handy use for a zalman CPU bracket and 120 mm fan

***Zardon*** · Feb 25, 2004, 02:16 PM

Well most of you NF7 (s) owners out there will know just how crappy the northbridge cooler is on these boards, im a firm believer in the fact that alot of these boards are dying at high FSBS due to this inadequate 40 mm cooler. my first mobo, the fan stopped working and on the newest NF7s I had two of the blades broke. not a nice thing to hear first thing in the morning as the fan tries to go about its business with two blades stuck within its casing. Why dont ABIT start going along the lines of gigabyte who at least put a heatsink and a fan on their northbridges. at least its a start.

Anyway, ive got a new NF7s and this time I had enough knowledge to remove the northbridge cooler immediately if I wanted a working system at 220fsb+ after a few months. so here is my little "mod", pretty basic but effective.

I have a barton 3000+ which I have running at 225fsb 2.5ghz. 1.95 core volts, with an SLK900 and a 92 mm YSTECH fan - 2400 rpm, 30 db, 50 cfm, temps around 50c idle. 55-58 load. a little high but its nice to hit such high speeds.

What I have done is to remove the northbridge cooler and get a zalman chipset heatsink which ive attached. (tight fit due to the sheer size of the SLK900). some good coolermaster premium paste on it.

I also have a zalman 120mm fan with arm, part of a CPU cooling kit with the fan style copper heatsink... which of course im not using for this. Attaching the arm to the lower PCI slots gets the 120mm fan positioned just above the 9800 XT and around the northbridge area, ive cranked the 120 mm to full, 2500rpm and its shifting some air right onto the mobo. here is a pic

its a basic little mod, but the temps in the case are great, the mobo and zalman heatsink/motherboard are getting a nice airflow. worth looking into if you run at high FSBS, dont like the noise of whinny tinny little 40 mm fans and want some nice temps.

Logla · Feb 25, 2004, 02:29 PM

Very clever

Is that the antec case you were on about buying a little while ago? Did you get the one with the window in it? What do you think of it?

***Zardon*** · Feb 25, 2004, 02:33 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Logla
Very clever

Is that the antec case you were on about buying a little while ago? Did you get the one with the window in it? What do you think of it?

Its actually pretty good Logla, very heavy. nice build. clean. good layout inside, plenty of room (ive 5 hard drives, 3 optical drives). the side door is one of my favourite parts of the case, its the total opposite of my chieftec server case. really heavy, and when you close it, the sound is muffled very well (not that my system is loud), ive went for vantec stealth case fans (20 db) 2 front sucking in, and 2 back out, a globalwin sapphire 520 watt PSU with blue LED (19 db). YSTECH 92 mm CPU fan (30db), and now the 120 mm Zalman fan, between 18db and 35db - ive it around 30db).

but yes the case is great, very impressed with it.

zerodamage · Feb 25, 2004, 02:36 PM

That is the thing. My Epox 8RDA+ just has a passive heatsink on it and it runs really warm when at the normal 333 fsb. Right now I am at 400 fsb and it is very warm. Good thing for case cooling. This will change soon enough though....

***Zardon*** · Feb 25, 2004, 02:40 PM

well if I was running 200fsb, I wouldnt even bother with this extra fan, I think a good copper heatsink on the northbridge should be ok, its when you start pushing these boards into 205 - 210 - 215 - 220 - 225, they start to REALLY heat up.

The problem I have with northbridge coolers in general is most companies dont WANT to spend the money. abit i mean for example they use the cheapest little 40mm fans in a crappy casing stuck RIGHT on the northbridge with cheap ass paste. this is a recipe for disaster - fine if you are running 166 fsb, but come on who the hell buys one of these boards to run at 166fsb (maybe some?) , and im sure if you guys out there who have one of these mobos will open the case it makes one hell of a racket which gradually gets worse. Gigabyte use much better 40mm fans and a heatsink so at least the fan casing itself isnt right on the bloody northbridge !

To be honest I hate 40 mm fans, and the sooner mobo makers worked larger fans into their products the better.

92 mm fans and 120 mm fans, so much CFM for little noise, and if you pick the right ones, last a LONG time.

zerodamage · Feb 25, 2004, 02:57 PM

Yeah, but Epox has been criticized for the poor job of putting these hs on the northbridge. There is a small amount of junk thermal paste and the heatsink doesn't really set that well on the northbridge. When I got it, I took it off and put it on correctly and put some good thermal grease on there.

If my epox gets that warm though at 200 fsb, I can only imagine what those Abit boards are doing at 220. This could be the cause of their problems with their boards. Poor northbridge cooling.

***Zardon*** · Feb 25, 2004, 03:08 PM

its a possibility. alot of the hardcore guys mod them out of the box, but I think for the average "tweaker" who has some knowledge and is trusting that northbridge cooler to handle 200-230 fsb its a risky game.

Also I think the abit bioses are very prone to corruption (going on the reading on forums). I wish dual bioses were used on these boards.

zerodamage · Feb 25, 2004, 03:18 PM

That is one thing that I like about Gigabyte and most of their boards. Their Dual Bios setup. At the very least there should be a replacable chip like what Epox uses. Maybe even toss in an extra chip with each mobo just in case. People are using Abit because of the quality and stability.

krazy1 · Feb 25, 2004, 03:23 PM

I have that same fan bracket in my case but the fan is cooling my Gen 1 Zalman HeatPipe. The nice thing is that the fan blows just right that some of the air is also hitting the Northbridge.

As for you case, I have the same one (in black) and recently upgraded to the ALuminum one with side window. Chieftec/Antec make some nice cases. Plenty of room and plenty of air space to keep a system cool....

wertret · Feb 25, 2004, 03:35 PM

Very useful mod Z, i still have the default heat spreader for my a7n8x deluxe (sucks a lot). And yes you have one of the best cases in the world

***Zardon*** · Feb 25, 2004, 03:39 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by zerodamage
At the very least there should be a replacable chip like what Epox uses. Maybe even toss in an extra chip with each mobo just in case.

thats actually a damn fine idea zero.

zerodamage · Feb 25, 2004, 03:41 PM

Our cases are exactly alike Z except mine is Chieftec and my door may not be as heavy as yours, it is quite heavy though and muffles sound quite well. The insides are exactly the same. I love the removable bays with the levers for installing hard Drivers. It makes things so much easier.

***Zardon*** · Feb 25, 2004, 03:44 PM

my server is a cheiftec (green) case, great case but the build quality compared to the antec just doesnt compare. the insides and chassis are much the same, top notch, its just the antec build quality is much better for the panelling/noise reduction.

zerodamage · Feb 25, 2004, 03:50 PM

Do you have a link to your specific case?

***Zardon*** · Feb 25, 2004, 04:18 PM

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/acatalog/Antec_Cases.html

8 cases down from the top.

zerodamage · Feb 25, 2004, 04:37 PM

Yeah, that is a nice color also. Mine is an ugly blue/purple color.

Is that PSU modded or a special purchased one?

wertret · Feb 25, 2004, 04:43 PM

Hey Zero you can check more pics of this case in this thread

***Zardon*** · Feb 25, 2004, 04:49 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by zerodamage
Yeah, that is a nice color also. Mine is an ugly blue/purple color.

Is that PSU modded or a special purchased one?

second from the top

Judas · Feb 25, 2004, 04:59 PM

i'm looking for a very very well done very LARGE case.... no midtower crap anymore.... i want to be able to stick 2 PSU's in it.... i want to be able to shove 8 hardrives... scrap the floppy.. don't need it... but it'd be nice..... 4-6 cd-rom bays... and build well.. looks good..and has plenty of room for lots of 120mm fans....

why?... want it quite... i want to be able to shove a very very large Dual CPU motherboard in it.. i want to not have to worry about room available... and or if the bloody ram is going to be in conflict with the video card... and the video card with the hardrives... when removing or installing.....

Judas · Feb 25, 2004, 05:01 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Zardon
second from the top

i also want a few of those....

Judas · Feb 25, 2004, 05:03 PM

Forgot one thing.. i'd like to remove the plate that holds the mobo from the case itself... damn... i hate cases that have a stationary mobo harness...

***Zardon*** · Feb 25, 2004, 05:05 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Judas
i'm looking for a very very well done very LARGE case.... no midtower crap anymore.... i want to be able to stick 2 PSU's in it.... i want to be able to shove 8 hardrives... scrap the floppy.. don't need it... but it'd be nice..... 4-6 cd-rom bays... and build well.. looks good..and has plenty of room for lots of 120mm fans....

dude you are going for a professional server. different market. but id like to address you on a few things. firstly, these midtowers arent crap. if you build them right you have a low noise system, hence the vantec stealths. you dont need 2 PSUs for a general all purpose rig, you need a good powerful PSU which will deliver good rails and stability to your system, the lifeblood.

8 harddrives? for what? why not get 2 250 gigers as a file server more than enough for anything - unless you are opening a warez site with terrabytes of apps

, then 2 raptors and raid them for the OS. 6 CD rom bays? im beginning to think you are a warez king here. you making alot of backups to cd ? **Cough**. 120 mm fans are great for sure ! dont know about lots of them, if you buy right, I cant see you ever needing more than 4.

Get yourself a pro server with dual xeons

go talk to nforcer.

Judas · Feb 25, 2004, 05:41 PM

lol... no no.. i'm trying to build with complete and utter upgradeabilities in mind.... as this case will have to last.. and i'll want it to last for years.... my sister is getting heavier into digital artwork and combining it with your real world art.... and when she gets to air brushing... i plan on getting some lessons... and getting her to do some serious ammount of work on my cases and parts... with the larger case.. i can get alot more on it.... look way sweeter.... I know that not all mid towers are... but any i can get ahold of here.... are.... 8 hardrives?... so i can raid them 0.... i don't need space... i would rather have speed... i don't warez...... i was trying to get ahold of 6 20gb hardrives to replace the 40gb drives i had.. raid them together.... but the smallest i could find is 30gb now... and they are asking a waud for them yet... i can't even get sata here yet...

Feb 25, 2004, 02:16 PM	#1
*Zardon* enchanted Join Date: May 2002 Location: Driverheaven Posts: 32,257 Rep Power: 3150	handy use for a zalman CPU bracket and 120 mm fan Well most of you NF7 (s) owners out there will know just how crappy the northbridge cooler is on these boards, im a firm believer in the fact that alot of these boards are dying at high FSBS due to this inadequate 40 mm cooler. my first mobo, the fan stopped working and on the newest NF7s I had two of the blades broke. not a nice thing to hear first thing in the morning as the fan tries to go about its business with two blades stuck within its casing. Why dont ABIT start going along the lines of gigabyte who at least put a heatsink and a fan on their northbridges. at least its a start. Anyway, ive got a new NF7s and this time I had enough knowledge to remove the northbridge cooler immediately if I wanted a working system at 220fsb+ after a few months. so here is my little "mod", pretty basic but effective. I have a barton 3000+ which I have running at 225fsb 2.5ghz. 1.95 core volts, with an SLK900 and a 92 mm YSTECH fan - 2400 rpm, 30 db, 50 cfm, temps around 50c idle. 55-58 load. a little high but its nice to hit such high speeds. What I have done is to remove the northbridge cooler and get a zalman chipset heatsink which ive attached. (tight fit due to the sheer size of the SLK900). some good coolermaster premium paste on it. I also have a zalman 120mm fan with arm, part of a CPU cooling kit with the fan style copper heatsink... which of course im not using for this. Attaching the arm to the lower PCI slots gets the 120mm fan positioned just above the 9800 XT and around the northbridge area, ive cranked the 120 mm to full, 2500rpm and its shifting some air right onto the mobo. here is a pic its a basic little mod, but the temps in the case are great, the mobo and zalman heatsink/motherboard are getting a nice airflow. worth looking into if you run at high FSBS, dont like the noise of whinny tinny little 40 mm fans and want some nice temps.

Feb 25, 2004, 03:23 PM	#9
krazy1 Live from the Dungeon Join Date: May 2003 Location: Between the SubWoofers Posts: 1,395 Rep Power: 0	I have that same fan bracket in my case but the fan is cooling my Gen 1 Zalman HeatPipe. The nice thing is that the fan blows just right that some of the air is also hitting the Northbridge. As for you case, I have the same one (in black) and recently upgraded to the ALuminum one with side window. Chieftec/Antec make some nice cases. Plenty of room and plenty of air space to keep a system cool.... __________________

Feb 25, 2004, 03:35 PM	#10
wertret Still watching... Join Date: Nov 2002 Location: Orihuela (Spain) Posts: 1,560 Rep Power: 0	Very useful mod Z, i still have the default heat spreader for my a7n8x deluxe (sucks a lot). And yes you have one of the best cases in the world __________________ "They who dream by day are cognizant of many things which escape those who dream only by night."

Feb 25, 2004, 04:43 PM	#17
wertret Still watching... Join Date: Nov 2002 Location: Orihuela (Spain) Posts: 1,560 Rep Power: 0	Hey Zero you can check more pics of this case in this thread __________________ "They who dream by day are cognizant of many things which escape those who dream only by night."

Feb 25, 2004, 02:29 PM	#2
Logla DriverHeaven Extreme Member Join Date: May 2003 Posts: 3,310 Rep Power: 48	Very clever Is that the antec case you were on about buying a little while ago? Did you get the one with the window in it? What do you think of it?

Feb 25, 2004, 02:36 PM	#4
zerodamage DriverHeaven Extreme Member Join Date: May 2003 Location: Virginia, USA Posts: 3,574 Rep Power: 0 System Specs	That is the thing. My Epox 8RDA+ just has a passive heatsink on it and it runs really warm when at the normal 333 fsb. Right now I am at 400 fsb and it is very warm. Good thing for case cooling. This will change soon enough though....

Feb 25, 2004, 02:40 PM	#5
*Zardon* enchanted Join Date: May 2002 Location: Driverheaven Posts: 32,257 Rep Power: 3150	well if I was running 200fsb, I wouldnt even bother with this extra fan, I think a good copper heatsink on the northbridge should be ok, its when you start pushing these boards into 205 - 210 - 215 - 220 - 225, they start to REALLY heat up. The problem I have with northbridge coolers in general is most companies dont WANT to spend the money. abit i mean for example they use the cheapest little 40mm fans in a crappy casing stuck RIGHT on the northbridge with cheap ass paste. this is a recipe for disaster - fine if you are running 166 fsb, but come on who the hell buys one of these boards to run at 166fsb (maybe some?) , and im sure if you guys out there who have one of these mobos will open the case it makes one hell of a racket which gradually gets worse. Gigabyte use much better 40mm fans and a heatsink so at least the fan casing itself isnt right on the bloody northbridge ! To be honest I hate 40 mm fans, and the sooner mobo makers worked larger fans into their products the better. 92 mm fans and 120 mm fans, so much CFM for little noise, and if you pick the right ones, last a LONG time.

Feb 25, 2004, 02:57 PM	#6
zerodamage DriverHeaven Extreme Member Join Date: May 2003 Location: Virginia, USA Posts: 3,574 Rep Power: 0 System Specs	Yeah, but Epox has been criticized for the poor job of putting these hs on the northbridge. There is a small amount of junk thermal paste and the heatsink doesn't really set that well on the northbridge. When I got it, I took it off and put it on correctly and put some good thermal grease on there. If my epox gets that warm though at 200 fsb, I can only imagine what those Abit boards are doing at 220. This could be the cause of their problems with their boards. Poor northbridge cooling.

Feb 25, 2004, 03:08 PM	#7
*Zardon* enchanted Join Date: May 2002 Location: Driverheaven Posts: 32,257 Rep Power: 3150	its a possibility. alot of the hardcore guys mod them out of the box, but I think for the average "tweaker" who has some knowledge and is trusting that northbridge cooler to handle 200-230 fsb its a risky game. Also I think the abit bioses are very prone to corruption (going on the reading on forums). I wish dual bioses were used on these boards.

Feb 25, 2004, 03:18 PM	#8
zerodamage DriverHeaven Extreme Member Join Date: May 2003 Location: Virginia, USA Posts: 3,574 Rep Power: 0 System Specs	That is one thing that I like about Gigabyte and most of their boards. Their Dual Bios setup. At the very least there should be a replacable chip like what Epox uses. Maybe even toss in an extra chip with each mobo just in case. People are using Abit because of the quality and stability.

Feb 25, 2004, 03:41 PM	#12
zerodamage DriverHeaven Extreme Member Join Date: May 2003 Location: Virginia, USA Posts: 3,574 Rep Power: 0 System Specs	Our cases are exactly alike Z except mine is Chieftec and my door may not be as heavy as yours, it is quite heavy though and muffles sound quite well. The insides are exactly the same. I love the removable bays with the levers for installing hard Drivers. It makes things so much easier.

Feb 25, 2004, 03:44 PM	#13
*Zardon* enchanted Join Date: May 2002 Location: Driverheaven Posts: 32,257 Rep Power: 3150	my server is a cheiftec (green) case, great case but the build quality compared to the antec just doesnt compare. the insides and chassis are much the same, top notch, its just the antec build quality is much better for the panelling/noise reduction.

Feb 25, 2004, 03:50 PM	#14
zerodamage DriverHeaven Extreme Member Join Date: May 2003 Location: Virginia, USA Posts: 3,574 Rep Power: 0 System Specs	Do you have a link to your specific case?

Feb 25, 2004, 04:18 PM	#15
*Zardon* enchanted Join Date: May 2002 Location: Driverheaven Posts: 32,257 Rep Power: 3150	http://www.overclockers.co.uk/acatalog/Antec_Cases.html 8 cases down from the top.

Feb 25, 2004, 04:37 PM	#16
zerodamage DriverHeaven Extreme Member Join Date: May 2003 Location: Virginia, USA Posts: 3,574 Rep Power: 0 System Specs	Yeah, that is a nice color also. Mine is an ugly blue/purple color. Is that PSU modded or a special purchased one?