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I need a good chipset cooler

SparkyJJO

SparkyJJO

Lifer
I have the Asus A8R32-MVP deluxe mobo and a 3700+ @ 2.86GHz. Chipset has the stock passive heatsink that seems to work OK for what I have it set at but it does get pretty warm.

Now I have an opteron 165 on the way, which has a lower multiplier so I'll need to crank up the HTT to get the higher speeds. What I don't know is if the stock chipset cooler will be enough as it gets pretty warm as it is right now.

Any suggestions as to a good one? I don't mind a fan but I don't want a noisy, whiney one 😉

Thanks! 🙂
 
What CPU HS/F will you be using? Tower heatsinks do very little to cool the motherboard components, HS/Fs that have a fan directed down towards the board do a significantly better job. A Zalman CNPS 7700 would do an excellent job of keeping the passively cooled ATi chipset cool.
 
Originally posted by: SparkyJJO
Chipset has the stock passive heatsink that seems to work OK for what I have it set at but it does get pretty warm...
Click to expand...
Er...

How "warm" are 'we' talking about?
 
I got the thermaltake Spirit II for my P5W-DH northbridge. The bad thing with me was that I couldn't install the Ultra-120 at all with it in place and I had to slant the TT to install a Ninja, needless to say I took it out and put the stock back in, temps went up by a few degrees but I dont want the board cracking under the stress it creates with pushing the CPU HS. While it was there, it was good and quiet at 19dBa (rated by TT)
 
I have a zalman CNPS9500 on my CPU so yeah it doesn't cool surrounding components. I thought about maybe a thermalright SI128 or something along those lines but I really don't want to get a whole new CPU cooler if I don't have to since I hope to go watercooling at some point.

VinDSL, when I say pretty warm I mean you can stick your finger on the heatsink for a little while but it gets uncomfortable after about 10-15 seconds or so. I've felt many chipsets that get warm like that which is why I haven't been too worried about it but I know the heat will go up when I raise the HTT more.
 
Originally posted by: SparkyJJO
I have a zalman CNPS9500 on my CPU so yeah it doesn't cool surrounding components. I thought about maybe a thermalright SI128 or something along those lines but I really don't want to get a whole new CPU cooler if I don't have to since I hope to go watercooling at some point.

VinDSL, when I say pretty warm I mean you can stick your finger on the heatsink for a little while but it gets uncomfortable after about 10-15 seconds or so. I've felt many chipsets that get warm like that which is why I haven't been too worried about it but I know the heat will go up when I raise the HTT more.
Click to expand...
That pretty much describes my passively cooled nForce2 board. It came stock with a similarly sized AL heatsink so I don't think worry about it.
 
Originally posted by: Operandi
That pretty much describes my passively cooled nForce2 board. It came stock with a similarly sized AL heatsink so I don't think worry about it.
Click to expand...

Right but do you think my stock will be good enough if I raise the HTT much more? I'm at 260 but I'm going to need 300 to get to 2.7GHz and I was hoping for 2.8GHz or so which would require 312 which in turn may require a slight voltage bump on the chipset. Again, more heat.

Baked, I like the looks of that zalman, but there are some caps near the chipset. Not huge ones, but maybe a bit big. Do you know how much space there is between the base of the heatsink and the first fin? I don't want to buy something and then realize it won't fit.
 
Originally posted by: SparkyJJO
Originally posted by: Operandi
That pretty much describes my passively cooled nForce2 board. It came stock with a similarly sized AL heatsink so I don't think worry about it.
Click to expand...

Right but do you think my stock will be good enough if I raise the HTT much more? I'm at 260 but I'm going to need 300 to get to 2.7GHz and I was hoping for 2.8GHz or so which would require 312 which in turn may require a slight voltage bump on the chipset. Again, more heat.

Baked, I like the looks of that zalman, but there are some caps near the chipset. Not huge ones, but maybe a bit big. Do you know how much space there is between the base of the heatsink and the first fin? I don't want to buy something and then realize it won't fit.
Click to expand...

Can't say for sure as I personally haven't used that board but I've passively cooled some nForce4 (which run hotter) systems with the Zalman Baked mentioned above with no problem. I also don't think you'll have any clearance issues with that board.

I would just try it and see, my assumption is that it would be fine. If feels significantly hotter then it is now (too hot to touch) then consider upgrading to something better. Also keep in mind passively cooled components will run cooler with the case closed vs. open.
 
Originally posted by: gamefreakgcb
I used the Asus A8N-SLi mobo which is passively cooled using the heatpipe thing and temps hover in the low 40's.
Click to expand...

Ok...... except my mobo has no heatpipe on the chipset...
 
Originally posted by: SparkyJJO
Originally posted by: gamefreakgcb
I used the Asus A8N-SLi mobo which is passively cooled using the heatpipe thing and temps hover in the low 40's.
Click to expand...

Ok...... except my mobo has no heatpipe on the chipset...
Click to expand...



My bad, I was rambling there, anywho, you can try the Thermalright HR-05 and if the placement is trouble than the SLi version of the HR-05, these things were made to run passive but you gotta make sure its compatible with your mobo (see thermalright's compatibility list). The spirit is made for use on almost all motherboards because of the way the installation mechanism is designed.
 
Originally posted by: SparkyJJO
VinDSL, when I say pretty warm I mean you can stick your finger on the heatsink for a little while but it gets uncomfortable after about 10-15 seconds or so. I've felt many chipsets that get warm like that which is why I haven't been too worried about it but I know the heat will go up when I raise the HTT more.
Click to expand...
I see!

If it gets uncomfortable after 10-15 seconds, it's probably around 50º C, so it's okay for now. You wouldn't be able to do that at, say, 60º C. However, I can understand your concern about raising the speed... 😉

 
I'll do some measurements tonight. The Zalman couldn't fit in my system originally, but with some wire shifting, I got it to work. The Zalman's sitting dead center on my NB chip too.
 
A few over at XS have suggested the thermalright HR-05 as well. I'm guessing it is now between the HR-05 and the zalman ZM-NBF47. The thermalright is more expensive, but I know it would fit while the zalman is cheaper but not as sure if it will fit. Guess it'll come down to which does fit for sure and how much I want to spend.
 
Ok, I did some measurements. You need about a 20mm clearance at point of the NB push pin. If the mobo caps around the NB heatsink holes are under 20mm high, the Zalman will fit.
 
The reflex to pull your hand away from a hot object kicks in at about 47C. If you can hold your hand on for 10 sec, either you're trying to hold on for as long as possible or its less than 47C.

The A8N-SLI *Premium* is the one with passive heatpipe nb cooler, or at least used to be. You can actually buy the heatpipe cooler from the Asus estore. Not sure how well it would work for you if you're ocing. However, I bet the HR-05 would be able to handle it. The shape will likely be easier to work with than the nbf47 as well depending on your space constraints.
 
There is no way to make that heatpipe cooler from the A8N-SLI work on my board. The chipset is in the wrong spot, and components would be in the way.

I may just see if I can mount some fan running at 5V on my current heatsink first. Doesn't seem to take much airflow to cool them off so I may do fine there. At least it may tide me over until I buy a replacement cooler.
 
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