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is it worth replaceing the northbridge fan with a quiter passive zalman?

What do you mean by "is it worth it?" If you're going for least-amount-of-noise possible in your system, the HSF on your proc. has got to be much louder than the northbridge fan. If this isn't the case, I'm curious as to why you'd want to replace it.
 
i have heard the initial fan offered with the board is loud, but if you whine to abit they will send you rev 2.0 fan (that will be in their newest MAXX 3 board) for free you can also turn down the RPMs of the fan using their fan speed utility.
 
I have the ICG-7 with that Abit fan on NB.
After hearing much complaiing about NB fan noise, I tried disconnecting the NB fan for a minute and compared the sound difference. With remaining noise from the stock Intel CPU HSF and the fan on my Gainward Ti4200 GeF4, I could not tell the difference.

I think some people's fan may be louder than others.
I do have the new revision Abit NB fan on order (arrived today) just for the heck of it.
 
I have the IS7-E mobo (without 1394 and Raid) and the NB fan is just too noisy. It's the loudest fan in my computer. Can't sleep with the comp on anymore :frown:
 
I have seen posts of people who have used the zalman passive cooler and have been pleased with it. You can do a serarch and read up on it at the abit forums here.
 
Most 865/875 mainboards have large enough passive heatsinks that even if they are supplied with a fan it is just for show. I purchased a Zalman intending to use it on my Gigabyte but ended up just disconnecting the fan. The OEM HS is installed with a "shim" that allowed it to seat properly on the FC NB. Zalman does not supply this and I did not want to bother with it, especially as they are of similar size. However, it seems Abit supplies small HS's with fans so a Zalman probably would be a good idea.
 
Be careful when removing that Northbridge fan/heatsink. The retaining clips have been known to pop right off the board. Anybody heard anything about the Thermaltake Tiger 1 chipset cooler? is it loud? Will it fit?
 
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