EVGA NF68-A1 680i Chipset Fan

[Pez D Spencer]

I've got an EVGA NF68-A1 680i board. Right now I only have a P4 3.0GHz 530 in it with the stock cooler and currently the CPU isn't overclocked. I also have an Ultra m998 case with a front 120mm fan and a rear 120mm fan.

After reading the experiences of other NF68 owners on the EVGA forums, I pulled the chipset and mosfet heatsinks and replaced the tape on the mosfets and the paste on the chipset with Ceramique.

Just to be on the safe side I went ahead and installed the chipset fan that came with the motherboard. However, this fan is VERY noisy and VERY annoying. If it weren't for the chipset fan my computer would be nearly silent.

I plan to get a Q6600 in the next month or so and when I do I plan on only a mild to moderate overclock. EVGA reccomends to use the chipset fan when overclocking or using the board in a case with low airflow (this m998 case is HUGE and has tons of airflow).

The temp readings in Nvidia Monitor currently show a "System" temp of 32c. Is this the temp of the chipset? If so I should be able to get rid of this annoying chipset fan shouldn't I? What about when I switch to the Q6600 and overclock some? If this temp reading of 32c is indeed the chipset temp and it stays in the 30's and low 40's I should be able to keep running without the chipset fan shouldn't I?

Thanks for any info you can share.

 

[hennessy1]

I would suggest to use the smart fan the mobo has for the chipset fan because even though you have those temps now doesnt mean they will always stay like that for watever reason. So this way you can set it for a certain rmp or a certain percentage of max rmp if it gets to hot. And if it does one day and you can start to hear it again it will tell you there is something wrong.

 

[Pez D Spencer]

Apparently the "system" temp that Nvidia Monitor shows isn't the chipset temperature because the BIOS lists three temps: CPU, Board, and nForce. The "board" temp listed in the BIOS is showing 32c so I'm assuming that's the same thing as the "system" temp shown by Nvidia monitor. The BIOS shows the nForce temp at around 48c.

Also the BIOS doesn't have a smartfan option for the chipset. Only an option to set the max fan speed percentage. I knocked it down to 50 percent and the system is really quiet now. At 75% I get the annoying high pitched squeal from the chipset fan but little to no hair dryer effect. At 100% I get the best of both worlds from the chipset fan: squeal and hair dryer.

 

[alyen]

I would not recommend removing that fan even though in the manual it said it was not necessary if not overclocking. Setting Nforce fan speed to 50 is the least you can do.

I have tried removing the NForce fan and putting a normal fans blowing air in towards the heat sink and MCP, but it did not help. The temperatures looked fine when idle, but after playing a 3D game for 30 minutes the temperature for MCP shot up to 90C.

You would have to find an after market heat sinks and fans if you do remove the Nforce fan. It's noisy for such a small fan.