wow, newegg ships mighty fast... i got the new hsf today and... man, that was not fun to install:
1. i didn't realize that to take off a northbridge hsf, you have to remove the mobo and hence take the whole computer apart. that took a while and in the end, i was too lazy to hook up the front audio panel again (tiny friggin connectors are a PITA to deal with).
2. once i got the original northbridge hsf off, i noticed that whatever thermal compound was used between it and the northbridge chip would NOT wash off with rubbing alcohol... i doused it in alcohol and literally had to scrape it off with my fingernail and still couldn't get it off all the way...
3. then i realized that the new hsf is just a bit too big... it slightly gets in the way of a plastic thing from the PCIEx16 slot, makes slight contact with the huge x1900xtx i have in there
4. to make matters worse, the retention mechanism of the new hsf was too small! the plastic inserts that go through the mobo weren't far enough apart by about a 1mm and it wouldn't stay in
5. the everest thermal compound i used came out in a HUGE quantity the first time, so i got waaay to much on the northbridge chip and had to spend a while cleaning that off
what a nightmare! however, i worked out a solution that
seems to be doing the trick (knock on wood!):
1. i removed the plastic inserts from the new hsf and replaced them with the longer, rubber ones from the old one, so they
barely reach now
2. i broke off a piece of that plastic PCIEx16 clip to make room (it has no real function, so it's not a big deal)
3. i placed the video card on top which helps keep the hsf in place, although it's by no means "perfect"
hopefully, this solution will work... it's def. quieter and seems to be running, so i guess there's either a good margin for error with this or the northbridge controller just doesn't get
that hot. the issue i have now is that the MSI core center, which used to report my mobo's northbridge temperature, no longer does so (it just says N/A), although it does show the northbridge fan turning at a bit under 5000rpm... so, either the everest hsf doesn't report a temp or core center is unable to read it... speed fan has a couple of temps that i can't identify, one of 19C and one of 22C... neither of those seem to be high enough for a northbridge unit, but i'm not sure. i also don't see the temperature in EVEREST, so i just don't know for sure.
any1 know a full-proof way to check the northbridge temperature? should i be worried that my solution isn't ideal or if the computer has been working fine for an hour (incl. some gaming), i'm prob ok?
edit: ran prime95 for a while without any issues... hopefully all is well, although earlier on i did have a random lockup...
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