A8N-E + Zalman quick question

[Kemokim]

I have read almost all posts i can find about this topic, but there is still a few questions i havnt found an answer to.

1. i have an ATI X800XL with the zalman VF700-CU. I did not remove any of the fins on either the nb zalman cooler or the gfx zalman. The two coolers just touch and the gfx last few fins gets pushed together and touch the nb. is it ok for them to touch?

Ill post a few pics of this later today, so its easier to see what i mean!

2. How do i know when it gets too hot?? the Asus A8N-E reporsts a motherboard temp of 34 degrees, but im quite sure that sensor is not the nb. when i hold my finger to it, its really warm, cant hold it on for much more than 5-10 secs.

Oh, and one last thing, i have the side of the cabinet open atm, so all temps are probably gonna get a bit higher.

Thank you for youre help.

[jamesm]

I have read almost all posts i can find about this topic, but there is still a few questions i havnt found an answer to.

1. i have an ATI X800XL with the zalman VF700-CU. I did not remove any of the fins on either the nb zalman cooler or the gfx zalman. The two coolers just touch and the gfx last few fins gets pushed together and touch the nb. is it ok for them to touch?

If you want, you can mod the nb cooler with a pair of pliers (the metal is very soft). Also, while it's off your motherboard, it might worth it to lap the heatsink - my zalman nb cooler was far from flat or smooth. Modding it gave me the perfect fit.

2. How do i know when it gets too hot?? the Asus A8N-E reporsts a motherboard temp of 34 degrees, but im quite sure that sensor is not the nb. when i hold my finger to it, its really warm, cant hold it on for much more than 5-10 secs.

My northbridge is the same way. As a general rule, if you can't hold it for more than 5-10 secs, that's around 70C. I'm not sure if this is a problem or not. Try prime95 and memtest86 to stress the northbridge a bit. If there are any errors, it's too hot.

[anaqer]

Try prime95 and memtest86 to stress the northbridge a bit. If there are any errors, it's too hot.

I'm not entirely sure prime95 and memtest86 are any better tools for NB thermal testing than, say, any modern game. Remember, heavy workload on the memory controller no longer means hotter NB like it did pre-K8...

[RachelG]

2. How do i know when it gets too hot?? the Asus A8N-E reporsts a motherboard temp of 34 degrees, but im quite sure that sensor is not the nb. when i hold my finger to it, its really warm, cant hold it on for much more than 5-10 secs.

My northbridge is the same way. As a general rule, if you can't hold it for more than 5-10 secs, that's around 70C. I'm not sure if this is a problem or not. Try prime95 and memtest86 to stress the northbridge a bit. If there are any errors, it's too hot.

My silent computing knowledge may not be the most extensive here, but I do know a lot about skin blood flow and temperature tolerance. The threshold for heat induced pain in the skin is approximately 44 degrees C for prolonged contact with the heat source. Anything else needs to be extrapolated from there. In the case of your hot northbridge, the skin on the fingers is quite a bit thicker than in other places on the body, but on the other hand, 5-10s is a reasonable length of time to be in contact with a heat source. I would suggest that your northbridge is no more than 50 degrees C max. You would be very unlikely to be able to keep your fingers on it for 10s if it was 70 degrees.

Otherwise, I'm afraid I have nothing helpful to add

[Gerbil]

Please post some pics! I have a very similar setup and I'm about to get a Zalman VF700-AlCu.

The NB47J on my A8N-E does get quite hot. I can hold my finger on it forever. It feels to be in the neighborhood of 60-70C. However, I've done extensive testing and it's perfectly stable. I'd like to contact nVidia and find out the maximum thermal specifications for the nF4.

For comparison, my X800 XL's stock heatsink feels as hot as the NB47J after a few hours of gaming. With no airflow, the stock heatsink on my A7N8X-X (nF2) feels about as hot as the NB47J.

All you need to do is keep some airflow around the northbridge. If you can keep your finger on it, I think it's safe. I've had my A8N-E running 24x7 since June 17th (the day I built it). I have a minimal amount of air flowing around the northbridge area from the front fan in my Sonata II. I posted pictures in one of the nF4 chipset threads here.

[jamesm]

Picture 1

Picture 2

[jamesm]

2. How do i know when it gets too hot?? the Asus A8N-E reporsts a motherboard temp of 34 degrees, but im quite sure that sensor is not the nb. when i hold my finger to it, its really warm, cant hold it on for much more than 5-10 secs.

My northbridge is the same way. As a general rule, if you can't hold it for more than 5-10 secs, that's around 70C. I'm not sure if this is a problem or not. Try prime95 and memtest86 to stress the northbridge a bit. If there are any errors, it's too hot.

My silent computing knowledge may not be the most extensive here, but I do know a lot about skin blood flow and temperature tolerance. The threshold for heat induced pain in the skin is approximately 44 degrees C for prolonged contact with the heat source. Anything else needs to be extrapolated from there. In the case of your hot northbridge, the skin on the fingers is quite a bit thicker than in other places on the body, but on the other hand, 5-10s is a reasonable length of time to be in contact with a heat source. I would suggest that your northbridge is no more than 50 degrees C max. You would be very unlikely to be able to keep your fingers on it for 10s if it was 70 degrees.

Otherwise, I'm afraid I have nothing helpful to add

Hmm. I was running my CPU fanless once (to see if it was possible). My CPU was about 68C, and I couldn't keep my hand on the heatsink for longer than 10-15 seconds.

[Gerbil]

Hmm. I was running my CPU fanless once (to see if it was possible). My CPU was about 68C, and I couldn't keep my hand on the heatsink for longer than 10-15 seconds.

I've felt the heatsinks on my Athlon XPs when they've been at 58-60C and it's no problem keeping my finger there, although it's not comfortable. The NB47J feels at least 60C in my case.

Of course, those 58-60C readings were from software, and we should all know that integrated sensors read through software tend to be inaccurate.

[m0002a]

I've felt the heatsinks on my Athlon XPs when they've been at 58-60C and it's no problem keeping my finger there, although it's not comfortable. The NB47J feels at least 60C in my case.

Of course, those 58-60C readings were from software, and we should all know that integrated sensors read through software tend to be inaccurate.

The CPU temp readings you were getting may have been the core, and the heatsink where you felt it is definitely much cooler than the CPU core temp.

AMD64 temp readings (socket 939 boards) tend to be reported by motherboards at the heat spreader, which are much cooler than the core temps. Soltek appears to be the exception, and their CPU temps are about 10-15C warmer than other manufacturers since they report core temps, instead of heat spreader temps (although they did make a change in their more recent bios updates to just subtract some fixed amount from the measured temp).

Measuring and reporting CPU temps is not as simple a subject as one might think.

[hightower]

You should be fine. Have a friend who has the a8n-sli with one of those on - running 24/7 with poor case cooling. However, I'd suggest you get one of the motherboards (abit or even asus premium - premium price though ) with heatpipes when they become available 'i lille danmark' or maybe get a passive cooler for your gfx such as the polar freezer and mount a 120mm fan running 5v covering both in some fancy way

[jamesm]

i saw a heatpipe cooled asus nforce 4-sli board today for $189.

[Gerbil]

That's the new A8N-SLI Premium board.