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replace heat sink/fan on Mobo

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globalgrl

Registered
Joined
Nov 29, 2003
Hi,
Wanting to fix up my older computer and I have noticed for some time that my fans don't work. The case fan (clip-on) and another one which is a fan and heat sink that is on the mobo--it is tiny. The fan on the cpu is the only one working. I know I can replace the case fan but can I also replace this tiny fan and heat sink on the mobo?
And do you know where I could buy it?
I guess I was just wondering how relevant it is cause my new board is an IC7 and it doesn't have a fan and hs on the mobo separate from the one on the cpu.
thanks globalgrl
 
Sounds like its a North Bridge HSF you are talking about. Now whether you will need it or not will depend on the mobo but its unlikely if its an older one. Do you know what model the mobo is?
To find a HSF do a search for a chipset cooler in your local stores. You wont get exactly the same one but you will find replacement ones which will probably be better.
Hood
 
It's a gigabyte

Hi Hood,
Thanks for the reply.
It is a gigabyte mobo with the AMD Athlon processor.
I have gone a long time without that fan working so probably should not care and I did not want to touch anything until I had my new one put together for fear of having no computer! ha!
But now that I have it going I seem to want to make this one better!
It's all that tinkering, I think it must be addictive!
globalgrl
 
Unless its one of the NForce2 mobos or you are going to be Overclocking it the North Bridge fan will not be needed. Do you know what model of mobo it is, it should be printed on it and possibly between the North Bridge and the DDR slots.
Hood
 
Thanks Hood!

I'll have to open her up to see but let's say that I don't bother with that tiny fan and just put in some case fans --I can do that without drilling right?
If I knew then what I know now--jeez, Louise!!
I mean I just put together my new computer and it is a P4, Abit IC7---well, it is the Dream Machine specs from Max PC. It has 3 fans in the power supply and 6 in the case, has the Led indicators so I know what my temps are.
So now looking back at this other pc which is a pretty good pc--it came with one case fan, the tiny mobo fan and cpu fan. Except for the cpu fan they all stopped working pretty much right away and even if they hadn't I can see now that they would not have been enough. I had a video card in there in the beginning which burned out (can't remember what it was) then I got the ti4200 and it burned out in 2 weeks. Now it seems obvious to me that cooling is the problem!
So before I bother with another video card I think I need to do something about the cooling so my question is --as long as I get some fans in there does it really matter that much where they are?
I will not OC, mainly just play games. thanks.
 
Cant say for sure if you need the fan on the North Bridge as I dont know what model the mobo is. As I said before if its an NForce2 chipset mobo then the N/Bridge needs the fan or at the very least a very good passive heatsink. It is unlikely that it is an NForce2 mobo if you have had it for a while, in that case then you are unlikely to need the fan on the North Bridge.
The best way to know if you need more cooling is to monitor the system temps with something like MBM5 but usually what you want is at least one at the front sucking air into the case and one at the rear exhausting it.
Hood
 
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