Active Northbridge Cooling on ASUS boards?

[Mullzy]

I'm thinking about getting one of those new ASUS SIS 655TX boards, but I read one place were they couldn't get the FSB over 220 without swapping out the passive NB heatsink for one with a fan. The ASUS P4P800 and P4C800 boards all have passive cooling on the NB, yet people love them as OC'ing boards.

1) Have many of you found the need to put active cooling on the NB to acheive decent overclocks?

2) The ASUS 655TX board seems to have a pushpin solution for NB heatsink. Should it be fairly easy to replace with active cooling? (What's the chance that all NB cooling devices use the same pin layout?)

Thanks!

 

[THUGSROOK]

Originally posted by: Mullzy
I'm thinking about getting one of those new ASUS SIS 655TX boards.......

think again

 

[John]

Abit also offers an outstanding i865/i875 solution w/ an active NB cooler. Otherwise if you are brainwashed by ASUS you could always purchase the swiftech NB cooler.

 

[Mullzy]

Haha... I didn't mean come across as some sort of Asus fanboi. =P I've just been looking for a really cheap solution with decent potential for overclocking. It just seemed strange to me that neither of the flagship Asus motherboards have active cooling on the northbridge when so many have said they are good overclocking boards.

 

[Big Lar]

If you are staying Air/ go with the Swiftech NB cooler, you will need it to OC on an Asus. never mind the lil rude comments of "Think Again" Some people are just rude.

 

[THUGSROOK]

Originally posted by: Big Lar
Some people are just rude.

i am not
(excuse me for my sense of humor)

id suggest a different moboard.

 

[Duvie]

I think you need to look at sis and their overclocking past....THEY ARE NOT GOOD!!! I have and many like thugs have had sis chipsets for P4's and they are dogs...They can often achieve mild mindless overclocks but to get the most out of your cpu you need to go abit or asus....They have been proven by many to run as high as 300fsb with stock active coolers....some switch out on their own doing but many just take off the heatsink and remove the subpar gue they put on it and apply some AS of their own....


Sis chipsets are cheap no doubt, but ther are not enthusiast quality boards...they are feature rich, but often lack the necessary locks and bios configurations that are going to take you forward and not hold you back...


One thing to remember is that chipsets running at speeds like mine (292fsb) are not going to do this with passive alone....you need active...

 

[myocardia]

Your best choice. Your second-best choice.

 

[Mullzy]

Thanks for the input everyone.

Duvie and Thugsrook: Are you guys using the stock IC7 heatsink and fan? Or have you juiced things up a bit?

 

[THUGSROOK]

i use a thermaltake tiger1

 

[tallman45]

While it is true that the Sis chipsets are not great overclcokers, the price delta between a P4c800 and a P4S800 would allow you to go to a faster P4 to start with and not worry so much about possibly getting a poor overclockable cpu.

For example for about the price of P4c800 and a p4 2.8c you could get a P4S800d-E deluxe and a 3.2C proc

 

[Duvie]

Originally posted by: tallman45
While it is true that the Sis chipsets are not great overclcokers, the price delta between a P4c800 and a P4S800 would allow you to go to a faster P4 to start with and not worry so much about possibly getting a poor overclockable cpu.

For example for about the price of P4c800 and a p4 2.8c you could get a P4S800d-E deluxe and a 3.2C proc

NO one is telling him to waste his money on bloated Asus prices at all....Abit IC7 can be had for 110-120 if he shops a bit.....The fact is he is overclocking and he could get a lesser chip and still oc it higher then the higher chip he bought with his saved cash...Toss up no doubt on cash...In the end I think it is about getting the highest overclock....

Without an active cooler on the NB chipset I doubt one can get it much above 230's in fsb....

I am using the stock cooler with AS5 but later revision boards supposedly like mine have a better orb syle cooler...I may change it someday but I know it is not holding me back and I am at 292fsb....Sis chipset could only dream of attaining those speeds....

 

[lenjack]

I have an Asus ps800d-e (655tx chipset) and find with a 20% overclock, when running Prime95, the northbridge runs very warm, but not hot. I simply attached a 40mm fan to the top of the heatsink, and all seems to be well. The stock heatsink appears to be a good size.

 

[Mullzy]

I had thought Asus was my best bet at a good overclock... but paying a premium and then having to add active cooling on top of that sorta turns me off.

Although the 655tx is really cheap (and Tallman had a good point about the price difference), I'll probably go with an IC7. Seems like the best compromise for price and overclocking potential.

Thanks again everyone.