ASUS A8N-SLI ChipSet Cooling options?

FatRakoon

FatRakoon

FatRakoon

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Hmm... the NB Fan on the A8N-SLI ( Not prem or deluxe ) has started to whine.

The snag is, that the position of it, kinf of stops me mounting anything bigger than the stock one.

I have a few Mobos with the VANTEC Copper coolers, but on a quick inspection, it seems that these wont fit ( Mounting holes not narrow enough as the ASUS cooler is ever-so-slightly-smaller-than-normal )

Anyone got any suggestions?
 
** in same situation as me !!
i have the an8-sli premium and it has fanless design but after opening pc other day i touched it y mistake as OUCH burnt my finger, my problem is graphics card in the way to fit anything.
 
Yeah, GFX for me too!

I did throw in the X800GTO2 but the cooler plate is pressing onto the RAM clip ( The white clippy bi that holds the RAM in place ) and so I put the 6800GT cards back in but again, they are also in the way of the NB Cooler... Ok with a flat one, if I can find an undersized one that is, but the spares I have... All have their fitting holes about quarter of an inch too big for the ASUS.

I have tried to contact ASUS but so far I have nothing.

Im not too miffed because I have a brand new Foxconn SLI Board that I bought purely to replace the ASUS some time ago ( When I failed to get the 6600GT Cards to SLI only to find out the Drivers realyl were the problem, not the Mobo ? )

Anyway, sod it.

I am hoping ASUS will help me, and if so, I will see about an extra cooler for you yeah?
 
sounds good to me, i was looking after buring my finger at the nb coolers on OChttp://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=SY-007-ZA&groupid=701&catid=57&subcat=399
for £4/5 i was think well what the heck buy it and cut off some of the fins !!! as it would probably be only 1/4 of it getting in the way.
will wait and see what asus say to you tho.
trouble is for me buying a new board like you have is hard as im on s939 and DDR 184pin, finding it hard to find a decent motherboard or should i say better than i have now.
 
mine is just bloody hot to touch but same hasnt caused any instability/low down, its just abit concerning knowing its HOTTTT!!
have clamped and extra fan blowing directly onto it but its screwed to one corner of the graphics card heat sink!!!!
 
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Alright lads,

The A8N Series of mobo is still my fave, done a lot of builds using the various different boards, love it! :)

Anyway there is heaps of 3rd party cooling options available to you and the prices are cheap as chips really. . .

The skin-flint option is to contact ASUS via email and explain that your chipset fan has worn out, they will ask for your boards #serial number and get a new fan sent out to you, can be a bit slow depending on how proactive you are. My replacement fan works a treat although it won't be for the silent PC types, it does let off a small hum but nothing really bad still. . .

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If you fancy getting something 'passive' instead and you are using a single slot cooler on your graphics card then the Zalman ZM-NB47J Northbridge Cooler is what you want, there is a knack to getting it installed 'just so' but for the money its unrivalled. Deffo gets scorching hot by itself so I recommend you get some airflow pointing in that direction. Here is some pics of a small system I did for Shelley last year . . .

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[Above] Mobo remove from case, old chipset cooler removed and everything cleaned up


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[Above] Test fit, pretty close but didn't conflict with the Video card, also adjusted the clips on the Zalman to match the holes in the board 100%


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[Above] Everything installed and I have used one of those Antec Spot Cool's to provide ample airflow to keep the little Zalman & Passive Videocard cool.

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[Above] Gratuitous 'Techno' photo, I was bored! :p
 
Now the post above is all well and good *but* if you own a double-slot graphics card or have the ASUS A8n-SLi Premium then the Zalman is no good to you. First up lets deal with the people using a double-slot graphics card, you really only need to look at one of the Thermalright HR-05 SLI series chipset coolers, they are mental! :eek:

HS-044-TR_400.jpg


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As you may be able to see the SLI versions of these coolers have little heatpipes that bend away from the base so basically you can position the main 'bulk' of the heatsink away from your graphics card/s. If you have decent airflow in the case I reckon these are fine running passive but if your bonkers I think its possible to cable tie an 80mm fan to that sucker lol :D

Last up is the lucky owners of the ASUS A8N-SLI Premium. Now I too noticed that the chipset heatsink/heatpipe was scorching hot and even though this didn't appear to be causing any stability issues I just wanted to cool it down. It just needs a little airflow pointing in that direction and you will be suprised how cool that area will become. The easiest option is something like the Antec Spot cool mentioned above positioned to blow some gentle air at the chipset. The Spot Cool is not bad at all although the 'bendy' neck has a will of its own so getting it to stay as you want it is a battle, if you can pick one up cheap then I say give it a whirl however for similar money I think the better option would be to use the 'Veteran' Zalman Fan bracket with a quiet 120mm fan . . .

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It attaches to the case using the same screws you use to attach your graphics card, sound card etc and you can attach the fan in a number of ways to direct cooling where you want. The photo above shows roughly how you would want it setup to keep the chipset on an ASUS A8N-SLI Premium nice and cool. If you happen to already have a spare quiet 120mm laying about then the fan bracket is probably your best option, they cost less than a fiver! :)
 
Both those options are no good for me.

I have at my disposal, 3 options of GFX

1 - X1800XT

2 - X800GTO2

3 - 2x6800GT

in all 3 cases, a cooler larger than stock is simply not happening, and Im damned if I am going to spend even more money, just to avoid the NB Cooler, so, Iam trying to follow the cheap route...
 
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as u can see ive abit of problem with space!
strapping the fan to graphics has worked in cooling it down after seeing the thread i put my finger to it again and i can hold there for some :)
but the "Veteran' Zalman Fan bracket" looks like a really good idea and will be purchasing one of those instead.
 
Have a look for the Zalman ZM-NB32K chipset heatsink. It has far shorter fins than the ZM-NB47J, but isn't as commom these days-

fanzmnb32men2ha2.gif
 
i have probably less than half inch to play with without the zalman hitting it.
only options i can see is:
try a new graphics card which im thinking of doing anyway!!
try new heatsink ( tho fans way to noisey!)
or leave it as it all is and but the zalman fan bracket ( which i found on our local auction site damn £5)
 
Big.Wayne said:
Rakoon man, the Thermalright HR-05 SLI series will fit fine? am I missing something here :p

I got a spare one if you wanna try it dude but I have seen them going on members market for pounds :)
Click to expand...

Id love to give it a try mate... I really would.

I have just splodged a tad of oil onto the thing for now and its has helped enormously, but alas, you cannot avoid the fact that it is still whining the shriek of death.

HR05 - SLI though?

Didnt know there was an SLI version?

How much you asking for it?

I have just had a quick flick through and find it selling in a number of places.

So, name your price.
 
I had the zalman -the big blue monster- and chopped off about half the fins, so that my 6800gt with its double slot cooler would fit. I never had any overheating problems with that setup. It's still going strong in a lan box.

turbotoes
 
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