Chipset fan question

[crownjules]

I have a DFI LANParty NF4 Ultra motherboard on which the fan is on the way out. It rattles and can get really annoying. As you may or may not know, the fine designers at DFI situated the chipset to the right of the PCIe slot. This means that if you have any of the newer graphics card, they will overlap the chipset/fan.

My question to you is do I need the fan or not? I know that some companies add the fans as precautionary measures but that the chipset won't heat up enough to cause permanent damage to the device. My computer was a bit of a pain to put together (OCZ's modular power supply cables were almost too short) so I would rather avoid pulling it all apart just to get at one fan.

Can I just unplug the fan and be fine, or do I risk melting the whole board down? I play games on the machine and it's on pretty much 24/7.

edit: Full system stats:

AMD Opteron 165 (stock speed)
DFI LANParty NF4 Ultra
eVGA 7800GT
1 GB RAM
Audigy 2

 

[oldman420]

The fan is there for a reason, without it most likely the board will not melt down but i would assume the lifespan of the board would be shortened.

 

[sjandrewbsme]

You should do something for cooling there.

Either replace the fan or the whole unit. You can get some passive units here: http://www.heatsinkfactory.com/Chipset-Coolers-p-1-c-323.html

 

[crownjules]

Originally posted by: sjandrewbsme
You should do something for cooling there.

Either replace the fan or the whole unit. You can get some passive units here: http://www.heatsinkfactory.com/Chipset-Coolers-p-1-c-323.html

It looks like the ThermalRight HR-05-SLI is the only one that will work, but that's better than nothing.

 

[Zepper]

Generally those chipset HSFs that come with mobos aren't that good to begin with. You can usually replace the fan if it is a standard size and screwed to the HS, but you might have to cut and splice the connector to the new fan if it is non-standard (not like your case fans/CPU fan). Places like: Jab-tech, SVC, Nexfan, sidewindercomputers, ThermalFX, BuyExtras, bgmicro, allelectronics and even Newegg (all are www._______.com) have good variety of sizes. But, as mentioned above, I would go with a good passive as long as there is some airflow to the area - no more fan worries...

.bh.

 

[sjandrewbsme]

Originally posted by: crownjules

Originally posted by: sjandrewbsme
You should do something for cooling there.

Either replace the fan or the whole unit. You can get some passive units here: http://www.heatsinkfactory.com/Chipset-Coolers-p-1-c-323.html

It looks like the ThermalRight HR-05-SLI is the only one that will work, but that's better than nothing.

I have the Zalman on my Asus A8N-SLI Deluxe - it works fine. I wouldn't be surprised if it worked on the DFI unit too.

 

[AnitaPeterson]

I put a Zalman NB47J on my ABIT NSF7-S northbridge... it's been rock-steady for 18 months now...