NA

To provide rock solid stability, both nForce4 chipset based motherboards feature Japanese aluminum electrolytic capacitors, magnetic levitation north bridge cooling fan with fan speed control, and all aluminum heat sink on mosfets. The conductive polymer (electrolytic) aluminum solid capacitors provide high resistance to over-voltage and reverse voltage as compared with other capacitors, making them the ideal choice for overclocking and mission critical motherboards. To further provide maximum cooling on-board, both motherboards feature DFI?s first magnetic levitation chipset cooling fan that moves almost twice the air compared to standard chipset fans while producing extremely little noise. Thanks to magnetic levitation technology, the spinning fan blades ?float? in a magnetic field and thereby dramatically reduces friction, wear and tear, and heat generation. All of these hardware implementations directly contribute to cooler, quieter and longer lasting motherboards.

Its obvious the chipset fan is fualty on this $200+ flagship motherboard. I wonder if Asus will recall the boards or just accept RMA's as they burn out.

 

[imported_ptr]

Does anyone have pictures of the Zalman heatsink with a airflow cooling solution ? For example the Zalman FB123 ?

Does anyone knows why ASUS also uses the active cooler solution for the AV8-E Deluxe PCI-X motherboard with the VIA K8T890 chipset while ABIT's K8T890 pci express solution uses a passive heatsink for the same job...

 

[NetCop]

I put Zalman NB47J on the chipset but for me it was too hot. I bought Coolermaster DXY Chipset Neon cooler. It's small heatsing + cooler. I removed it and put on the right side of Zalman NB47J. I think, it's a perfect solution.
Cooler parameters are: 40x40x10 mm, 5000 RPM, 25dBa, 5CFM. It is very silent. I was really suprised, i expected more noise level.
There is a picture of it:
http://cossacks.in4.pl/klan/zalman.jpg

 

[runestone]

Net, would the original Coolermaster heatsink fit on the nforce4 chip? Do you just have the fan screws threaded in between fins on the zalman?

 

[mchangsp]

Can anyone tell me how to remove the chipset fan from the Asus A8N SLI board? I see a couple of pins with rubber on top.
Do I have to unscrew?
Or just pull the pins?

 

[runestone]

You do have to remove the motherboard to get at backside of pins; squeeze them to release and pull them out.