DFI Ultra-D --- Odd gfx and NB postioning

slidewayskid · Post by **slidewayskid** » Mon Apr 17, 2006 2:44 pm

As we all know the placement of the northbride and the graphics card (first slot) on the DFI nf4 Ultra -D mobo sucks, to say the least. And the fact that you have to use the first slot to use the full capability pci-e x16. I believe the later is true, because there is a chart on the mobo right under the first pci-e slot that says (refer to bottom). I have a saphire x850 pro and was wondering if the arctic cooling gfz cooler and the zalman nb47j will fit (with the gfx in the first slot). It would be a great help if you could post your setup, and what gfx heatsink/fan and northbridge heatsink/fan combo you are using.

Sorry for the bad table, but I had to fix it so this stupid thing wouldn't totally rape it

pcie4 pcie3 pcie1 pcie2 <--(Card slots)
(jumper postion)--> 1-2 (bandwith)--> x2 x1 x16 x1 (jumper postion)--> 2-3 (bandwith) --> x8 nc x8 x4

shimq1 · Post by **shimq1** » Mon Apr 17, 2006 8:49 pm

If you want your video card to fit in the first PCI-E slot, then you'll have to have a chipset cooler that's as low profile as the stock one. I have an Evercool VC-RE on it that's the same height as the stock chipset cooler and I have a X800GTO2 with an ATi Silencer that fits perfectly over it.

Firetech · Post by **Firetech** » Mon Apr 17, 2006 9:15 pm

This existing thread may be of interest

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nici · Post by **nici** » Tue Apr 18, 2006 1:49 am

The first thing you should try is to take off the stock heatsink and remove the thermal tape thats on it and replace it with any kind of goop. Doing that allowed me to run it at 1400rpm idle and full load for hours only required about 2500rpm. Even 2500rpm is quieter than a VF700 at 5V IIRC, thats why i ran my VF700 at something like 3.5-4V. Chances are your HDDs will be louder than the chipset cooler just by doing this.

slidewayskid · Post by **slidewayskid** » Tue Apr 18, 2006 4:19 pm

my main concern right now is finding either a reallly good passive northbridge heatsink that i can hack up to fit around the gfx, or a fan/heatsink that will not get in the way, like the vc-re form evercool, and yes i checked it out, and it certainly looks better then the stock one, shimq1, u siad that you are using a arctic gfx cooler? did you have to cut the cooler any where to fit above the gfx? Because with my x850 pro and the stock nb fan, the gfx does not clear the fan, it scrapes the fan blades and the heatsink, but if i can get away with the evercool fan/heatsink without having to cut anything up, I think ill be getting that thx shimq1 for sugesting the part

shimq1 · Post by **shimq1** » Tue Apr 18, 2006 6:08 pm

Even with the stock chipset fan, I did not have any clearance issues. Is you have clearance issues, there must be something wrong with something else. I suggest www.dfi-street.com, which is the official DFI support forum I think. They said no video card should have ANY clearance issues with the stock chipset cooler OR the Evercoo VC-RE.

Firetech · Post by **Firetech** » Tue Apr 18, 2006 6:38 pm

But he will have problems with passive coolers like the Zalman NB47J or Thermalright HR-05.

slidewayskid · Post by **slidewayskid** » Wed Apr 19, 2006 5:01 pm

well i hate to break it to dfi, but with my x850 pro in the first pcie slot, the fan will NOT spin at the correct speed because the blades are hitting the side if the card. Even in the second pcie slot, the card still hits the very edge of what dfi calls a heatsink. I know im going to have problems with the zalman nb47j, i was just wondering how other people had installed it on their setups

Firetech · Post by **Firetech** » Wed Apr 19, 2006 5:35 pm

Have a look at the links already in this thread and then do a quick search for 'northbridge/chipset coolers'. I can't remember all the links to threads covering this very popular subject.

slidewayskid · Post by **slidewayskid** » Thu Apr 20, 2006 3:39 pm

A GREAT THANKS TO Firetech. I had already tried looking for other threads for people who had had the same problem, but never really found any helpful one's. If any one is having trouble figuring out what to do about dfi's bad nb, just check out this thread, the solution being to buy an arctic freezer 4 and cut the middle out so it will fit around graphics cards, and the heatsink is so big that u will most likely not need a fan, but if your gfx just happens to be right next to one side of the arctic freezer, then all the better Thx again firetech, this looks like the sloution Im going to try, when I finish it, I'll try to get some pics up, but that probably will not be for a while:( In the mean time, everyone should go look at this thread:
http://forums.silentpcreview.com/viewto ... highlight=

Firetech · Post by **Firetech** » Thu Apr 20, 2006 3:44 pm

Here's what's going on mine when I get around to it!

existing set-up:

DFI Ultra-D --- Odd gfx and NB postioning

DFI Ultra-D --- Odd gfx and NB postioning

Too many chipset cooler threads to count!

NB47J