[Ask] Overheating Northbridge

[gostev88]

Hi all, I'm currently using Biostar TA790GX A3+..
I'm facing overheating northbridge temperature, it's about 56C on idle...
Did anyone using 790GX board ever have the same problems?
Should I use any additional chipset cooler??

 

[TC91]

Are you using a reference model radeon 4870/4890 card by any chance? I had NB temps of 64-70c on my P5Q with my 4870 1GB but when I replaced it with a GTX 285, my NB temps dropped to 40c.

 

[Sylvanas]

I wouldn't worry about that temp but if you want you could remove the heatsink assembly (via push pins probably) and clean up the thermal paste on the NB and SB + heatsink and apply some new Artic silver or whatever thermal compound, reseat it and your temps should have dropped as a result. Usually these things come from the factory with poor quality Thermal compound that can be lacking sufficient contact with that which it is designed to cool.

 

[gostev88]

@ TC91 : Yes, I'm using 4870 with reference design, but before I use the cards, the lowest temperature of the chipset is around 48-49 deg..
@ Sylvanas : Nice tips, I'd try this soon..
Anyway, does it worth to use any aftermarket chipset cooler, such as thermaright hr 05 ifx?

 

[PClark99]

Originally posted by: Sylvanas
I wouldn't worry about that temp but if you want you could remove the heatsink assembly (via push pins probably) and clean up the thermal paste on the NB and SB + heatsink and apply some new Artic silver or whatever thermal compound, reseat it and your temps should have dropped as a result. Usually these things come from the factory with poor quality Thermal compound that can be lacking sufficient contact with that which it is designed to cool.

very sound advice. this always makes for a decent improvement.

 

[TC91]

You could also try increasing the fan speed on the 4870 so it exhausts more hot air but at the cost of added noise. Your temperature of 56c idle is fine though. I would say IMO it is not really worth buying aftermarket chipset cooling unless you are really pushing the overclock or if the temps on the chipset are really out of hand.

 

[Qbah]

So can anyone tell me what's a perfectly normal NB temp for a 780GX chipset? It's on an ASUS M3N78-VM. My friend's rig has it at 45-ish C and he's worried that it's too high. I tried googling for it but didn't find any definite answers. I'm guessing it should be similar to the 790GX, since it's basically the same thing.

 

[gostev88]

@TC91: I've tried this, set the fan to 60%, the temperature just drops about 1-2 degree celcius..
@Qbah: Yes, the main problem is that we don't know much about the normal NB temperature on 790GX or 780GX chipset.. But I think 56C is quite high, since my X3 720 BE is only about 32C running at 3.2GHz..

 

[hammondblues]

Hey guys, I am new here, and I have been having the same problem as gostev88 with my similar system.

My Asus M4A78-E northbridge (790GX) used to run nice and cool at about 42-45C at idle. Now it runs at 52C at idle, and I was concerned with the drastic temp increase. I felt the northbridge heatsink, and it was hot enough to make me pull my hand away from it quickly.

TC91 has an excellent point with saying to increase the fan speed on the 4890 reference graphics card. Upon manually increasing the fan speed to about 40%, the northbridge temperture went back down to 42C. I guess that since the 4890's gpu runs at a warm 60C at idle (not overclocked), it appears that the heat is rising up into the northbridge heatsink. I think Asus and other motherboard companies should try to invest in at least some fan assisted cooling of the northbridge, especially when they promote O.C.

I also agree with Sylvanas that the thermal compound that comes on the motherboard from the factory is not very good. I took the liberty of ordering a Thermaltake Extreme Spirit II chipset cooler because it seems like that will help a whole lot in bringing the temps back down to normal. The cooler has got pretty good reviews, and wont set you back too much in price.

I will let you guys know how well it does when I get it installed, should be on Thursday.

Thanks to everyone for the extremely helpful info.