Fan for VIA 8366?

[mburgio]

I opened up my computer today and noticed that the stock fan that is sitting on the stock heatsink for my VIA 8366 chipset was not spinning. This is on an Abit KR7A motherboard. I want to get a simple fan replacement for it without swapping out the heatsink as well. Anyone know the specs I need to look for?

 

[quakefiend420]

just find something thats the same size as the fan you have now...you dont need much airflow for a chipset as long as you're not overclocking and the chipset voltage is at stock...you should be able to find one that fits the bill for under 10 bucks, i would guess

 

[Jeff7]

Little fan sections at Bestbyte and SVC.

Also, I know you said you didn't want to swap the heatsink out, but there are good passive cooling solutions from Zalman, Cooler Master, Thermalright, and others.

 

[mburgio]

I have an Abit KR7A and the Northbridge chipset has a little heatsink on top of it with the little fan over it (which i've since removed). I don't see any obvious way of removing the original little black heatsink to make way for a passive cooling system. Am I missing something?

 

[Jeff7]

Most new motherboards use little plastic clips to hold the heatsink on; other boards have used thermal tape. If you twist the heatsink a bit, it'll give ever so slightly either way, but then spring back to its original position. That's thermal tape. If it doesn't give at all, they might have used thermal epoxy - that stuff is tough to get off. You can usually twist/pry the heatsink off, but if the epoxy is really strong, the chip can come off with the heatsink - then you're screwed.
Maybe one of them little fans might be the better idea, though the screws might not fit quite right - sometimes those chipset fans have little recesses around the screw holes.