So when the ambient temperature is below 20 degrees celcius (roughly), my northbridge fan makes this LOUD whirring sound when i boot my computer. It usually subsides within a minute or so completely... It only started doing this about a month after I assembled my computer. Is my fan going to die soon? I can touch the fan while the comp is running and it still seems to spin very fast without struggle... When should i start getting worried? I have already looked into alternative cooling solutions for the NB chipset (Zalman passive heatsinks)... Any advice. Thanks a lot.
I love ABIT boards, and I use them almost exclusively for high-end workstations. Having said that, their northbridge fans suck! They are sleeve bearing, and really don't last very long*. Now, I preemptively install Vantec Iceburq [Newegg.com] chipset cooling kits on all the ABIT boards I deploy. They're copper, ball-bearing, and they've worked really well for me. Even if you just need the northbridge cooler, it's nice to have the whole kit. It's under $10, and since modern southbridge chipsets tend to get quite hot, you'll get some use out of it. *Some of the newer ABIT boards I've dealt with recently seem to have fans that look similar but are of better construction. Rare, but true.
Thanks for the feedback... Is this Vantec fan perfectly compatible with the NF7? (ie: do the holes match up?). If so i have no hesitation buying it. I love abit boards as well and am dissapointed that I have to be dissapointed by their poor quality fan. Is this it? http://computeravenue.mywinnipeg.com/proddetails.php?lngProdID=1568
That's the one! And as for the size, yes, it's identical, so it should work perfectly for you. Unfortunately, you'll have to unmount your motherboard to change it out, but it's definately worth it to protect your investment. Just clean off the gob of white silicon that's already on the northbridge, add a BB-sized bead of Arctic Silver and spread it evenly across the surface. Add the heatsync firmly, and remount your motherboard. Viola!
Thanks a lot man. I am dreading to remove the motherboard (so time consuming), but i know it must be done... As for the Arctic Silver. How is the stuff that comes with the fan? The stupid fan alone is $27 canadian and i don't want to spend much more just for a stupid northbridge, lol... It's good to know that this fan is like the old one, just better quality... I don't like making modifications to parts of the computer, i like it when it all fits well together... Thanks a lot for the help, i'll buy one this weekend.
artic silver is a thermal compoud purchased seperately, high grade. Thermal compoud comes with the cooler, but is of a medium grade and will not cool as effectively. Arctic siler will drop the temps of your northbridge from 2-6 degrees! but at a price my friend
Arctic Silver or Ceramique is good stuff. What you really don't want is the Radio Shack thermal paste. If you use that stuff, you might as well bust out the toothpaste instead. I've heard alot about Abit's craptacular northbridge fan failings. However, my IS7-E v1.0 (with the supposedly crappier fan) has been running on most of the time since early january, and not had a problem with it yet. I'm probably lucky, and having said that, just watch it fail in the next few days.
so i finally replaced the fan, it took me 2 hours! I also stuck a heatsink with thermal tape onto the southbridge... Anyways, i got all the silica stuff off with a credit card but had trouble putting on the thermal paste... I put a bit too much on and a bit went over the edge... I tried to wipe it off with the card, and then eventually used my finger... a bit was over the edge (only barely over, not on the actual circuit board or any of the components. But some got on the green border surrounding the chip. I think this green border is the circuity leading to the chip, but it is laminated (i believe)... I hope this wont cause any problem... thanks a lot guys.
can you short anything by getting some of that stuff on the green border of the chip?? my comp is running fine, but i'm paranoid. I didn't use arctic silver, i used the generic white paste that came with the fan.
It MIGHT but I would highly avoid it. if you use a credit card to apply it on the chip, it tends to be real easy, and WHERE'D MY POST GO! MY BEAUTIFUL POST!! ITS DISAPPEARED!
Well, I know Actic Silver is only around .0001% conductive, and the generic silicon (white stuff) probably isn't much higher. I wouldn't worry too much about it, the biggest problem I expect is just a runny mess when the stuff gets hot. One of the things that makes Arctic Silver better than plain silicon is that is holds its consistancy very well under heat. What I'd do is wipe the excess up as best as I could using Q-tips and rubbing alchohol. All the best, -AT
