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northbridge cooling

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Gongo56

Member
Joined
Aug 20, 2004
do i need to include this in a WC setup if i'm not doing crazy overclocking? I'm getting an MSI neo2 platinum mobo and was wondering if a heatsink on the mobo chipset would be better? or should i WC it?
 
How much FSB do you plan on pushing?

If your board already has a fan+heatsink you should be fine on stock. You can still get it for quietness :)
 
i'm gonig WC for several reasons... noise reduction, i'm bored w/ fans, WC looks so much cooler, always wanted to try it.... i'm not going crazy OC on my FSB.... so do i still need to WC my northbridge chipset?
 
if you are going to OC just mild or moderate, most would recommend not to WC since it adds more heat to the cooling system. If you have an active fan and feel that it's too noisy, then by all means. There is no written rule about it. Though be warned that there have been cases where people crushed their nb cores during installation process.
 
yup. Lot of people just use stock or use something like a Swiftech mcx-159-R nb hsf or Thermalright NB-1C hsf
 
yea no reason to spend extra money to add heat to ur water... just either use your stock heatsink, although i would reccomend getting a nice active cooler (from the picture it doesn't look like your board has an active cooler), since there isn't going to be any extra air coming from your cpu fan to cool of the north bridge anymore
 
nartac said:
yup. Lot of people just use stock or use something like a Swiftech mcx-159-R nb hsf or Thermalright NB-1C hsf

That's what I use and watercool the CPU and GPU, the Swiftech Mcx159 Northbridge heatsink coupled with a Counter-Rotating 10,500rpm fan running at a silent 5-7 volts is what the doctor ordered! (If you run this fan at 12 volts you may go deaf, and you have to keep your digits away from it :)

Picture_009.jpg



These fans cost $12 +$3.85 shipping, Details in this thread (More pics of this neat fan in that thread as well ;)
 
What about those Zalman passive heatsinks?

I'm only running 200mhz fsb on my abit nf7-s. Would a passive hs suffice?
I've heard that nforce chips run really hot.

I never touched my nb, but I did touch my sb that had nothing on it. HOT! I just crazy glued an old, cut-up hs and it's fine.

My mosfets are barely warm.
 
team green it really depend on how much air flow you got going through your case, ya it may work, and it maynot, you could try it, but as long as i have watercooling i m sticken with an active northbridge cooler
 
If your looking to quiet the pc, you might consider water cooling the nb.

The heat added is miniscule in the extreme. The flow restriction is what you should worry about.

On a side note, as Icedfire pointed out, a water cooled rig doesn't have as much socket area airflow so a passive nb might not be a great idea.
 
I'm already watercooling my nb.

I'm just trying to optimize the cooling and am considering removing the nb wb to increase flow. If I can cool the nb with a passive heatsink (read: no additional noise), I'd do so.

My mobo gets decent cooling because there is a 120mm fan blowing over my hd's directly onto the board where the nb is. The airflow isn't hurricane-like, but I can feel some air coming through.
 
like i said before it may work it may not work, but if you do want to overclock your chip then you should be running and active cooler on it, and if you don't want to overclock your chip then it really should not matter what temp of your water is cause you don't need the extra flow cause your not trying to overclock...

so i m guess i m saying you gotta pick one... do you want to overclock or not...
 
Haven't really read ALL reply's so excuse me if I repeat something..

Someone mentioned it's not worth it because of the added heat? Well I read from a respected member on these forums that the extra heat would be so minimal that you couldn't evan tell, and taht if anything were to be effected by it, it would be the extra restriction by the block and not the heat.

If you aren't really going to OC that much or evan moderate, you really don't need it at all, atleast in my opinion.. But i'm not all for against it, as a matter of fact am considering making one myself. If you think you want that extra quietness or just think its "cool" go for it, just don't go crazy spending $40 on something you don't need, make one or find a cheap used one. If you happen to hitting the checkout button on a $40~ chipset water block, immediatly move your mouse to the NW of your screen and HIT THE BACK BUTTON REPEATEDLY! If you are looking for quietness and can't find a water block in your price range just get soemthing cheap on air.

Edit:


meThinks = "You have passive cooling";

if (meThinks == TRUE) {
meThinks = "To be on the same side cool it a little more depending on how large the current HS is. If its small/aluminum POS you should upgrade it..";
}
 
How about the MicroCool NorthPole? I've heard some pretty good things about it and it's relatively cheap as well. I just got one myself and will let you know how it works when I have it all set up :)
 
I want to add better cooling to my NB on my nf7-s but I have a thermalright sp-97 so nothing really fits unless it is low profile, any suggestions?
 
I've got no more speed out of my rig after switching to water..but it does look nicer and its only slightly noisier..

I had a Zalman 7000AlCU on my [email protected] and stock Passive heatsink on my epox NB... temps weren't low 30's as they are now, but it ran stable 24/7..

PC was Silent..Now pc is less silent with water..
 
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