How to say GOODBYE to whiny NB fans!

L

Logan321

[H]ard|Gawd
Joined
Oct 9, 2003
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So, here I was, overclocking my computer and frowning at all the noise it was making... and realizing that 50% of the noise (all of the high pitched noise!) was coming from the crappy little northbridge fan.

So, a quick inventory of my derelict heatsinks, and I focused on the retail cooler that came with my 3000+. Since I had already used the fan on another computer, there seemed little reason to keep it around... I would get another one with my next cpu anyway.

NB1.JPG


On to the modding!

First I planned out how much of the heatsink would be removed, as there was no way it'd fit under the videocard... was only 1 1/2" too tall. :rolleyes:

NB2.JPG


I hacksawed along the lines, hacksawed the fins on the upper part off so it'd fit under a video card, and filed the crap out of it until it was all smooth... then drilled holes to re-use the plastic press-down clips so it'd be easy to remount without messing around with screws or bolts.

NB3.JPG

NB4.JPG


And then, on to the install! I just put a dab of arctic silver on the heatsink and then mooshed it against the northbridge, and popped it off again to check the spread... was a little light, so added a bit more, and then reinstalled everything.

NB5.JPG


It actually DROPPED my northbridge temperature by 2 degrees. I was expecting close to the same cooling potential, but I wasn't expecting that.

I would have taken more pics during the work, but it's pretty self-explanatory, and I did it at college, as a replacement project for a hand and powertools lab. Nice to be able to make something useful instead of a pointless drill gauge.

Anyway, something to think about, if you are listening to a whiny fan. :cool:
 
Very nice. THIS is what modding is all about--making things better and not spending a dime in the process! :D

 
Very nice. Looks like a clean cut. The fins are spaced widely enough so that air can flow through passively. I'll have to save these pics ;)

edit: Do you have measurements?
 
And it still has more surface area than the Zalman NB47J's that people trim down in order to accommodate long vid cards on NF4 systems.
 
_Korruption_ said:
Very nice. Looks like a clean cut. The fins are spaced widely enough so that air can flow through passively. I'll have to save these pics ;)

edit: Do you have measurements?
Click to expand...

Hmm... yeah, it's almost exactly 2" square. I just cut the top fins out and left the bottom ones alone, so I kinda cheated... didn't have to do much to the fins to make it work.

As for the location of the holes, I just overlaid the old fan/heatsink over the new one, and marked the hole locations. Measuring just adds an error factor. :D

It was a whole lot of hacksawing and filing though. Well, aside from the two holes, it was ALL hacksawing and filing. The worst part was trying to file the section where the fins were... I didn't cut the fins off too close because I didn't want to ding up the aluminum, and ended up having to file away about 3/32"

I took a couple of the fins I had cut off and just used the vice to put a 90 degree bend in them, and pushed 'em into the fins so I could file away on the base without messing up the side of the remaining fins. Worked pretty well, actually.
 
What are you using to mount the chipset on the board and what did you use to cut the heatsink? If you want more performance I guess you could add a low rpm fan on the side of that cooler.
 
Johnie said:
What are you using to mount the chipset on the board and what did you use to cut the heatsink? If you want more performance I guess you could add a low rpm fan on the side of that cooler.
Click to expand...

Read the first post again...

"I hacksawed along the lines, hacksawed the fins on the upper part off so it'd fit under a video card, and filed the crap out of it until it was all smooth... then drilled holes to re-use the plastic press-down clips so it'd be easy to remount without messing around with screws or bolts."

What do I need more performance for? My northbridge is at 28C. What I wanted was NO whiny fan on my northbridge. lol
 
Really nice job, looks very clean. I went to a passive NB cooler as well, never will I go back to those whiny small fans, though I have to admit I sold out and just bought a Zalman NB cooler . :)
 
Well done. Just ordered my Zalman NB cooler yesterday, otherwise I'd give this a shot with my stock Opty HS. Still might actually :D
 
Looks good. My only critism is that you should have made it so that when mounted, the fins would have been horizontal instead of vertical. This minor change would allow air to more freely pass through the heatsink from a front intake on your case.
 
UnknownSouljer said:
Looks good. My only critism is that you should have made it so that when mounted, the fins would have been horizontal instead of vertical. This minor change would allow air to more freely pass through the heatsink from a front intake on your case.
Click to expand...

I considered that, but the fins were only unbroken for the 1 1/4" or so before they were cut to allow for the mounting clip, and I wanted them to be continous for astetics. I'm also planning on getting a arctic cooler for my ATI card, so that'd put the fins inline with the intake for the videocard, which would exhaust out the back of the case. I *think* I left enough room to be able to mount it...
:rolleyes:
 
I'm using the plastic clips with springs that were used for the original fan. I just drilled a small hole from the bottom and then countersunk a larger hole from the top, leaving just less than 1/8" of the small hole.

I'll take a picture of the quickly drawn design I used when I get home.
 
hm nice mod, i dono if an arctic cooler would fit tho, i had one of those and theyre pretty damn big, takes about 2 more slots under the gfx card :( but that was for an nvidia card i dono maybe the ati ones might leave more room :p
 
I've actually got the EXACT same heatsink (from a 3000+ Venice) sitting on my kitchen table next to my dremel, for the EXACT same project to be completed tomorrow (I hope).

My motherboard being a DFI Ultra-D has a slightly different NB HSF placement, which is overlapped directly by oversized PCIE cards in the upper slot - so I was thinking about taking the gap that runs down the middle of the stock heatsink and expanding it to allow the card to run in-between. I may have to shave the lower 'half' of the heatsink fins down to allow the NV Silencer I have on my 7800GT a bit of clearance though.

Good to know someone else has tried this before me.

I'm also considering taking another heatsink and cutting it up into smaller heatsinks for placement on various hot components on the board - I'm just not sure how to secure them with no screw/mount holes.

Same goes for the PWM IC location... it's not exactly a convenient location to passively cool, but I'd like to find a way.
 
To Lukano, please please post pictures! I need to either move my x800GTO^2 down to the second slot and enable the SLi configuration for a waterblock, or make a heatsink for it...
 
that is some hot stuff, mate. I absolutely despise NB fans.. I want to kill them all :D
 
Borgschulze said:
To Lukano, please please post pictures! I need to either move my x800GTO^2 down to the second slot and enable the SLi configuration for a waterblock, or make a heatsink for it...
Click to expand...

For sure. I may not do a step-by-step, but that's really already been done by the OP. It'll be an IDENTICAL stock heatsink that I'll use, and I'm just going to trim, cut and adjust to fit.

I can't promise I'll actually complete it tomorrow, but within the next week or two at most (I'm waiting on new components, and will likely fit the new passive NB cooler when I move to my new case in about 7-10 days time).

Feel free to email or PM me in two weeks time if I haven't come back with updates.
 
Well I will be on water shortly, within the next month, and Thursday I start Semester 2, which I have Manufacturing first period, so I have access to a lot of nice tools :)

So I have a spare heatsink to chop up.
 
Lukano said:
*snip*

I'm also considering taking another heatsink and cutting it up into smaller heatsinks for placement on various hot components on the board - I'm just not sure how to secure them with no screw/mount holes.

*snip*
Click to expand...

thermal epoxy

if you dare :p


-shig
 
Nice to be able to make something useful instead of a pointless drill gauge.
Click to expand...
Yeah what is with that, they had us do that at North Island College.. LOL

Must be an Island College thing

MD
 
For those who were a little unsure about the mounting mechanism, here's a [really] rough mechanical drawing.

NB0.JPG
 
MD_Willington said:
Yeah what is with that, they had us do that at North Island College.. LOL

Must be an Island College thing

MD
Click to expand...

It's just to give people who have absolutely no idea which end of a file is which a chance to learn... it's a little less critical for anyone who has taken grade 8 metalwork. lol
 
Great job, i really like to see these kind of posts on here, not "which case to buy". Instead you post real honest to god modding. i love it
 
Darkala said:
Great job, i really like to see these kind of posts on here, not "which case to buy". Instead you post real honest to god modding. i love it
Click to expand...

I've been buying cheap cases and cutting 'em up for probably 10 years now... still don't do the amazing job that some people on here do... but then, I mostly "mod" for performance. Larger fans, better airflow, less bulky cables in the way.

The only lights I have in my case are the ones for power, HD activity, and the 4 diagnostic LEDs. I do have a backlit keyboard tho. :rolleyes: It'll be the victim of a mod later this week, I think. Soon as the surfacemount LEDs on order come in.
 
Logan321 said:
It's just to give people who have absolutely no idea which end of a file is which a chance to learn... it's a little less critical for anyone who has taken grade 8 metalwork. lol
Click to expand...
Where you at, I'm from Campbell River...

Went to Electrical on Vigor road..

Small World!
 
I'm in Victoria now, but I grew up on Quadra Island... and went to NIC for electronic technician first year back in ... 94/95, I think?
 
Very clean, very pro looking, very nice solution.

The NB fan is also always the first to go. Always. Videocard fans come second.

The latter, I understand, those bastards get hot and you really need a fan to keep the costs down on a vidcard cooling solution. But the northbridge? How much do we shell out for motherboards? It is always proprietary, too, it's never a 40mm fan stuck to a heatsink you can replace, oh no. It's this moronic, clearly inefficient round thing or something... Drives me just batty. Just plain batty! I've never seen a NB fan survive a year. No joke.
 
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