northbridge cooling. water or just passive...

freshy98 · Nov 5, 2003

I'm in doubt here. I read so much about to cool or not to cool the northbridge.

over the next few months I will build my first water setup and would like to know if it's recommended to water cool the northbridge or to just place a passive cooler on it like the Zalman blue northbridge cooler.
I won't mod the voltage on the northbridge if nescaserry, but I definitally don't want a HSF on it too. Too loud!

so, what do you guys/girls think? of course I will overclock, otherwise I wouldn't be here in the first place ;-) my FSB will be at about 220MHz'ish, so that is to be kept in mind.
the northbridge is the NForce 2.

as a waterblock I was think of the Swiftech MCW-20A or the D-Tek Customs chipset/vga block.
as a passive cooler I was thinking about the Zalman blue NB cooler.

also, does anyone have some good link to reviews about the D-Tek cooler? can't seem to find any good links using google. only sites linking them, but the're not to be found on the site...

thanks in advance!

Suma · Nov 5, 2003

Mine is cooled by a Zalman NB37 with a TT 40mm fan.
Silent and Good.

ILikeMy240sx · Nov 5, 2003

Usually, you won't OC further by water cooling NB. As for me, I have a stock Asus heatsink on the mobo with 40mm on top and that works just fine.

I would rather take the NB block out of my loop and let my CPU and GPU use the available cooling capabilities.

cypher_138 · Nov 5, 2003

I put a Z-Chip on mine. It allowed a few extra MHz and I assume some stability. For what you're shooting for the added cooling would only help. If not you could always sell it.

freshy98 · Nov 5, 2003

that is why I had doubts on using a WB to cool the NB.
getting the NB WB out of the loop will of course increase flow.

I just don't the add a fan to my NB. I have a Orange orb right now spinning at ~5500rpm which makes a lot of noise! well, gonna look into that.

thnx for the answers guys! made up my mind

freshy98 · Nov 5, 2003

cypher_138 said:
I put a Z-Chip on mine. It allowed a few extra MHz and I assume some stability. For what you're shooting for the added cooling would only help. If not you could always sell it.

what is a Z-chip? never heard of it...

Suma · Nov 5, 2003

Check this out:
http://dangerden.com/mall/blocks/zchipset.asp

wannaoc · Nov 5, 2003

The z-chip is Danger Dens chipset water block. To me it seemed like it will hurt flow way too much so I stuck with the D-tek.

The main reason I went for w/c on my NB is to get rid of another fan and because it looks damn cool.

I was aiming for silence mainly and any fan was more than I wanted. I never tested my o/c without the waterblock so I can't really say if it helped but you can see where I am now with my sig.

I also added a GPU block to this setup and noticed one thing. Between the chipset and the GPU block I was unable to get my cpu as high as I was before. Even with my larger heatercore it still gets higher temps than my setup when it was just the CPU. Granted most of the heat comes off my GPU but its just another thing to keep in mind when thinking about w/c the NB.

Also for overclocking a passive heatsink probably will hurt you imo. At least put some kind of fan on it or blowing near it. Most of the nb coolers I have seen add alot of noise to the setup and therefore don't interest me but the Swiftech does look like a good choice for aircooling a NB.

freshy98 · Nov 5, 2003

didn't know swiftech had a NB HSF. gonna check the site. thnx!

Radical · Nov 5, 2003

I was thinking of putting a 40mm on my stock A7N8X NB heatsink, but I thought that it might make that loud, high-pitched, whiny noise. Do your 40mm's make that kind of noise, or are they relatively quiet?

freshy98 · Nov 5, 2003

the swiftech NB cooler has a fan that does 6CFM @ 18DBa. that is unhearable by the human ear as far as I know.
say's enough I think. I'm gonnna order that one.

Radical · Nov 5, 2003

Okay, thanks. I'm going to look into that one, too, but first I'm just going to try it with a 60mm fan glued onto the stock HS, and see how that works. If it's too loud, then I'll probably get the Swiftech.

sbud · Nov 5, 2003

My swiftech MCW20 doesn't really block much flow in my setup and I've noticed like .5-1.5 degree of difference in temps. The MCW20 is probably the least restrictive compared to D-tek's and Danger Den's NB block. Haven't tried to overclock any higher, hasn't been long enough to measure stability.

DipStickTony · Nov 5, 2003

on my 8rda+ my NB is vdd modded to 1.9 volts. I used to use one of the little gold zalman heatsinks on it with a 40mm fan(and artic alumina of course). One day after messing with my system i forgot to plug the 40mm fan back in and i didnt notice it for almost a month. This was at 225mhz fsb .... not a single hiccup.

Adding a NB block to my loop has raised my cpu temp 1c and now theres even more tubing taking over my system. Next time i get around to it im removing the NB block and reinstalling the zalman.

geosin · Nov 6, 2003

Zalman + 40mm Sunon LEV (same ones as Microcool) would be good enough.
I am using the Zalman fan adaptor (the one thats attached onto the PCI screw holes) Pluck on a 80/92cm fan for good cooling over the Graphics card and Chipset

DipStickTony · Nov 6, 2003

this may be a bit off topic but it reminds me....it seems to me that the mosfets actually put off more heat then the NB itself. I bought some of that double sided foam sticky tape (1 sq cm can hold up to 4 lbs) and stuck an 80mm fan over my mosfets. Even with heatsinks the fets were hot to the touch....but once the fan showed up they were all cool like buttah.

freshy98 · Nov 6, 2003

DipStickTony, that sounds promising! I personally will go for the Swiftech HSF since it's only 18DBa. just to get some hot air removed. also, I will order it from sidewinder as I allready gonna order more over there. they sell the MCP600 which I have not found in Europe as of yet.

ILikeMy240sx · Nov 6, 2003

Well, if you have a side intake hole right over the NB, then this will do just fine as well...

Good choice on the swifty Freshy98! you can always rely on swifty for goodness

freshy98 · Nov 6, 2003

never had switech stuff before..will find out

solo · Nov 6, 2003

i put the dtek nb block, and while it stayed on for about 10 minutes, i was able to boost up about 100 mhz

but then the epoxy didn't hold it, and i got owned

northbridge cooling. water or just passive...

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