• Welcome to Overclockers Forums! Join us to reply in threads, receive reduced ads, and to customize your site experience!

Question about chipset cooler

Overclockers is supported by our readers. When you click a link to make a purchase, we may earn a commission. Learn More.

Pepino Cantador

Registered
Joined
Apr 25, 2003
Location
Huntington Beach, CA
I've got a Soyo Dragon Lite P4S mobo, and it's got a little HS / fan combo on the chipset. I figured I'd get a Crystal Orb and stick it on there, since I thought it might be a tad cooler than the stock cooler.

My question is....there was no thermal anything underneath the HS. No tape, grease, nada. I was curious if there is a reason for that? I was gonna put the c-orb on, but I wasn't sure if I should stick it on bare like the stock cooler was.

Thanks!
 
Last question first: Yes, you can put a piece of thermal tape or a compound onto the northbridge before you install your new HSF. I strongly recommend using a non-conductive compound like Artic Silver's Alumina. If any regular AS3 gets onto the board you could be in a world of hurt.

The reason you didn't see any on the OEM set up is, well, its not necessisary. To be honest neither is the fan if you don't have any case ventilation and aren't running in an extreme temperature environment. Northbridge HSF's have become one of the visual features that seperate enthusiast boards from lesser offerings, even though they're not needed.

Upgrading your northbridge HSF to a Crystal Orb and using a thermal compound will make your chipset run cooler. But it probably won't translate to a measurable increase in performance or stability unless your interior temps were out of control in the first place.

I make a habit of ditching the northbridge fan on every board I use to eliminate a needless noise source. It hasn't caused a problem yet. (But out of force of habit I do put a drop of Alumina between the northbridge chip and the heat sink.)




BHD
 
Back