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Northbridge Cooling Fan Failed (And other random problems...)

C

Clear

Gawd
Joined
Mar 15, 2002
Messages
876
Well, I just ran into a few problems, let me explain my crazy night of half life 2 followed by random computer problems.

So anyways, I got to chapter 9 in hl2 (amazing to say the least), and I was about to call it a night. I was running the game @ 1280x1024 and I was getting good frames for the most part, except for occasional studders and one lock up, however it seemed to me that the stutters might be due to sound. I also read Valve's suggestions to turn down sound quality. Well, I didn't think I should have to with Audigy 2 ZS, but then it occured to me that I didn't think I had ever updated my souncard drivers since my last format (about a month ago, just slipped my mind to update the sound drivers.)

So, I install my new sound drivers, reboot, and then I have a heart attack.

My comp starts rapidly beeping at me, and my monitor says: HARDWARE NOT SETUP CORRECTLY, MAKE SURE RADEON 9800 PRO HAS POWER SUPPLY CONNECTED.

I open my case, its still plugged in. So I start messing around, and figure that maybe its because the radeon was sharing a power cord with a SATA drive, so I do a couple of switches, and get a power cord solely connected to my 9800 Pro. Reboot, get an error about CPU malfunctioning / not recognized, and I figure it was due to my bios tweaks and overclock, so I just go into bios and select fail-safe settings, and walla, everything has worked perfectly so that I'm posting in this thread.

Anyhow, so why on God's earth my Radeon 9800 Pro gave me problems is a mystery, but it seems to work fine.

Now back to where I wanted to get at in this thread. I just opened my case for the first time in a month, and realized that my Northbridge fan has failed. I have no long as to exaclty how long ago it failed, but my question is, what should I do about it? Can I get away without active cooling, just passive? My guess is that it died a while ago, because it used to make some noise, so I figured it was dying, but I just forgot about it completely after it went silent, hoping for the best.

What should I do, and does anyone have any clue why I hit these random problems?

Sorry for the long post, but it was such a weird string of events.
 
The NB fan failed on my wife's IS7, and it seemed to be such a POS that I didn't take any chances on my IC7. I've installed these on every motherboard in the house. I can't recommend them any higher; quality construction and the temps are far, far better. They fit great.

This could be the source of 99.97% of your problems, IMHO...sounds like the wife's machine after it's NB fan failed.

Good Luck - B.B.S.
 
If you have a extra bit of $ burning a hole in your wallet, check out the Swiftech MCX159. Beautiful heatsink, I run mine fanless and its barely warm to the touch. You definately need a replacement though, the NB HSFs on ABITs seem to always die early deaths :p
 
Anyone know of a good NB cooler that will fit with with a Zalman 7000cu? That's my heatsink, and it is quite large, so I'd like to be safe instead of sorry since it looks like I'm going to have to replace it.
 
Clear said:
Anyone know of a good NB cooler that will fit with with a Zalman 7000cu? That's my heatsink, and it is quite large, so I'd like to be safe instead of sorry since it looks like I'm going to have to replace it.
Click to expand...
Well, I own a 7000alcu and a IC7-G, and the swiftech fits perfectly fanless, but not with the fan. One edge of the fan cage had to be ground down with a sander in order for it to fit. I'm not totally sure about the Max3 though.
 
Clear said:
Anyone know of a good NB cooler that will fit with with a Zalman 7000cu? That's my heatsink, and it is quite large, so I'd like to be safe instead of sorry since it looks like I'm going to have to replace it.
Click to expand...
....this is the reason I now have a Swiftech CPU cooler. On my IC7, my 7000 wouldn't fit with the Thermalright but after seeing the Thermalright NB-1C.....I sold the Zalman and got a HSF for the CPU that would fit. FWIW - the Swiftech and a 92mm Panaflow fit on the IC7 with a NB-1C just fine; that's what I'm running here. Works very well, to be sure.....

Good luck - B.B.S.
 
BBS, which Swiftech are you using? Looks like I might have to upgrade all my cooling, so I might as well copy the moderator ;) .
 
what board is it?

thats my main beef with abit, the northbridge fans ALWAYS fail. i've owned 3 abit boards and 2 of the fans died within a couple months, the 3rd i have only had a week so im sure its going to go sometime soon.

i would think the companies would realize that spending a couple bucks more on a good fan would save tons of money from RMAs.
 
My IC7 sports a Swiftech MX478V with this 92mm Panaflow fan. Fits just fine with the Thermalright linked above. I'm really happy with the results; got a buddies new IC7 in the garage and he decided to go with the exact same setup.

Things will go lots easier if you put the Thermalright on first. The Swiftech clips are a little tight, but take a second and look them over; not so bad, really.

Good Luck - B.B.S.
 
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