Archived from groups: alt.comp.periphs.mainboard.abit (
More info?)
"Qwest News" said in news:Uwehc.44$xo5.38247@news.uswest.net:
> Will the passive Zalman NB47J Northbridge heatsink do a very good job
> compared to the stock unit w/fan?
>
> I would to quiet the system down
> and still retain some preformance options.
>
> Southbridge cooling recomendations appreciated.
>
> Thanks
I just got rid of the NB fan on my NF7-S v2 mobo. It was making noise;
it would buzz louder, quieter, go away, but erratically which was more
annoying than just a constant buzz. I replaced it with just a Zalman
passive heatsink. It comes with thermal adhesive but I'd rather not
make it permanent (didn't know if I'd have to go back to using a
fan-cooled heatsink). Didn't know the quality of the thermal paste
(included) so I got a blister of thermal paste that is supposed to be
equivalent to Artic Alumina. Got them real cheap at BestByte.net:
Zalman NB32-J, $3.95; incl. paste & adhesive (http://snipurl.com/5u1e)
Thermal paste, $0.65 (http://snipurl.com/5u1h)
Biggest problem I had was getting off the old pin-mounted fan
w/heatsink. Didn't want to dismantle the computer to get the
motherboard out so I could squeeze the pin ends together to push them
out of the holes. So I used an end-cut nipper to snip off the old
plastic pins and push the remnant piece out of the hole. Be careful if
you also cut the spring so not to lose it somewhere inside that might
short out something. Cut off as much of the pin as possible so the part
left is as short as possible; there isn't much of a gap between the
motherboard and case. I cut one that was too long to push out and had
to use an exacto blade to hold it up to snip off a bit more. When
opening the bag and handling the extremely tiny screws and nuts, you
might want to do it over a dish tub in case you drop them. Once
dropped, you probably will never find it. They are TINY! I had to cut
my fingernails to get them out of the way to thread the tiny screw into
the tiny nut. No lockwasher is included so you might want to use some
Loctite to ensure they don't loosen; if you don't have any on hand, just
use some liquid whiteout.
I've only had the Zalman passive heatsink on for a week so I cannot
attest that there will not be heat problems. But after running games,
the heatsink never felt warm. I replaced the 60mm constant-speed CPU
fan with a slower-spinning 80mm stealth fan from Vantec (a spare I had
in a drawer) using an adapter (http://snipurl.com/5u2m). Still makes
some noise so I suspect I will sometime try using a Zalman flower
heatsink, and then see if a 120mm stealth fan (with adjustable speed) is
really needed or it I can run it at a very slow speed to keep noise as
low as possible. There is a thermally controlled Vantec 80mm case fan
on the rear panel directly across from the CPU and its heatsink with no
obstructions between so maybe I won't need another fan just for the
flower heatsink. The Saphire brand of the ATI video card doesn't use a
fan, just a big heatsink. The Fortron power supply is adjustable for
the speed of its 120mm fan. So the CPU fan & heatsink are next on my
target list to quiet my computer. It seems the quieter you make it the
more you notice the noise that's left.
--
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