Cooling the Asus p5n32-e sli plus

[vladthedecker]

I just recently purchased the Asus p5n32-e sli plus. It has a similar layout to the striker and uses heatpipes (although not as nice as the striker's) to cool the NB, SB and voltage regulators.

pics of the board

My problem is this: I bought a Scythe Infinity to use on this board but after installation my system became incredibly unstable. Well, after a thorough inspection I realized that the northbridge heatsink is incredibly hot (you can guess how I figured that out). It seems that this board needs either a down-blowing cpu hsf to cool the northbridge or some sort of active cooling for the northbridge. I am considering RMAing the Infinity for a Big Typhoon, or my other option would be to invest in some sort of active northbridge cooler.

Any other suggestions? Any recommendations for a decent northbridge cooler? Also the nb heatsink is connected by heatpipe to another heatsink near the socket. If I take off this heatsink do I need to find a cooling solution for this area as well?

 

[vladthedecker]

I'm going to update this thread for those who may find this information helpful in the future.

I picked up a Big Typhoon and that seems to have resolved the problem that I was having with the overheating northbridge. For anyone who purchases this board or other Asus boards with the minimal heatpipe cooling solution I would strongly suggest cooling the CPU with the stock cooler or another downward blowing cooler. With the Big Typhoon my system is now very stable and the northbridge heatsink is much cooler. Although I will say that the Infinity produced lower cpu temps both at idle and under load.

 

[HappyPlato]

I think it depends on the amount of air flow you have in your case. Of course, if you do high overclock, you're going to need to have extra cooling no matter what. I'm using Intel stock HSF. No problem with NB temperature, yet.

 

[magoo]

I have a P5N32-E SLI and have not experienced any heat related problems, yet.
I have an e6700 OC @ 3.3Ghz and rock solid.
The board is laid out much the same as yours.
I have numerous fans and use the AC Freezer Pro 7, which has some minimal downforce, I dont count on it to cool anything though.

 

[vladthedecker]

I have a P5N32-E SLI and have not experienced any heat related problems, yet.
I have an e6700 OC @ 3.3Ghz and rock solid.
The board is laid out much the same as yours.
I have numerous fans and use the AC Freezer Pro 7, which has some minimal downforce, I dont count on it to cool anything though.

Although we have similar boards I'm running at a higher bus than you. I have a e6420 at 3.3GHz. That's a 413mHz bus with a 8x multiplier. In order to get my board to a FSB over 400 I have to increase the nb voltage considerably. I have it up to 1.45v now and that is stable with the Big Typhoon cooling it but not with the Infinity. Also I think I read somewhere that the 680i and 650i northbridge gets quite a bit hotter than the Intel chipset that your board has. I guess my problem might not have occurred on an Intel chipset.

I think that my case has pretty good airflow. My case and cpu temps are only 1-2 degrees different between the case being open and closed.

HappyPlato, I would be interested in knowing what voltages you have set in bios. I had to tweak the voltages quite a bit with this board in order to get a decent OC. More than I've had to with any other board.

 

[Dan_D]

Actually the P5N32-E SLI Plus, P5N32-E SLI, and Striker Extreme all share the same PCB. Though the other two got screwed and the Striker actually has a pretty good cooling solution.

I wouldn't get the Big Typhoon. It's a decent cooler, but I don't think it would help much. You can actually switch out the motherboards cooling for something more effective. Thermalright makes nice mosfett coolers and you can always get a Swiftech or some other solution for the north and south bridges.

 

[vladthedecker]

Actually the P5N32-E SLI Plus, P5N32-E SLI, and Striker Extreme all share the same PCB. Though the other two got screwed and the Striker actually has a pretty good cooling solution.

I wouldn't get the Big Typhoon. It's a decent cooler, but I don't think it would help much. You can actually switch out the motherboards cooling for something more effective. Thermalright makes nice mosfett coolers and you can always get a Swiftech or some other solution for the north and south bridges.

Thanks for the input. Any specific coolers that you could suggest?

Actually I did pick up the Big Typhoon and it made a considerable difference. The nb heatsink is definitely cooler to the touch than it was with the Infinity. Although the BT isn't the best cooler around it does a decent job with my cpu temps. Overall my cpu temps aren't too bad but they aren't as good as they were with the Infinity.

I will probably look into a different chipset cooling solution in the future, but at the moment the BT is doing the job.

 

[Dan_D]

Thanks for the input. Any specific coolers that you could suggest?

Actually I did pick up the Big Typhoon and it made a considerable difference. The nb heatsink is definitely cooler to the touch than it was with the Infinity. Although the BT isn't the best cooler around it does a decent job with my cpu temps. Overall my cpu temps aren't too bad but they aren't as good as they were with the Infinity.

I will probably look into a different chipset cooling solution in the future, but at the moment the BT is doing the job.

Not off the top of my head. I haven't looked into chipset cooling in awhile. I know Swiftech makes one of the better ones. A Google search should get you the information you need. Glad to hear that the Big Typhoon did the trick for you though.

 

[HappyPlato]

My NB is at 1.45v, the same as you. But I am running at 3.2Ghz, so a bit slower than you. SB is at 1.50v. The motherboard temp don't go over 45 deg C.

Although we have similar boards I'm running at a higher bus than you. I have a e6420 at 3.3GHz. That's a 413mHz bus with a 8x multiplier. In order to get my board to a FSB over 400 I have to increase the nb voltage considerably. I have it up to 1.45v now and that is stable with the Big Typhoon cooling it but not with the Infinity. Also I think I read somewhere that the 680i and 650i northbridge gets quite a bit hotter than the Intel chipset that your board has. I guess my problem might not have occurred on an Intel chipset.

I think that my case has pretty good airflow. My case and cpu temps are only 1-2 degrees different between the case being open and closed.

HappyPlato, I would be interested in knowing what voltages you have set in bios. I had to tweak the voltages quite a bit with this board in order to get a decent OC. More than I've had to with any other board.

 

[vladthedecker]

My NB is at 1.45v, the same as you. But I am running at 3.2Ghz, so a bit slower than you. SB is at 1.50v. The motherboard temp don't go over 45 deg C.

Thanks for the info. With the stock hsf I never had any problems with the nb temps either. The fan provides enough downward airflow to cool it. The problem was when I moved to a tower cooler that was no longer providing that airflow.

I was able to get my fsb up around 475 with the stock hsf but that took 1.5v on the nb and was absolutely unstable with the Infinity. I didn't try any higher fsb than that because I knew that I wouldn't be able to hit that with the 8x multi.