Northbridge fan stopped spinning on mobo!

[digitalduck]

Basically my fan on my NF7 stopped spinning (the one covering the chip) and its been stopped for like a week now and i totally forgot about it until Windows totally crashed and I couldnt even boot into it anymore, it just kept restarting before the XP load screen. Would always show a different clock speed at startup too. Really messed up. Anyway I reforamated and now things seem ok, however I need to replace that fan asap...where can I get a replacement? I suppose I could just RMA the board, but cant I just get the fan from newegg or something?

I also tried removing the fan by pressing the white pegs down on either side and it was a pain. Felt like it was stuck or something..

 

[WobbleWobble]

You can buy a northbridge cooler from many retailers, they're not exactly a specialty item.

The northbridge heatsink is held on by some epoxy glue as well as the pins. Just undo the pins, take a hair dryer and heat up the heatsink till it's nice and hot. Use something like a paper towel to save your fingers and twist gently to pull it off.

 

[digitalduck]

I know this is a dumb question, but what would make it quit? Board isnt that old..I made sure there wasnt any build up and checked the connection...hmm

 

[WobbleWobble]

Usually dust build up. Not sure in your case though. Sometimes you can short the fan, but I don't think you did that.

It happens, like any mechanical part it can fail the moment it gets out of the box or never.

 

[digitalduck]

Ok, having said that, would you reccommend a good replacement? I know newegg has some thermalrights, which I wouldnt think I would need since im not doing any OC right now..if that would even affect it...but just a simple brand I suppose...thanks

 

[WobbleWobble]

Other nForce 2 boards have passive heatsinks like the Asus A7N8X. So if you don't want noise, try one of the larger passive northbridge heatsinks from Zalman.

 

[jhurst]

I don't think that sounds like a problem caused by your NB fan shutting down. Alot of boards dont even have a NB fan, the heatsink is enough. Are you sure your power supply isn't crapping out, or that you arent trying to OC too much??