Northbridge Cooling

[Corey0808]

I have a question about Northbridge cooling with repect to my max FSB speed. As of right now I have an ABIT NF7-S V2.0 with the stock northbridge heatsink/fan on it. It works sporadically and I've been thinking about getting Vantec CCV-A1C to replace it.

2 Questions

Would this help me get a higher FSB?

If I'm going to do this should I invest in some Arctic Silver "Ceramique" or will the stock pad do a good enough job?

Thanks! I look to make a purchase really soon...

 

[wisdomtooth]

What do you mean by it working "sporadic?"

Is the fan making loud noises and fluctuating in RPMs, or is it running OK but you get sporadic performance in overclocking?

If it's the fan that's "sporadic," then all you need to do is clean it and lube it.

If it's overclocking performance, then it might help to change the NB HSF, though I would also suspect your other components such as the CPU, CPU HSF, RAM, etc.

HTH.

 

[Corey0808]

the way the current fan is functioning I really don't care about.. All I would like to know is that would better NB cooling provide a worthy enough boost in FSB speeds?

 

[Corey0808]

bump

 

[UsandThem]

Originally posted by: Corey0808
the way the current fan is functioning I really don't care about.. All I would like to know is that would better NB cooling provide a worthy enough boost in FSB speeds?

Wouldn't hurt anything (unless you damage it in the process).

However, I really doubt it is going to do much for you.

 

[Fern]

Originally posted by: Corey0808
the way the current fan is functioning I really don't care about.. All I would like to know is that would better NB cooling provide a worthy enough boost in FSB speeds?

I think you could find more benefit in modded BIOS.

Noone can provide guarantees that better cooling on the NB will result in significant FSB improvements above 200mhz. I've got an old pentium cooler I'm gonna put on mine (don't feel urgency for it now with this cold weather). But, in general, you need better cooling when raising the voltage for a compnonent. Raising the voltage to the chipset hasn't resulted in any/much improvement in my case. Nor am I aware of credible claims by anyone that it has. So, as increasing chipset voltage doesn't appear neccessary/beneficial I have doubts that increased NB cooling will do a great deal for your OCing

My .02

Fern

BTW, these things are generally so inexpensive that I'm persoanlly giving it a shot. I even bought a HS for my SB. So, I'm not discouraging you from adding it. Just trying to moderate your expectations. To me, the effort and few $ was worth it, if only to take these problems out of the equation and provide piece of mind.