nForce4 Chipset Fan Replacement Thread

mark88 · Post by **mark88** » Thu Mar 17, 2005 2:22 pm

I installed the NB47J today on a MSI Neo4 Platinum with a 6600GT PCI-E which has two large heatpipes on either sides. It fits fine.

I've noticed that the NB47J does get rather hot though even just a few minutes after boot up, is this normal? I'm not overclocking, I havent even installed my OS yet. It's hot to the touch.

In the Bios Health section there's PCU temp & System Temp, is the system temp the reading of the northbridge?

ragnar · Post by **ragnar** » Fri Mar 18, 2005 3:32 am

My NB47J also got really hot to the touch when there wasn't any airflow around it. So while the case was open, I had a 80mm. fan blowing directly onto it. When I had got the system together, the airflow of the case (unforced intake at front and forced 80mm outlet at the back + PSU outletting some of the hot air) seems to do enough to dissipate heat from the HS, although the temperatures of the NB has gone up some 8C degrees (from 30 to about 38).

@mark88
Try forcing airflow around the NB47J, or increase circulation in the case.

Shoyu · Post by **Shoyu** » Fri Mar 18, 2005 8:47 am

mark88 wrote:I installed the NB47J today on a MSI Neo4 Platinum with a 6600GT PCI-E which has two large heatpipes on either sides. It fits fine.

I've noticed that the NB47J does get rather hot though even just a few minutes after boot up, is this normal? I'm not overclocking, I havent even installed my OS yet. It's hot to the touch.

In the Bios Health section there's PCU temp & System Temp, is the system temp the reading of the northbridge?

mark88, I have exactly the same setup and find it very hot to the touch too. I don't think the System Temp. is measured at the chipset. In my case, putting a 12cm intake fan at the front doesn't help much either.

Not sure how to solve this problem yet.

nici · Post by **nici** » Fri Mar 18, 2005 9:03 am

Unless the system temp is 40c or over its not monitoring the NB temp. 40c feels warm to the touch, 60c starts to burn in about a second or so and you dont want to hold your finger there for long.

I think its pants most mobos dont report chipset temp, im happy the DFI does. The "System Temp" is useless, its just a sensor somewhere on the mobo. You might use it for something if you know where the sensor is, but this is usually not mentioned in the manual.

ilh · Post by **ilh** » Fri Mar 18, 2005 10:11 am

I believe the DFI nF4's "system temp" is a thermistor (RT22, yellowish) near the top phase of CPU power, not far from the MOSFET heatsinks.

Straker · Post by **Straker** » Fri Mar 18, 2005 10:50 pm

my msi neo2 *seems* to measure NB temp (temp1 in speedfan), not sure about their other mbs/other nforce mbs.
that being said, i'm wishing it didn't, 'cause it's just confusing and retarded - temp1 normally reads -25C (just offset by something obviously). if i lower fan1 i can definitely hear the NB fan spin down properly, but the thing is, at low speeds for some reason it reads 80K-200K RPM, so i have no idea what it really is. if i lower the fan to 30-50%, temp1 goes up to -15, but if i lower the fan to 0, temp1 usually eventually goes back to -25C. wtf

nici · Post by **nici** » Sat Mar 19, 2005 4:16 am

ilh wrote:I believe the DFI nF4's "system temp" is a thermistor (RT22, yellowish) near the top phase of CPU power, not far from the MOSFET heatsinks.

Would that be the "PWM IC" temperature? Smart Guardian reports three temperatures, CPU, PWM IC and Chipset. Chipset is definately the chipset and CPU the CPU, obviously

ilh · Post by **ilh** » Sat Mar 19, 2005 7:00 am

nici wrote:Would that be the "PWM IC" temperature? Smart Guardian reports three temperatures, CPU, PWM IC and Chipset.

Yes. The BIOS calls it "PWM Area" and SmartGuardian "PWM IC". Some other software jus calls it "System".

joshd2012 · Post by **joshd2012** » Sat Mar 19, 2005 7:17 am

I installed the NB47J and I'm using a VF700 AlCu on my Asus A8N-e Mobo and EN6600 256 GPU. About 5 pins of the VF700 get pushed up against the NB47J. I'm not too concerned about it, as this only will help heat get transfered to the VF700 where it will be easily cooled. The NB47J is cool to the touch, but I am also running with my case open (still waiting for some cables before I can close her up). I'll post pics when I get her done.

pedxingx · Post by **pedxingx** » Mon Mar 21, 2005 9:31 am

I bought the swiftech MCX159 and the Zalman VF700 VGA cooler. I have the Asus A8N Deluxe SLI motherboard and a MSI 6600GT (I wished Asus released a NF4 Ultra chip mobo earlier). All the heatsink and fans fit, but there is not much room to spare. Inserting the video card with the Zalman VF700 was a little tricky because there was not much maneuvering space between the two heatsinks.

Now I am wondering if one can insert a second video card without colliding the back of the circuit board with the MCX159. I am too lazy to simulate the scenario by moving my single video card into the second slot to see if it would fit.

smove · Post by **smove** » Tue Mar 22, 2005 3:48 am

Like mark88 and Shoyu I also have MSI Neo4 Platinum, 6600GT and NB47J. I use the SpeedFan to monitor NB temp. According to the SpeedFan NB runs from 18 to 35 degree. NB temp is around 20 degree on idle and the highest is about 35 degree while Prime95 torture test is running. There is a 120mm fan blowing to the NB47J on 7V.

With the original NB fan idle temp was around 14 degree. Can't remember temp running Prime95. So with NB47J idle temp seems to be about 5 degree higher.

NB temp in the SpeedFan can't be right because NB47J feels very hot but it's possible to compare temps between different fans and heatsinks.

I haven't overclocked and system is stable.

Shoyu · Post by **Shoyu** » Tue Mar 22, 2005 8:33 pm

Yes, I still haven't solved my NB temperature problem. It is still VERY hot - I cannot leave my finger on it for longer than 2 seconds.

The design of my case YY-5601 has a side-mounted HDD cage that blocks most of the air from the front intake fan

Certainly not helping to cool the NB at all.

Would anyone be able to recommend a solution? Can I replace the Zalman NB47J with something like this? Would it be quiet enough?

Tzupy · Post by **Tzupy** » Thu Mar 24, 2005 7:31 am

Well, my prototype chipset cooler got built, and it sucks!

The design had a couple of faults, mainly that the fins are too tightly packed to allow decent airflow, but there were some manufacturing glitches too. I asked a friend of mine to take pictures of it and put them on a web site. When he will do that, everybody will be able to have a laugh at it!
Not that the idea is bad, but the first implementation sucks...

Headd · Post by **Headd** » Thu Mar 24, 2005 9:56 am

Shoyu wrote:The design of my case YY-5601 has a side-mounted HDD cage that blocks most of the air from the front intake fan Certainly not helping to cool the NB at all.

I have a Super Lanboy case which has a similar hard drive cage; certainly blocks most of the air intake. I guess I'm going to probably buy a zalman to hack up but I won't do that until I find some way to position a fan over this chipset... I am merely typing in this browser window and its @ 46c

I have a XP-120 coming so I'll be playing with that for a few days..then I'll work on rectifying this chipset problem...

Lourdes · Post by **Lourdes** » Thu Mar 24, 2005 3:32 pm

Hmm, got my NF4 today along with a 40mm SilenX fan. I don't see how this can be mounted, the stock cooler only has two mounting pins. To remove the stock one should I should pull the plastic pins out with pliers? And if this 40mm fan doesn't work out will I have to cut up my NV Silencer 5 if I go for a Zalman passive one.

ArcticOC · Post by **ArcticOC** » Mon Mar 28, 2005 5:47 am

The HeatSLink™ XLE

Dysanovic · Post by **Dysanovic** » Mon Mar 28, 2005 3:00 pm

Tzupy wrote:Joshd2012, please post temp results of your mod, regarding the gfx card and the chipset. For now, I'm keeping the original chipset fan at about 5,300 rpm to make it bearable (will a get the NB-1 soon). My mobo temps reported by Asus probe, went 1C higher (but I'm not overclocking right now).

It looks like there's less space than I thought between the Silencer and the NB (if the Silencer wouldn't have been modded). Only 4 pins rows on the left side and 5 on the right side (the Silencer isn't perfectly parallel).
I wonder how many pin rows could be higher, with the modded Silencer, maybe another 2 rows? These could be much taller, providing extra cooling power.

I'm new to this silent PC business, but I've been forced into this realm due to the fact that my MSI K8N NEO4 Platinum mobo sounds like a vacuum cleaner!

What I want to know is how did you reduce the speed of the original chipset/Northbridge fan to ~5300 rpm?

I've tried using SpeedFan and it doesn't work. On posts I've read elsewhere it says that MSI did not wire the chipset fan to be controllable. Can anyone else confirm that this is the case?

I'm considering using a Zalman Fan Mate 2 to reduce the speed of the chipset fan, probably to around 5200 rmp. Can anyone tell me whether this will be an okay solution?

Tzupy · Post by **Tzupy** » Tue Mar 29, 2005 4:12 am

Dysanovic, I used a fan controller to lower the rpm of the original chipset fan, not a software solution - although there may be such solutions, but they use to work with older mobos, not brand new ones. In the meantime I replaced the chipset HSF with a a Thermalright NB-1 and lowered the rpm of the 45 mm fan from ~7,000 to ~4,700, but it's still loud by SPCR standards. I have a thermal probe at the base of the heatsink and it says right now 34C (room temperature 25C). It goes up just 1-2 degrees when gaming, without overclocking.
When I reduced the speed of the original chipset HSF - which is a joke, BTW and a bad one - I didn't overclock at all, in fact I didn't even play games (better safe than sorry)!

Dysanovic · Post by **Dysanovic** » Tue Mar 29, 2005 10:25 am

Thanks Tzupy.

You say reducing the spped of the original HSF fan was a joke; how come? Surely reducing the speed of the new Thermalright NB-1 fan also reduces its efficiency (though if it'll reduce the noise I'll do the same)?

Tzupy · Post by **Tzupy** » Tue Mar 29, 2005 11:00 am

I meant that the original chipset HSF is a bad joke - it was horribly noisy at 8,800 rpm (Asus A8N-SLI Deluxe). The NB-1 is a lot more heatsink, it's a bit heavier than a Zalman NB47J, and even a lower rpm fan does a fine job. But there are other problems: if I had a longer card than the 6600GT (or a 6600GT with AC Silencer) the NB-1 would be obstructing it. The mounting is not like the NB47J, but vertically tilted at 45 degrees. The good part is that in the UK you can get the NB-1 cheap from Tekheads for 2.9+VAT. But you have to reduce the rpm or find a low speed 45x10 mm fan.

joshd2012 · Post by **joshd2012** » Tue Mar 29, 2005 3:08 pm

They move the thread on me, so it took me a whlie to stumble back to it

Here is what I ended up with:

The Zalman VF700 AlCu gets 5 of its fins pushed up against the NB47J. I am not too concerned about this, since the it should transfer the heat from the hotter chipset to the cooler gpu. Then it should be easily cooled by the fan.

I don't have a temp on the chipset, but it doesn't seem to be getting too hot. It definitely gets warm, but nothign to worry about.

Shoyu · Post by **Shoyu** » Thu Mar 31, 2005 3:00 am

I've just left mine running !HOT! for now... won't be surprised if the motherboard dies within 2 years

Pétur · Post by **Pétur** » Fri Apr 01, 2005 12:26 pm

I replaced the *very noisy* HS+fan of my Gigabyte K8NXP-9 with the Zalman NB47J and I'm not 100% comfortable with it:

- I find the NB47J sits rather loose on the nF4, I'm afraid it may not give good contact.
- the NB47J does get quite warm
- I can't measure any nF4 temp: after trying out several things in MBM I found a sensor reading 71 degrees (celcius!), I sure hope that isn't my nF4

Peter

HolyBastard · Post by **HolyBastard** » Sat Apr 02, 2005 7:48 pm

Just a quick question... replacing the fan for a 40mm fan will void the warranty right?

needmorstuff · Post by **needmorstuff** » Mon Apr 04, 2005 11:51 am

warranty only voide if yuo can't put it back how it was before

with regards to the loose mounting of the zalman h-sink - I too an very uncomforatble with the loosenes sof this mounting system. I may use a couple of bolts to hold it more securely.

HolyBastard · Post by **HolyBastard** » Tue Apr 05, 2005 10:04 am

[quote="needmorstuff"]warranty only voide if yuo can't put it back how it was before

quote]
but I've read you must bend some pin of the heatsink to be able to put a 40mm fan on it... so puting it back as it was before could prove hard...

HolyBastard · Post by **HolyBastard** » Thu Apr 07, 2005 8:48 am

I've heard the DFI boards are quite with the stock fan...

ilh · Post by **ilh** » Thu Apr 07, 2005 9:26 am

HolyBastard wrote:I've heard the DFI boards are quite with the stock fan...

Not to the standards here. Several of us with the DFI nF4 have replaced the stock HSF with something passive.

HolyBastard · Post by **HolyBastard** » Thu Apr 07, 2005 11:13 am

Well, for those who didn't want to put a passive Heatsink it could be an alternative I guess (for me, but not to sure its worth 50$...)

Kimo · Post by **Kimo** » Sat Apr 09, 2005 8:34 pm

A word of warning to everyone here trying to put passive heatsinks on their Nforce4 -

These things are FRAGILE and they have an EXPOSED CORE, like the old Thunderbirds. On my A8N-E The core chipped with the original HS on it!

I have heard about this happening to others, so just be CAREFUL! It sucks to have to buy a new MB because you put a passive HS on and bumped it while putting in your gfx card.

IMO, the MB manufacturers should provide some kind of functional shim for the Nforce4 NB. Additionally, I'd like to see some more passively cooled NF4 MBs.

I know most of you will still go ahead with the swap <Mad Scientist Voice> IN THE NAME of SILENCE!!!!! </Mad Scientist Voice>

Just don't make it go Kablooey!