Zalman says NB47J Northbridge cooler fits A8N-SLI

[SAngeli]

Hi,
orlenfrost, you said:
"I picked a spot on the base of the heat sync between the heat sync fins that was easily accessible to the probe and measured in the same spot each time."

Did you place the probe between the fins at the bottom of the sink or under the sink between the chipset and what is free space left?
Could you be more specific? It is me that am able to visualize in my mind where this place is.

thank you,
Spiro

 

[SAngeli]

Hi Guys,

I am almost there but need please your advice:

This is exactely my case, with a bottom 120mm fan that blows 56CFM of fresh air. http://www.nexustek.nl/images/breeze_vside.gif

I noticed that if I place the Zalman ZM-NB47J it received perfectly almost all the air the 120mm fan produces. So very good location.

-> My problme is the GPU cooling system. <-
* Because I have all SilenX fan that do not exceed 14db I wish to keep this level. *
I was planning on replacing the original GPU ASUS fan with the Artic Cooling NV Silencer 6 (Rev. 2) because the sound lever should be under 14 dB or so but it interfeers with the Zalman fins and blocks a bit of the 120mm fan that blows air inside.

Is there anything that would mount in front of the GPU and not exceed the VGA size so that:
- it would allow me to mount the Zalman sink
- would not exceed 14 dB

My feeling is that I will endup with this:
-------------------------------------------
a. Zalman ZM-NB47J
b. either VF700-Cu or VF700-AlCu

I please ask for your advice because it is a very difficult decision.

Thank you a lot,
Spiro

 

[Speedo]

Ok, here's my final sollution. This sollution works very well and is very silent!

http://www.chotai.se/frank/images/a8n-sli_cooling.jpg

Details:
Antec Sonata case, Zalman NB47J chipset cooling replacement, with a Zalman 80mm (+7v resistor) fan blowing toards it, mounted at the bottom of the case. XP-120 heatsink on the CPU with Pabst lowspeed 120mm fan on. Same fan in the back coupled with a fanmate (see the controller mounted above the drive to the left in the pic). On the 6600GT I have the VF700@5v which fits perfectly (no problem with the chipset heatsink). The Seasonic Tornardo 400w also has a very low speed 120mm fan which also helps the total airflow thru the case a bit.

As for having a 120mm fan in the front, I think that's a total waste. You only need that if your HDDs are running very hot, and you need airflow directed towards them. Thru my years of experimenting with airflow thru cases, I have found that its always best to concentrate on getting the air out of the case in the upper back, since heat rises. The vaccum created in the case will then always make the cold air get in from whatever holes you have, most often in the bottom front which is optimal, since air is then traveling thru the whole case cooling all components on its way. In this case some air is also getting in thru the "ANTEC" holes on the sides of the case.

 

[SAngeli]

Hi Speedo,

It looks like your solution is the way to go. Yes, the big fan is of big help to the N. Bridge Chipset. Luckely, instead of placing the big 120mm fan like you did, I have mine part of the case structure located at the botton of the case. So, just abut 10cm away from it. It should be fine (I hope). http://www.nexustek.nl/images/breeze_vside.gif

-> Which model of Zalman GPU did you purchase?
-> What brand name is your GPU?
-> When you purchased your GPU, most likely it came with heat sinks on the memory. Is it mandatory to replace them with Zalman ones or not?
-> Is it hard to detach the memory fins?

Thank you and take care,
Spiro

 

[Speedo]

SAngeli: Your case has an interesting sollution, with that intake at the bottom

I got the Zalman VF700 on the Leadtek PX6600GT TDH Extreme. There were no memory heatsinks on, so I just put on the Zalman ones. Dunno how hard they are to take off, but I wouldn't worry to much, since I have never felt the memory running hot anyways, and improvements are probably minimal.

 

[cryptonomicon]

lol i read "NB47J + ZALMAN" and i knew this was a thread about a tight squeeze...

pretty cool you got it in there without cutting fins. i cut about 8 fins off my zalman HS for the winning fit... hehe.

 

[Speedo]

Originally posted by: cryptonomicon
lol i read "NB47J + ZALMAN" and i knew this was a thread about a tight squeeze...

pretty cool you got it in there without cutting fins. i cut about 8 fins off my zalman HS for the winning fit... hehe.

Sounds like you should have tried the NB32J ?

 

[cryptonomicon]

come on, i gotta get some use out of the dremel

 

[SAngeli]

* EDITED *
I decided to put an end to my research and do what most of you did: Purchase the Zalman VF700Cu.
If I am not satisfied, I will then see.

Thank you anyway for all your help.
Spiro

 

[evilmrroboto]

I've got a question about the zalman chipset heatsink. Does anyone know where to get replacement push pins that will fit this thing? Just taking them out once or twice seems to mutilate the ends of them. It still hold onto the motherboard but I would like to see about getting new pins. They are the only 2 I have since I cut the ones from the motherboard off.

 

[Nocturnal]

Why did you cut off the ones from the motherboard? Those are the ones you're supposed to re-use. I ordered mine tonight and I pray that this doesn't kill my motherboard down the road as RMAing and replacing this cost a lot of money when my computer goes down.

 

[evilmrroboto]

Originally posted by: Nocturnal
Why did you cut off the ones from the motherboard? Those are the ones you're supposed to re-use. I ordered mine tonight and I pray that this doesn't kill my motherboard down the road as RMAing and replacing this cost a lot of money when my computer goes down.

I cut them off because other people that have done this cut them off. Its the easiest and fastest way. Those pins are a pain to squeeze though the holes. And you don't have to use those ones, the Zalman comes with 2 pins that u can use that work, but as I said I would like some new ones. RMAing doesn't cost a lot of money, only the cost to ship it out, and about the 3-4 week wait because Asus takes 2, plus shipping time back to you.

I have had to do this once before, probably will again, lol.

 

[SAngeli]

Hi ptr,

you have my same exact hardware.
I just received today my VF700CU or the NB47J.
Could I please have your temperature readings of both the mobo chipset and the videocard, and what PC Case you have so that I can see air circulation

Once I will install everything I will post my readings. Unfortunately, I am still waiting for memory and monitor to arrive.

Thank you so much.
Spiro

 

[ApoK13]

Hello guys,

I'm having the same problem with the chipset Northbridge fan... it's so damn noisy. I've been reading a lot of threads about this and I thought of this solution, what do you think?

Aquacomputer Twinplex Chipset (AMD) Straight

Do you think it will fit the nforce4? I think that's a safer solution than using just the Zalman NB-47J even if you add those fan?s systems... am I wrong?

Thx

 

[evilmrroboto]

I got the zalman heatsink on no problems the 2nd time (after RMAing my 2nd board, so i'm on my 3rd one now) with just my bare hands. I squeezed the pins together then pushed the out through the holes. One of the two actually broke, but no problems. I used Zalman's pins and they worked. It takes some time to line up the brackets with the holes on the mobo, but after that it snaps in and works. It feels just as hot as the Asus's fan ever did and my temps aren't any higher. So less noise and same heat = a happy person.

If you ever fubar your Zalman pins like i did because I put the heatsink on, then had to take them off a couple of times and that really destroys the ends of those pins just send an e-mail to Zalman customer support and they will send an entire replacement bag (the same bag of brackets, thermal paste, and pins, etc. that came with the heat sink) for no charge. Pretty cool on their part.

 

[NokiaDude]

I really don't know why you're complaining about the chipset fan. I can barely hear my computer, except my hard drive. I don't see what all the fuss is about.

 

[sxr7171]

Originally posted by: evilmrroboto
I've got a question about the zalman chipset heatsink. Does anyone know where to get replacement push pins that will fit this thing? Just taking them out once or twice seems to mutilate the ends of them. It still hold onto the motherboard but I would like to see about getting new pins. They are the only 2 I have since I cut the ones from the motherboard off.

Use a small flat screwdriver (like the kind for glasses repair) and widen out the pins by putting your screwdriver in the little plastic slot of the pin and twisting it a bit. Take a look at the pins on the underside and you'll know what I mean.

 

[evilmrroboto]

Originally posted by: NokiaDude
I really don't know why you're complaining about the chipset fan. I can barely hear my computer, except my hard drive. I don't see what all the fuss is about.

Either you havent had your A8N-SLI long enough, or you got lucky. After a few weeks of running that thing (I dont shut down at night, so it runs constantly) it will get lots of dust in there and will start making terrible noises. Also if you monitor the fan speed it will slow from the 8000 RPM normal to around 2000-4000 RPM which is not normal. It makes very loud noises which is why everyone replaces that fan once it makes all the noise. I'm sure if you cleaned the fan out every week it would be fine, but why bother when you can replace the whole thing.

 

[vlad4]

Hi all! I'm kinda new here, but I have been following this thread.

Well, my chipset fan died last week and ASUS said that they would send another out but it would take between 5 and 10 days for it to arrive. After reading this thread, I went ahead and ordered a Zalmann NB47J, but opted for a couple of small mods to the heatsink first.

Since I'm running dual 6800 ultras, I had to trim 12 of the teeth down to clear the heatsink of the ultras. And just in case of temp issues I added a 40mm fan to the NB47J. It's a close fit but it works! Here are a few picts....

http://members.cox.net/vladimir/photos/chipset/1.jpg

http://members.cox.net/vladimir/photos/chipset/2.jpg

http://members.cox.net/vladimir/photos/chipset/3.jpg

http://members.cox.net/vladimir/photos/chipset/4.jpg

http://members.cox.net/vladimir/photos/chipset/5.jpg

http://members.cox.net/vladimir/photos/chipset/6.jpg

 

[johnh123]

I just added the NB47J to my a8n-sli- no problems. Temps are staying about the same. I actually bought this thing last week, before I had any problems with the fan. Then my fan began dying a slow death. I guess it knew the game was up when I bought the NB47J.

 

[rubenerv]

 

[rubenerv]

hi guys.. im a newb here.

well my fan is not working, and i wnt to replace it with a zalman NB47J, but i have seen people saying that after removing the original heatsink and fan, their secondary ide stops working. is there a safe way to do the replacement? or something i shoulnt do to avoid that kind of failure?

 

[RY62]

Originally posted by: evilmrroboto

Originally posted by: NokiaDude
I really don't know why you're complaining about the chipset fan. I can barely hear my computer, except my hard drive. I don't see what all the fuss is about.

Either you havent had your A8N-SLI long enough, or you got lucky. After a few weeks of running that thing (I dont shut down at night, so it runs constantly) it will get lots of dust in there and will start making terrible noises. Also if you monitor the fan speed it will slow from the 8000 RPM normal to around 2000-4000 RPM which is not normal. It makes very loud noises which is why everyone replaces that fan once it makes all the noise. I'm sure if you cleaned the fan out every week it would be fine, but why bother when you can replace the whole thing.

I've been one of the lucky ones so far. I've had mine running for 6 months, never cleaned the fan, and it's still running quiet. I have MBM5 monitoring it all the time and it's always at 7670 or 8350 rpms. I've got MBM set up to sound an alarm if it ever goes below 6000 rpm and I've got a fan just waiting for the day it goes.

 

[Gerbil333]

Originally posted by: rubenerv
hi guys.. im a newb here.

well my fan is not working, and i wnt to replace it with a zalman NB47J, but i have seen people saying that after removing the original heatsink and fan, their secondary ide stops working. is there a safe way to do the replacement? or something i shoulnt do to avoid that kind of failure?

Where? That's the first time I've heard of that problem. It's only a heatsink change...they probably scratched a trace on the PCB or something.

 

[Tupp]

A8N-SLI and Asus AX850 Extreme with VF700-Cu. The NB47J fits if you bend it a little

Pic



With noise control bigtower DEAD silence

Pic2