Archived from groups: alt.comp.periphs.mainboard.asus (
More info?)
Thanks for the very complete and informative reply!
Regards,
John O.
"Paul" <nospam@needed.com> wrote in message
news:nospam-0802050447510001@192.168.1.177...
> In article <w9ZNd.6484$Ub4.578481@news20.bellglobal.com>, "JJO"
> <jjo@nospam.ca> wrote:
>
>> Stop me if you have been this spot before. A friend's in-law has a system
>> with this motherboard. The problem as stated to me was that the system
>> had a
>> virus and he wanted it cleaned off. Ok so he had two hard drives and
>> wanted
>> XP on one and the other cleaned and installed as a slave.
>>
>> I installed XP and all went well....at first (with only one hard drive
>> installed). I had a minor problem with XP but attributed that to drivers
>> problems. Now enter the second hard drive and the system really became
>> unstable. After about 3 or 4 hours reinstalls of XP became less stable. I
>> also noticed a fair amount of heat in the case and started to wonder if
>> the
>> PS was giving me trouble. Lo and behold I see that the fan for the system
>> controller chipset (VT8363A) is toast and who knows how long it has not
>> been
>> working. So the question becomes, is it possible that the MB is shot
>> because
>> they have been running it for some time without proper chipset cooling.
>> The
>> case really leaves something to be desired for cooling, it seems like it
>> is
>> trapping rather than eliminating heat.
>>
>> Thanks for any input.
>>
>> Regards,
>> John O.
>
> If it isn't dead yet, then fix the cooling, and it could run
> for a long time to come. Either buy a replacement 40mm fan
> with tacho output, or you could opt for passive cooling, like
> these Zalman Northbridge heatsinks. These have adjustable
> arms on them, to align with the holes in the motherboard.
> (Note: Avoid the temptation to use what is called "thermal
> epoxy" - that compound, while nicely fastening a heatsink
> to the Northbridge, cannot be removed again, and your cooling
> solution should be removable, in case you need to send the mobo
> back to Asus under warranty. Keep the old Northbridge cooling
> solution, in case there is any time left on the warranty.)
>
>
http://www.zalmanusa.com/usa/product/code_list.asp?code=014
>
> For a passive cooler to work well, it helps if the CPU
> heatsink/fan "spills" air onto the fins of the passive
> heatsink. So, sometimes, a different CPU heatsink/fan, coupled
> with the passive heatsink, will allow two devices to be cooled
> with the CPU fan. If you aren't interested in that much
> fooling around, the replacement 40mm fan is a lot easier
> to arrange.
>
> Once the Northbridge is fixed, you may want to check the
> CPU temperature, using the monitor in the BIOS. If the temperature
> is on the high side for the processor, perhaps reapplying thermal
> paste between the CPU and the CPU heatsink will improve things.
> With an AMD processor, try not to get paste on the bridges beside
> the CPU silicon core - you can test how much the paste spreads
> by putting a tiny dot the size of the head of a pin, onto the
> silicon die, press the heatsink into it, then remove and examine
> the pattern. That will help gauge how much is needed to get a
> thin even layer onto the die (the paste is there to fill gaps and
> correct for non-planarity in the surfaces of the CPU and the
> heatsink, not to become a "grease sandwich").
>
> AMD has another opinion on the use of paste/grease:
>
http://www.xtremetek.com/info/index.php?id=14&page=1
>
> For the computer case, you should have one additional fan, besides
> the generally weak fan on the power supply. The power supply fan
> is designed just to keep the power supply at whatever temp the
> designers thought it needs. To keep the computer case at a
> reasonable temperature, an additional fan helps. You can sometimes
> get an idea as to how bad the cooling is, if the temp of the
> case falls dramatically, just by removing the side cover of the
> computer case, while the computer is running. That is a sign that
> either additional fans are required, or that more holes are needed
> in the case. If adding only one fan, I'd mount it on the back of
> the computer, blowing out into the room.
>
> This article mentions a delta of 7-10C between case air and
> the room, as being the norm. A lower delta is better.
>
http://www.intel.com/technology/magazine/computing/dt11021.pdf
>
> I have one case, for example, and it is equipped with a 120mm
> fan. There simply aren't enough holes in the computer case for
> a fan that big, and as soon as the case cover is opened, the fan
> speed drops due to it not having to work as hard to move air
> through the case. I fixed that partially, by removing some plastic
> pieces from the front of the computer case. With a really old
> computer case I'm still using, I built a fan assembly that fits
> in front of the drive trays, to provide additional air input.
> What case mods you attempt, will depend on how much money your
> friend has to spend, and how bad the cooling is.
>
> HTH,
> Paul
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