P35-DS3L NorthBridge temp too hot?

[KRayner]

Hi guys,

I've been an avid reader of Anandtech for many years (about 8 I think) but have never posted anything in the forums until now.

My PC's specs

e8400 OC'd (Prime95 stable after 10 hours)
9x400 = 3.6GHz
1.325 (stock voltage)
2x2Gb Transcend DDR2-800 (5-5-5-16)
XFX 8800GTS 320Mb XXX
Gigabyte GA-P35-DS3L rev 2 (BIOS F8f)
Gigabyte G-Power Pro 2 CPU Cooler (pic + review)
Gigabyte Poseidon 310 Case (pic + review)
Vista Ultimate x64

Situation & Problem

I'm wondering if my NorthBridge temps are too high (I think they are) but I can't seem to find a solid answer. Currently it's sitting @ 48c and this is at idle with the CPU running @ 2.4 (due to the multiplier being changed to 6x for power saving) however since the FSB doesn't change the NorthBridge still runs quite hot. (400Mhz vs 333Mhz stock). Now this Gigabyte P35-DS3L comes with a sizeable heatsink for the NB (see here: Mobo pic - NB is the larger heatsink branded with the Gigabyte logo) however do I need to look into replacing it? I have tried this yesterday using the following product (Vantec Chipset Cooler) which I happened to have lying around, however after first testing to see if it was loud (which it wasn't) and subsequently going through the inconvenience of removing the mobo and replacing the stock NB heatsink with this one it turned out to be annoyingly audible and worse the NB temps actually rose about 2-3 degrees! Needless to say I went back to the stock NB (using the paste that came with the Vantec cooler and removing the stock stuff) and the temps were now back to 'normal' minus the annoying whine of that 5500rpm 40mm fan.

The G-Power CPU Cooler is inaudible @ 50% RPM (800RPM) however the chipset temp suffers as a result. If I crank the cooler all the way up to 100% (1650RPM) it becomes audible and since this PC is in my room and on 24/7 I would prefer if it ran @ 50%. When the Cooler is running @ 100% the chipset temp drops to around 40-43c idle. If I play a game (C&C 3 for e.g.) and alt+tab after an hour of gameplay to check the NB temp, it rises to 55c. This is with the Cooler running around max RPM (ramps automatically due to the Gigabyte software I've installed and setup). The temps on the NB are therefore linked directly to the amount of airflow the G-Power produces since it sits just about and to the right of the chipset heatsink, with the downdraft providing cool air. directly behind this is a silent 120mm extractor fan (see the case review/pic) which sucks out any hot air.

So my question is should I worry about this seemingly high NB temperature?

The PC is rock solid however currently the ambient room temp isn't very high and since summer is approaching (with days sometimes reaching in the low 40's) this will only get worse.

An alternative would be to try and find a silent 40mm fan which I could mount to the top of the heatsink however I can't seem to find anything like this (I live in South Africa and the suppliers we have don't seem to sell just 40mm fans)

If anyone could provide some insight I would really appreciate it.

 

[Modelworks]

I use a antec 900 case with this board which has a mount for a fan on the side of the case.
I used a 120mm fan blowing into the case and the temps on the NB are about 40c.
Well within normal temps.

 

[hclarkjr]

i have the same motherboard but my northbridge is 34 celsius at idle. i have my Q6600 overclocked to 333 FSB. that is with a P180 and room temp of 69 fahrenheit.

 

[KRayner]

Not sure what the ambient room temp is but if I had to guess I would say around 20c so similar to yours hclarkjr. Also, since your FSB is clocked quite a bit lower than mine (333Mhz vs. 400Mhz) your temps would naturally be lower. I haven't checked what the temps are at default FSB clocks but will check sometime and post here.

I guess the 4 HDD's could also have something to do with the temp however I doubt they contribute much (they seem to run between 32-40c). Probably has more to do with the actual airflow in the case. A larger case with x2 120mm exhaust fans would probably make a big difference. I've tried that folding @ home app (for GPU's) and the chipset temp increases significantly due to the GPU heating up. Suppose I just need to set the fan speed to 100% when summer comes around to ease my state of mind.

Anyone else with the same motherboard who would like to share their temps with us?

Oh, picked up a copy of Brothers in Arms: Hell's Highway yesterday (PC ver obv) and I must say the game is a lot better than I expected it to be. Pleasantly surprised