Northbridge cooling tips for DS3?

Z

Zinn

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I'm thinking about getting a DS3. One thing I hear all over the place is that the stock passive northbridge sink is woefully inadequate. I was wondering what people here have done to improve cooling while pushing this thing over 450 FSB.

Clearance will definitely be an issue as I have a Zalman 9700 cooler that I intend to use on it.

Any tips?
 
Well, I put an old Swiftech MCX-159 on mine I had laying around, but then I'm watercooling my CPU. Personally I like the look of the Thermalright HR-05 / HR-05 SLI coolers. But the fastest I've run my board is 400. Just haven't tried to push it any faster for now.
 
Stock heatsink shot plasma at me. Stuck a Jing Ting on there it got a little warm...but not even enough to warm chocolate!

Even the P5B's heatsink w/ heatpipe blows. It got just as hot as the DS3...Jing Ting to the rescue.

There's also the Thermalright HR-05 (SLI) I believe...and Thermaltake makes one @ Fry's too.

Sexy, no?

 
Yeah I put a Jing Ting on mine too, but I'm watercooling the cpu. It wouldn't fit when I tried to put a scythe ninja on it, so I picked up a nautilus 500 instead.
 
<edited by me>

I just asked which is the best direction to orient the exhast fan on the Zalman 9700 when mounted on the DS3 but their web site says it should be faced so that the hot exhaust of the 9700 discharges towards the rear exhaust fan on your tower case.
 
I put an old Pentium2 40mm CPU fan on my NB. Brought temps down considerably.
 
40mm fan for like $5.


inside_core.jpg
 
chris, how much clearance is there between the northbridge heatsink and the infinity? i.e., will a 20mm thick 40mm fan fit in there? Your 40mm fan looks like it is 10mm thick. Did you remount the northbridge heatsink with AS5?
 
Stock NB heatsink @ 470FSB hits a wall, won't go higher with voltage or an 80mm temporarily pointing at the NB HSF.

That's my system :) Should probably get a different NB cooler though, waiting for it to explode first, then I'll care.

Really though, go with a 40mm fan attached. It's cheaper.

Mines an E6300 @ 3.25 GHz watercooled at stock voltages :)
 
You CAN feel how hot it gets right? How in the world ASUS/Gigabyte and co. get by w/ that... :confused:
 
Zinn said:
I'm thinking about getting a DS3. One thing I hear all over the place is that the stock passive northbridge sink is woefully inadequate. I was wondering what people here have done to improve cooling while pushing this thing over 450 FSB.

Clearance will definitely be an issue as I have a Zalman 9700 cooler that I intend to use on it.

Any tips?
Click to expand...

I recently added a Swiftech MCW30 watercooled block to my loop to cool that little scorcher. The CPU is first in the loop, then the NB, then the GPU. Load temp in EasyTune5 dropped about 7-8 degrees C. I am running an [email protected] (450mhz FSB).

I also moved to a larger case (was using a mATX case ) and replaced the rad fans with slightly more powerful fans and a button to alternate between 12v/7v. Before, the heatsink was so hot that it would literally burn me if I touched it; picture touching a metal seatbelt clip in a car after a day in the sun during the summer, in Texas. ;) Holding my hand above it I could feel the heat radiating upwards, like holding my hand a foot above a candle.

To be honest I never experienced any instability or problems so I wouldn't say it was woefully inadequate, although if overclocking and expecially without great ventilation I wouldn't risk it.
 
Alright, lets say I glue a 50mm fan on that thing... should I point the airflow up away from the sink or down toward the sink? My gut feeling is away but I'd like to be sure... :eek:
 
Synd said:
Stock NB heatsink @ 470FSB hits a wall, won't go higher with voltage or an 80mm temporarily pointing at the NB HSF.

That's my system :) Should probably get a different NB cooler though, waiting for it to explode first, then I'll care.

Really though, go with a 40mm fan attached. It's cheaper.

Mines an E6300 @ 3.25 GHz watercooled at stock voltages :)
Click to expand...

My DS3 will "only" do 473Mhz. It boots and is stable there.
But at 474 it hard locks instantly. Its Weird.
 
Zinn said:
Alright, lets say I glue a 50mm fan on that thing... should I point the airflow up away from the sink or down toward the sink? My gut feeling is away but I'd like to be sure... :eek:
Click to expand...

Have you had a <= 50mm fan before? Generally speaking, I don't think they are advisable for people with ears.

If possible, I would consider mounting a larger less noisy fan. Even if you had to mount it further from the actual heatsink (say on the side of your case, or using one of those zalman brackets), I would think it would be compensated for by the fact that it would push more air and not make you go insane.

Then again, the loudest noise coming from my case is the sound of my hard drives seeking, so perhaps I'm just oversensative.
 
Just sold my DS3 but I had put on a Thermaltake Extreme Spirit II and never had a problem with heat. I would consider it or the Thermalright HR-05 which cools an NF4 Ultra chipset passively with no issues which is no small feat.
 
Are we sure that hot glue will hold the fan on since the north bridge is so hot?

Robert
 
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