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p4c800e deluxe northbridge cooling?

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LuckMan212

Member
Joined
Jan 11, 2004
Location
New York, NY
ok, the decision to make a $200 mobo that has no active NB cooling is beyond me... but oh well...

so I got this mobo and i am trying to get a nice high FSB out of it. I was worried about NB cooling so I wanted to replace (or mod) the stock NB cooling solution.

I ordered a Zalman NB-32J and some AS5 adhesive but after looking at the way it mounts to the NB I decided not to even install it.... the ASUS has clips and no screw holes next to the NB so the installation would not be as "tight" as the stock cooling.

my next thought is to simply add a fan (40mm) to the existing heatsink... but I cannot figure out exactly how to do this.. I have heard some peeps suggest epoxy or superglue but even that you are basically glueing to almost no surface area at the edge of the heatsink fins... is this correct??:rolleyes:

any other ideas out there? how important is NB cooling in general? I have left my box running for days at 279fsb and the heatsink is only warm to the touch so I don't think that its really too bad but perhaps at 290+ fsb things get really toasty?:mad:
 
I have a temp probe placed at the NB - HS interface and get very consistent readings. 32°C idle & 35-38°C load (50-100%). I'm using a Swiftech MCX159-P with AS5. I've tried a TT Tiger 1 (needed lapping) and an Abit NB cooler (annoying high-pitch whine) with similar results, maybe 1°C hotter. I, too, am worried that I can't apply more pressure with these coolers because of the limitations of spring clips. I've only tested to FSB 250.
 
ok, id suggest the Swiftech MCX159-P. it cant be found here . its a bit costly, but IMO is the best NB heatsink out there. i have the same bored and it works great. i have a P4 2.4ghz M0 Stepping cpu and ive had it at 300fsb (with the 3:2 ratio), but i run it 24/7 at 275fsb. i have a good case air-flow system and this heatsink only gets warm to the touch. its slightly warmer than the cpu heatsink believe it or not. i have some pics of my rig in this thread. there you can see how my case is set up and how this heatsink looks. its expensive, but its worth it.
 
thanks gustav! nice pics in that other thread btw... our rigs look very similar-- I have that same Antec case-- one of the best cases IMO!!

I looked at that swifty and actually if you check my sig you can see I have its "big brother" the MCX4000 that is cooling my CPU. Its a HEAVY but AWESOME heatsink esp. when paired with a nice 92mm Panaflo like I have.

SO i had looked at that swifty NB cooler and I was worried that in a tower case, it was putting too much strain on those flimsy little mobo hooks.... don't you worry about that??

how long has yours been in there and do you ever move your case around? If it's solid then I will surely be ordering one of those... they are nice looking and those thick slabs of copper do a wicked job.....:cool:
 
thank you.

yes, it is a great case. i wish i hadnt goten the one with the side window, that or i didnt get the antec trueblue psu, it bugs the hell out of me at night. anyway, about the heatsink, no i dont worry that its putting on too much stress. i move the case around a lot, and its been fine. the heatsink does sit a little more loose than the stock heatsink since it only uses 2 of the clips and not all 4. however, with some as5, it seems to be doing fine. id like to get another hook or something so i can use all four rings, but i dont think it would be possible to fit a hook through those spiral things. other than that, its great. gets warm, but not hot. i wouldnt worry about it pulling too much on the rings on the mobo, its heavy, but not that heavy.

i have the thermalright sp-94 for my P4. i heard it was the best and i slapped a panaflo on it and i love it. its nice that they include a backplate too so you dont bend your mobo.
 
darn, that nb cooler is more expensive than my cpu cooler :( although when i touch my nb heatsink, it is hot but not much... i dont get burned when i touch it... do i really need one with my current rig? :)
 
well you could get away with just putting a fan on top of the stock heatsink. just use your imagination and figure a way to connect it. of course, removing it and putting on some AS5 would be best. you can also get a zalman heatsink, which is just as good as the stock, there really isnt a difference. i just figured, hey, im already spending over $1000 on this, why not spend anohter $30 for a good NB cooling solution? besides, i dont feel bad that i spent more on the NB than the CPU cuz i spend $45 on the CPU heatsink (the SP series aint cheap)

the MicroCool Northpole would be good, except it doesnt have the needed hookes for a P4 system.

If you plan to have high a high FSB, or ever plan on doing a volt mod or anthing, it would be best to have something better than the stock HS, this is of course the best IMO, but there are other good ones out there. but honestly, the zalman isnt one of them. if your planning on putting on a zalman NB heatsink, you might as well spend the money for a good fan and put it on the stock HS. i run a 275FSB 24/7 and i play a lot of games which are memory intensive so the NB gets toasty. even with this massive heatsink, it still gets warm.
 
ah ok... thanx, i think my oc settings on my sig below would be best for my system... i play games but not all the time... :)
 
well I just ordered my Swifty mcx-159p... ordered direct from them since I noticed that as of last week they are shipping them with 2 retaining clips instead of one... should help keep things in place!!:p

anyway cant wait to see if it makes any difference in my OC
 
those swiftech water blocks look SWEEEEEEEEEEEEEET btw... that will be my next move.................

i love the way these blocks look... all CNC anodized and $h!t that is some nice looking metal.
P4SYSTEM-630x476.jpg
 
that's what *I* said!!:D hehe

guess I will have to get a new mobo (IS7 or IC7) before I can watercool my NB 'cuz the Asus has no holes (damn you asus) next to the NB for attaching a waterblock.

the Abit boards do, am I correct?
 
hmmm actually im pro asus and GD is using asus and has water cooling too.. so i guess ur wrong? :)
 
yeah well I love asus' reliability too, but my P4C800-E does not have holes by the northbridge...

GD uses a P4P800 which may have the holes, or maybe he isn't watercooling his NB...:rolleyes:
 
we are using the same mobo but i dont see holes in my NB, only clips... damn, i cant decide which ram to get.. pc3200 or pc3500 :(
 
I think one of the only places for BH-5 pc3500 these days is excaliberpc.com , I ordered my mushkin (see sig) from there and it's been very good. right now it's my CPU holding me back but I fully expect once I get a good core in there that the mushie's will go to 227-233mhz or so (which would be 292fsb 5:4)
 
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