Are northbridge heatsink fans a source of noise?

[HeroOfPellinor]

I haven't ever bought a motherboard with active cooling on the northbridge, but, since I'm looking at the current crop of nf2-400u boards and many good ones have fans on the northbridge, I was wondering if this could be a source of noise in an otherwise nearly silent computer.

 

[Dahak]

Usually ive noticed them to be pretty quite but they can get noise if they get dusty or the oil dries out. if you simply keep you fans clean it should not be any major problem and if needed you can always remove the fan an oil it too

 

[PraetorianGuards]

Second what Dahak said. They can get a bit noisy but not enough to be really noticeable. Most of the fans in my computer are pretty silent and I don't think I've ever heard the nb heatsink. If you're really concerned about it, try slapping one of those zalman copper heatsinks on it. Should take care of it...

 

[Nebor]

Goodness yes. Those little guys run up around 5000rpm. Replace it, fast.

 

[AIWGuru]

They're way too noisy. Personally, I like to run a very quiet computer. I won't buy a videocard with a fan on it and I won't buy a motherboard with a fan on it. One little videocard or motherboard fan will drown out the rest of my system. I hate those little whiney pieces of crap that don't do anything.

 

[Nebor]

Originally posted by: AIWGuru
They're way too noisy. Personally, I like to run a very quiet computer. I won't buy a videocard with a fan on it and I won't buy a motherboard with a fan on it. One little videocard or motherboard fan will drown out the rest of my system. I hate those little whiney pieces of crap that don't do anything.

Yup, judging from your sig, you require VERY demanding hardware too. Not all of us can afford ECS, or as some call it, "the lamborghini of the computing world."

 

[AIWGuru]

Originally posted by: Nebor

Originally posted by: AIWGuru
They're way too noisy. Personally, I like to run a very quiet computer. I won't buy a videocard with a fan on it and I won't buy a motherboard with a fan on it. One little videocard or motherboard fan will drown out the rest of my system. I hate those little whiney pieces of crap that don't do anything.

Yup, judging from your sig, you require VERY demanding hardware too. Not all of us can afford ECS, or as some call it, "the lamborghini of the computing world."

Hey smart guy. I challenge you to name ONE thing that your system does that mine can't.
It can play absolutely any game on the market today with full detail 1024x768 smooth enough with its little fanless videocard and cheap motherboard.

Besides, there are plenty of ASUS boards with passive heatsinks for both P4 and Athlon which have Q-fan to make things even quieter (although I already have a resisitor between my fan and mobo.)

Don't be pissed off and snotty because you wasted your money on some unecessarily loud and expensive motherboard with a stupid cooling solution. There's no need to rag on people who've done otherwise.

Regardless of how powerful a computer is, if it doesn't meet the litmus test I have for it - I need to be able to record with it and sleep in the same room and sometimes even just think in the same room - all that power is for naught since it won't be turned on.

 

[Acanthus]

Originally posted by: AIWGuru

Originally posted by: Nebor

Originally posted by: AIWGuru
They're way too noisy. Personally, I like to run a very quiet computer. I won't buy a videocard with a fan on it and I won't buy a motherboard with a fan on it. One little videocard or motherboard fan will drown out the rest of my system. I hate those little whiney pieces of crap that don't do anything.

Yup, judging from your sig, you require VERY demanding hardware too. Not all of us can afford ECS, or as some call it, "the lamborghini of the computing world."

Hey smart guy. I challenge you to name ONE thing that your system does that mine can't.

-run fast
-work with all brands of memory
-not come DOA 50% of the time

I can name a few others. I'm an anti-ECS zealot and ill readily admit it. They are the worst of the worst.

 

[AIWGuru]

Hey smart guy. I challenge you to name ONE thing that your system does that mine can't.

-run fast
-work with all brands of memory
-not come DOA 50% of the time

I can name a few others. I'm an anti-ECS zealot and ill readily admit it. They are the worst of the worst.[/quote]

-it runs any current application more than fast enough
-it works with all brands of memory I've tried including some pretty cheap stuff (I have three ECS boards)
-all three work perfectly fine

So, basically, you have no points. KTHX

All of which is beside the point. The thread topic is "do northbridge fans generate noise?" Yes, they do. You don't need them either. If you don't like ECS you can buy an ASUS or Intel or whatever board. There's always a fanless solution. I've never seen a chipset which requires a fan.

 

[NgtFlyer]

(Way back in the BBS days, and I'm talking early 80s here, we had the Commodore vs Atari vs Apple wars. Funny how things don't change much over the years.. )

er.. *ehm*... back to the topic at hand...

Most fans on motherboards are relatively quiet until the sleeve wears out. Then it becomes louder and similar in sound to a sick dremel tool. It's a matter of time when it comes to small sleeve or sleeve/ball combo fans. Recommend going to a passive heatsink solution - I like the ones Asus uses on their boards. Large enough to radiate the heat off for the case cooling fans to take care of.

As for my motherboard preference? I'll stick with Asus, though I have had good experience with several brands.

Cheers!

NF..

 

[nitromullet]

As most people have already said, the northbridge doesn't really need a fan, so it begs the question of why some mobo manufacturers put them on there. Are they using a really cheap heatsink and offsetting this by using a fan? The way I see it, the less moving parts you have, the more reliable and quiet your pc will be. Get yourself an Asus A7N8X-E Deluxe, it's got no fan on the northbridge and is a fanatastic motherboard.

AIWGuru: It is common knowledge that there are many things that a GeForce FX 5200 can not do that more expensive video cards can, so the people buying them are not stupid. Then again, if your rig suits your needs and it fits your budget, that's what really counts. As far as ECS goes, I started a motherboard thread a while back that has some good stories about ECS and other motherboards.

http://forums.anandtech.com/messageview.cfm?catid=27&threadid=1258538&FTVAR_MSGDBTABLE=

 

[AIWGuru]

It is common knowledge that there are many things that a GeForce FX 5200 can not do that more expensive video cards can, so the people buying them are not stupid.

It can play any game on the market with full detail. If you mean FSAA and AF then yes, it can't do that in most games. The vast majority of consumers DON'T CARE! Regardless, for those that do, there are always the saphire ultimate edition with the zalman heatpipes so you can have your fanless radeon 9800 XT or 9600XT.
I was referring to having a fan on the MOTHERBOARD as being stupid, not on the GPU although that's still a no-no for me. I can appreciate why some people might want to do that. As someone who's dealth with a dying fan, I won't buy one again simply because it's not necessary (low end or high end) and it just adds to the noise anyway.

 

[Nebor]

Originally posted by: AIWGuru

Originally posted by: Nebor

Originally posted by: AIWGuru
They're way too noisy. Personally, I like to run a very quiet computer. I won't buy a videocard with a fan on it and I won't buy a motherboard with a fan on it. One little videocard or motherboard fan will drown out the rest of my system. I hate those little whiney pieces of crap that don't do anything.

Yup, judging from your sig, you require VERY demanding hardware too. Not all of us can afford ECS, or as some call it, "the lamborghini of the computing world."

Hey smart guy. I challenge you to name ONE thing that your system does that mine can't.
It can play absolutely any game on the market today with full detail 1024x768 smooth enough with its little fanless videocard and cheap motherboard.

Besides, there are plenty of ASUS boards with passive heatsinks for both P4 and Athlon which have Q-fan to make things even quieter (although I already have a resisitor between my fan and mobo.)

Don't be pissed off and snotty because you wasted your money on some unecessarily loud and expensive motherboard with a stupid cooling solution. There's no need to rag on people who've done otherwise.

Regardless of how powerful a computer is, if it doesn't meet the litmus test I have for it - I need to be able to record with it and sleep in the same room and sometimes even just think in the same room - all that power is for naught since it won't be turned on.

I'm a fan of 1280x1024 4xAA\8xAF myself...
BTW, my motherboard is fanless, I replaced the fan myself, with a Zalman passive NB cooler. Also using a Zalman 400w PS, a Zalman 7000Cu, and a couple panaflo L1As as exhaust. I had a Zalman Heatpipe, but replaced it with the Arctic Cooling VGA Silencer because it was quieter.

So, in conclusion, my computer is faster, AND quieter.

 

[AIWGuru]

Originally posted by: Nebor

Originally posted by: AIWGuru

Originally posted by: Nebor

Originally posted by: AIWGuru
They're way too noisy. Personally, I like to run a very quiet computer. I won't buy a videocard with a fan on it and I won't buy a motherboard with a fan on it. One little videocard or motherboard fan will drown out the rest of my system. I hate those little whiney pieces of crap that don't do anything.

Yup, judging from your sig, you require VERY demanding hardware too. Not all of us can afford ECS, or as some call it, "the lamborghini of the computing world."

Hey smart guy. I challenge you to name ONE thing that your system does that mine can't.
It can play absolutely any game on the market today with full detail 1024x768 smooth enough with its little fanless videocard and cheap motherboard.

Besides, there are plenty of ASUS boards with passive heatsinks for both P4 and Athlon which have Q-fan to make things even quieter (although I already have a resisitor between my fan and mobo.)

Don't be pissed off and snotty because you wasted your money on some unecessarily loud and expensive motherboard with a stupid cooling solution. There's no need to rag on people who've done otherwise.

Regardless of how powerful a computer is, if it doesn't meet the litmus test I have for it - I need to be able to record with it and sleep in the same room and sometimes even just think in the same room - all that power is for naught since it won't be turned on.

I'm a fan of 1280x1024 4xAA\8xAF myself...
BTW, my motherboard is fanless, I replaced the fan myself, with a Zalman passive NB cooler. Also using a Zalman 400w PS, a Zalman 7000Cu, and a couple panaflo L1As as exhaust. I had a Zalman Heatpipe, but replaced it with the Arctic Cooling VGA Silencer because it was quieter.

So, in conclusion, my computer is faster, AND quieter.

You think your computer is quieter? How do you figure? It's not quieter, I can tell you that right now. You've got two panaflos for exaust fans. I had just one in (L1A) and it was too loud for me. That's how quiet I like my system. If I wanted a more powerful videocard I could get an ultimate saphire since they are silent but I don't want to waste my money since this card plays all games perfectly fine. I'll spend another $70Cdn when this one is too slow and get the next gen bottom of the line card and be just as happy. Beats spending $350 every generation. But, thank you for agreeing with me that fanned northbridges are noisy.

 

[WobbleWobble]

I would think the Asus A7N8X series would be the most popular NF2 board guestimating from Asus' popularity and marketshare (not necessarily only AT forums) and its northbridge is fanless.

Yes, it is a source of noise and something I'd rather not have as well. It's a small whiny fan and the rest of my system wouldn't drown it out. My computer is dead quiet save the older Raptor I just added. I consider the Raptor way too loud and I'll get rid of it as soon as I decide to buy a newer generation Raptor.

 

[KillaKilla]

Originally posted by: Dahak
if needed you can always remove the fan an oil it too

Wha...?

Never heard of 'oiling' a fan... Would, say, good old all-purpose bug-killer/lubricant/girl-shutter-upper/flamethrower WD-40 work? Or should I use some kinda cheesy special purpose Electric Motor oil?

EDIT:

Originally posted by: AIWGuru

It is common knowledge that there are many things that a GeForce FX 5200 can not do that more expensive video cards can, so the people buying them are not stupid.

It can play any game on the market with full detail. If you mean FSAA and AF then yes, it can't do that in most games. The vast majority of consumers DON'T CARE! Regardless, for those that do, there are always the saphire ultimate edition with the zalman heatpipes so you can have your fanless radeon 9800 XT or 9600XT.
I was referring to having a fan on the MOTHERBOARD as being stupid, not on the GPU although that's still a no-no for me. I can appreciate why some people might want to do that. As someone who's dealth with a dying fan, I won't buy one again simply because it's not necessary (low end or high end) and it just adds to the noise anyway.

The vast majority of consumers would stare blankly at you if you said that Asus beats out any ECS Solution. The vast majority of consumers believe that they needed the Intel Pentium 4 Extreme Edition* to run Email, Internet Explorer, and even -gasp- Windows XP. The vast majority of consumers (insert another stupid thing that you americans pay money for, but dont really need)

*I'm not saying that the P4EE is better than its AMD-64 counterpart that costs 1/5th the price, and performs better.

Originally posted by: AIWGuru

Originally posted by: Nebor

Originally posted by: AIWGuru
They're way too noisy. Personally, I like to run a very quiet computer. I won't buy a videocard with a fan on it and I won't buy a motherboard with a fan on it. One little videocard or motherboard fan will drown out the rest of my system. I hate those little whiney pieces of crap that don't do anything.

Yup, judging from your sig, you require VERY demanding hardware too. Not all of us can afford ECS, or as some call it, "the lamborghini of the computing world."

Hey smart guy. I challenge you to name ONE thing that your system does that mine can't.
It can play absolutely any game on the market today with full detail 1024x768 smooth enough with its little fanless videocard and cheap motherboard.

Besides, there are plenty of ASUS boards with passive heatsinks for both P4 and Athlon which have Q-fan to make things even quieter (although I already have a resisitor between my fan and mobo.)

Don't be pissed off and snotty because you wasted your money on some unecessarily loud and expensive motherboard with a stupid cooling solution. There's no need to rag on people who've done otherwise.

Regardless of how powerful a computer is, if it doesn't meet the litmus test I have for it - I need to be able to record with it and sleep in the same room and sometimes even just think in the same room - all that power is for naught since it won't be turned on.

That is by far the funniest damned thing I've ever heard, including Ivan's Physics! Adding to sig currently...

Ironically, my tertiary P-ll 266Mhz w/ Geforce (yes, the origonal) can run any of the latest games at 1024x768 with all the little doodads turned on... it just locks up after a few seconds.
With regards to what I said in that last paragraph, I just kinda assumed... too lazy to test whether or not it actually can run the latest games. Most games will let you run them without the min. req.s... Though I would like to point out that ECS boards do work fine, If you are willing to deal with multiple RMA's, instability, lack of performance, etc...

 

[WobbleWobble]

I don't think you can lubricate sleeve bearing fans. To my knowledge, sleeve bearing fans are quieter than ball bearing and don't get louder over time. They don't last as long ball bearing fans though.

You can lubricate ball bearing fans with a drop of motor oil. WD40 doesn't work well as it doesn't last too long.

 

[Nebor]

Originally posted by: AIWGuru

Originally posted by: Nebor

Originally posted by: AIWGuru

Originally posted by: Nebor

Originally posted by: AIWGuru
They're way too noisy. Personally, I like to run a very quiet computer. I won't buy a videocard with a fan on it and I won't buy a motherboard with a fan on it. One little videocard or motherboard fan will drown out the rest of my system. I hate those little whiney pieces of crap that don't do anything.

Yup, judging from your sig, you require VERY demanding hardware too. Not all of us can afford ECS, or as some call it, "the lamborghini of the computing world."

Hey smart guy. I challenge you to name ONE thing that your system does that mine can't.
It can play absolutely any game on the market today with full detail 1024x768 smooth enough with its little fanless videocard and cheap motherboard.

Besides, there are plenty of ASUS boards with passive heatsinks for both P4 and Athlon which have Q-fan to make things even quieter (although I already have a resisitor between my fan and mobo.)

Don't be pissed off and snotty because you wasted your money on some unecessarily loud and expensive motherboard with a stupid cooling solution. There's no need to rag on people who've done otherwise.

Regardless of how powerful a computer is, if it doesn't meet the litmus test I have for it - I need to be able to record with it and sleep in the same room and sometimes even just think in the same room - all that power is for naught since it won't be turned on.

I'm a fan of 1280x1024 4xAA\8xAF myself...
BTW, my motherboard is fanless, I replaced the fan myself, with a Zalman passive NB cooler. Also using a Zalman 400w PS, a Zalman 7000Cu, and a couple panaflo L1As as exhaust. I had a Zalman Heatpipe, but replaced it with the Arctic Cooling VGA Silencer because it was quieter.

So, in conclusion, my computer is faster, AND quieter.

You think your computer is quieter? How do you figure? It's not quieter, I can tell you that right now. You've got two panaflos for exaust fans. I had just one in (L1A) and it was too loud for me. That's how quiet I like my system. If I wanted a more powerful videocard I could get an ultimate saphire since they are silent but I don't want to waste my money since this card plays all games perfectly fine. I'll spend another $70Cdn when this one is too slow and get the next gen bottom of the line card and be just as happy. Beats spending $350 every generation. But, thank you for agreeing with me that fanned northbridges are noisy.

My Panaflo's are at 5v w/ a Vantec Fan controller. I'll be ordering the new Acousticase 6607 as soon as it's in stock at quietpcusa.com. It's basically a modded Antec 3700 BQE, without the power supply included, and with the custom fit acoustic padding kit. I'm thinking it will put me down into the inaudible range for noise. And it's only $195.

 

[NokiaDude]

IMO, No. My ball bearing case fan a a major source of noise in my case. It was so loud that once I removed it last night, I slept easier because I could faintly hear the sound of rushing air, not a noisy case fan. My heatsink is whisper quiet (Thermaltake Silent Boost) and it keeps my Barton 2500+ at a nice 36C.

 

[Bonesdad]

Nebor and AIW, knock off the thread hijack...take your little argument elsewhere

 

[Nebor]

Originally posted by: Bonesdad
Nebor and AIW, knock off the thread hijack...take your little argument elsewhere

The question in the thread was answered, we can take this thread wherever we want now.... To Cuba!