ASUS A8N-VM CSM owners

[ToastMaster]

I've heard that the southbridge (nForce 430) chipset gets rather hot, considering it isn't cooled in any way. I was wondering if this has affected anything and, what any of you have done to help cool it.

I'm thinking of picking up either this board or the MSI 6150/430 board, and I'd probably go with ASUS if it weren't for the heat issue it seems to have with the 430 chipset. I could throw a cooler on it, but there aren't many that I'm sure would fit with a Audigy 2 card (since it sits roughly in equidistance from both PCI slots behind them).

 

[Soymilk]

if you oc, keep in mind that the asus is capped at 240 fsb

 

[W6FO]

I don't find the ASUS 6150 board that impressive from an enthusiast view point, take another good look at the MSI board. I am probably going to order one this weekend. I have a nice barebones "wish list" at newegg all set to go, I'm just trying to decide on a case.

The south bridge is NOT cooled on the ASUS as you mention, it would be easy to add a HS or HSF to it though. However, the MSI already has a HS on theirs. Also, on the ASUS board, they have run the dual channel DDR slots right next to each other. I don't like this setup at all... especially in an OC'd SFF environment. MSI has them offset in the traditional manner.

MSI:

ASUS:

However, with all this said, if the FOXCONN was a better overclocker, I'd probably try the FOXCONN as it has three PCI slots. Knowing that I'm going to loose one when I put a 7800GTX in the PCIE-16x slot, I won't be able to also run a SB and a TV Tuner card. No one motherboard is ever truly perfect is it? heh.

FOXCONN:

- JT

 

[W6FO]

I was just browsing on newegg and see that the ASUS board is on sale this weekend for $82.00.

FYI

- JT

 

[agentzero9]

I don't find the ASUS 6150 board that impressive from an enthusiast view point, take another good look at the MSI board. I am probably going to order one this weekend. I have a nice barebones "wish list" at newegg all set to go, I'm just trying to decide on a case.

The south bridge is NOT cooled on the ASUS as you mention, it would be easy to add a HS or HSF to it though. However, the MSI already has a HS on theirs. Also, on the ASUS board, they have run the dual channel DDR slots right next to each other. I don't like this setup at all... especially in an OC'd SFF environment. MSI has them offset in the traditional manner.

MSI:

ASUS:

However, with all this said, if the FOXCONN was a better overclocker, I'd probably try the FOXCONN as it has three PCI slots. Knowing that I'm going to loose one when I put a 7800GTX in the PCIE-16x slot, I won't be able to also run a SB and a TV Tuner card. No one motherboard is ever truly perfect is it? heh.

FOXCONN:

- JT

There is a pretty good PCI-E tv theater 550 tuner out there.

 

[GameDad]

dont plan on aftermarket coolers fitting on the csm, i bought a pair of vantecs iceberq north and south bridge cooling kits, because i wanted to put a fan on each. But due to the placement of objects on the motherboard, like capacitors and other things, the fans do not fit on either bridge , i am currently looking for another solution,

 

[drizzt81]

i ripped off a northbridge HS from my old Abit BP6, the holes did not align and the HS was a tad too big so I was afraid of shorting something. At this point, I left it as is...

 

[TimKLL]

I had one of these (Zalman NB47J) from my old Shuttle:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16835118214

I put that on my Northbridge with AS5 (the Zalman has adjustable arms for the pins).

The stock ASUS Northbridge HS then snapped right on to the Southbridge. I had to use a bench grinder to bevel one side of the stock HS because it was bumping up against my GPU. It did fit but was making slight contact with the GPU heatsink and I didn't like that. I just beveled it a bit with the grinder and smoothed it with wet/dry sandpaper and it fits well. The mobo already had the holes that matched the HS pins perfectly - makes you wonder why they did that and then didn't put anything on it.

No fans on either HS but I think the overall airflow in the case does the job.

 

[Flyboat]

dont plan on aftermarket coolers fitting on the csm, i bought a pair of vantecs iceberq north and south bridge cooling kits, because i wanted to put a fan on each. But due to the placement of objects on the motherboard, like capacitors and other things, the fans do not fit on either bridge , i am currently looking for another solution,

I think you need a 35mm chipset fan.

 

[valve1138]

I recently recieved my Asus CSM board back from RMA repair from Asus. They put a passive heatsink on the second chip, the one not near the CPU.

It's my 4th board of that model and it's the first one with a heatsink there.

Thought that was interesting.