Heatpipe based Northbridge HS

The stock northbridge hsf on my motherboard is a pretty poor cooling device and I would like to replace it with a better cooling solution. Unfortunately, my 7800GT is the limiting factor, and anything taller than the iceberq type NB cooler will interfere with the card.
As such, none of the higher performance NB coolers can be used with my motherboard, and I would like to find or make a slim heatpipe based cooler instead.
Anyone know of an existing heatpipe cooler I could modify or have any recommendations?

with out knowing the motherboard your using no one is going to beable to help much.

Wow. I found the right thread. I have the same problem. But yes, knowing the motherboard would be useful.

I started a thread sometime ago and these links were posted. They may be of some help.

boundrose said:

if you're using sli you can think about:
http://img495.imageshack.us/img495/1715/zalman6bw6po0ef.jpg
http://www.coolercases.co.uk/images/alphacool/chip/nexxxos-dfi1.jpg
http://img60.imageshack.us/img60/3396/00006837wb.jpg
http://www.diskusjon.no/uploads/post-24-1121727920.jpg
http://www.try-this.dk/Chipset/2.jpg
http://www.try-this.dk/Chipset/4.jpg
http://home.online.no/~edg-edva/hw/comp2.jpg
http://home.online.no/~edg-edva/hw/lite3.JPG
http://home.online.no/~edg-edva/hw/lite4.JPG

I hope you'll get your inspriation

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Currently I am using an eVGA motherboard I got in a combo deal with a 7800gt. I will eventually be moving up to an Ultra-D, Expert, or A8N32. The last one wouldn't need any modification, the other two appear to suffer from the same poor northbridge placement as the eVGA motherboard.
PWatterson: thanks for the pics, those give me a few good ideas as to what I can and possibly will be doing.
Anyone know what heatsink this cooler is derved from?
http://www.diskusjon.no/uploads/post-24-1121727920.jpg

Yeah I want the same thing. A not very high cooler for my northbridge that still cools. MY northbridge cooler is the loudest thing in my case. If anyone knows of a solution that will fit under my 7800gt let me know.

The a8n32 has fantastic heatpipe bridge cooling. So futura2001, if you are gonna move up to a new board, I strongly suggest it, I love mine.

Thanks to Alex_Knight on this board, who donated his A8N-SLI Premium chipset heatpipe, I was able to upgrade my A8N-SLI Deluxe. Snapped right in and works great. Then added the two NV Silencer 6 coolers resulting in a quieter, cooler case. With the size of the 7800 cards and/or good after market vid coolers the flat heatpipe chipset cooler are the way to go if using air, IMO.

fl0w said:

The a8n32 has fantastic heatpipe bridge cooling. So futura2001, if you are gonna move up to a new board, I strongly suggest it, I love mine.

Click to expand...

I want to, but I am still "waiting" for DFI to release an x16 chipset based motherboard. How is overclocking on the Asus? I have a 148 that makes it up to 2.93 on my eVGA, but I suspect that voltage regulation and general build quality may be holding me back. Furthermore, I might be selling this 148 in the near future to help pay for a 165 or 170, but I need to replace my truck I totaled on Wednesday before I get a new motherboard or chip. The good news is I potentially got promoted the same day, so that lessens the bite. But the guy in front of me didn't have insurance so... ouch!
I suppose that I should start a thread over inthe motherboards section, but is the a8n32 a good competitor to the Expert? From the buzz, it seems that the DFI is a more full-featured board, but does the 8 phase power regulation and other features on the a8n32 really justify it being in the $200+ price bracket?

Gonna look at some heatpipe coolers over the weekend, probably gonna start modding either this weekend (after I go look for a new car) or next depending on my schedule...

I can't say anything about the DFI, I haven't owned or looking into them, but from what I can tell so far with the a8n32 (had it for a week now), it's a beauty. Pushed 2.75gh stable on my x2 4400+ without break a sweat. That's with stock cooling. With the windows open to get it chilly in here, 2.8 was cake. Only thing stopping me now is heat. The x2's do run kinda hot. But with better processor cooling, I'm sure I could push it well past 3.0ghz.

The price is kinda steep. I guess i justified it by being an asus fanboy
But really, you can't go wrong with this board. The 8-phase power reg seems to work perfect, my voltages don't budge.
And apparently it's claimed that it runs some 15c cooler then others cause of this. Not so sure about 15c, but it does run cool. Also the 'Stack Cool 2' design, something to do with the general layout of components on the board, is supposed to lower temps. All in all, for a fan-less design, it runs damn cool.

how would you mount a regular heatsink as seen in a few of those pics above to the nb? drill new holes?

Warren G said:

how would you mount a regular heatsink as seen in a few of those pics above to the nb? drill new holes?

Click to expand...

Yep, that would be the way unless you somehow get miraculously lucky and find a heatsink that naturally matches the hole layout of your motherboard...