Aopen AK79G Max & Northbridge chipset fan

"Nystagmus" <eyesores.RemoveThis@blurredvision.org> wrote in message news:<TMqdnVqbp5U-l8jd4p2dnA.RemoveThis@comcast.com>...
 > "Mike" <psx.RemoveThis@fimble.com> wrote in message
 > news:289ecd6f.0403122029.5d6777e8@posting.google.com...
  > > I have an Aopen AK79G Max motherboard - and I am not an overclocker.
  > > Never have, never will. I have enough trouble getting stable hardware
  > > without cranking up the voltage The fan on the northbridge is
  > > annoying loud even though it's small. So, I unplugged it and am
  > > currently using it right now with no issues. My question is - over
  > > time, will I damage the chipset? I see a lot of boards by MSI also
  > > using the Nforce2 chipset and they have passive northbridge heatsinks,
  > > so I would think I'm fine by doing this. Can someome tell me if this
  > > is true?
  > >
  > > -PSX
 >
 > Mike,
 >
 > I have the AK79G Max (great board btw). I have in the past taken off the
 > north bridge fan for the same reason as you. It was off for about 3 months
 > until I came across a free replacement. Of course I left the heatsink on.
 > Never had a problem without the fan. I read some reviews of the nvidia
 > chipset and the reviews hinted that the fan was for show. Like you I do not
 > OC and I wouldn't even try without the NB fan.
 >
 > Nystagmus
 >

Thanks for the update - I had just unplugged the fan to see how it
would run, and it ran fine for a few hours - but the heatsink was
extremely hot to the touch. With the fan running, it was very cool...
and I too have read that with the nforce2 chipset, you don't need a
fan. I have an Abit board running the nforce2 chipset that I replaced
the northbridge fan with a passive heatsink, and it runs great... but
my only concern was that this Aopen board has an integrated VGA card
with it. According to this page:

<a style='text-decoration: underline;' href="http://www.coolerguys.com/ProductDetails.aspx?productID=980" target="_blank">http://www.coolerguys.com/ProductDetails.aspx?productID=980</a>

It says

"ZM-NB47J is compatible with all Northbridge chipsets that do not have
a built-in graphics chipset. "

That scares me about unplugging that fan and leaving it run for long,
especially if a monster heat sink like this one isn't rated to cool an
integrated northbridge like the Aopen board has. I wish somebody from
Aopen could confirm or deny my question... Thanks again for the info.<!-- ~MESSAGE_AFTER~ -->
 >> Stay informed about: Aopen AK79G Max & Northbridge chipset fan 

"Mike" <psx DeleteThis @fimble.com> wrote in message
news:289ecd6f.0403142325.7e2de1c@posting.google.com...
 > "Nystagmus" <eyesores DeleteThis @blurredvision.org> wrote in message
news:<TMqdnVqbp5U-l8jd4p2dnA DeleteThis @comcast.com>...
  > > "Mike" <psx DeleteThis @fimble.com> wrote in message
  > > news:289ecd6f.0403122029.5d6777e8@posting.google.com...
   > > > I have an Aopen AK79G Max motherboard - and I am not an overclocker.
   > > > Never have, never will. I have enough trouble getting stable hardware
   > > > without cranking up the voltage The fan on the northbridge is
   > > > annoying loud even though it's small. So, I unplugged it and am
   > > > currently using it right now with no issues. My question is - over
   > > > time, will I damage the chipset? I see a lot of boards by MSI also
   > > > using the Nforce2 chipset and they have passive northbridge heatsinks,
   > > > so I would think I'm fine by doing this. Can someome tell me if this
   > > > is true?
   > > >
   > > > -PSX
  > >
  > > Mike,
  > >
  > > I have the AK79G Max (great board btw). I have in the past taken off
the
  > > north bridge fan for the same reason as you. It was off for about 3
months
  > > until I came across a free replacement. Of course I left the heatsink
on.
  > > Never had a problem without the fan. I read some reviews of the nvidia
  > > chipset and the reviews hinted that the fan was for show. Like you I do
not
  > > OC and I wouldn't even try without the NB fan.
  > >
  > > Nystagmus
  > >
 >
 > Thanks for the update - I had just unplugged the fan to see how it
 > would run, and it ran fine for a few hours - but the heatsink was
 > extremely hot to the touch. With the fan running, it was very cool...
 > and I too have read that with the nforce2 chipset, you don't need a
 > fan. I have an Abit board running the nforce2 chipset that I replaced
 > the northbridge fan with a passive heatsink, and it runs great... but
 > my only concern was that this Aopen board has an integrated VGA card
 > with it. According to this page:
 >
<font color=purple> > <a style='text-decoration: underline;' href="http://www.coolerguys.com/ProductDetails.aspx?productID=980</font" target="_blank">http://www.coolerguys.com/ProductDetails.aspx?productID=980</font</a>>
 >
 > It says
 >
 > "ZM-NB47J is compatible with all Northbridge chipsets that do not have
 > a built-in graphics chipset. "
 >
 > That scares me about unplugging that fan and leaving it run for long,
 > especially if a monster heat sink like this one isn't rated to cool an
 > integrated northbridge like the Aopen board has. I wish somebody from
 > Aopen could confirm or deny my question... Thanks again for the info.

When in doubt, cool it. A little noise from a fan (you could replace the fan
with a quieter one) is a lot better than cooking something from overheating.
The less extreme the temperature cycling is on any electrical component, the
better it is.

Chris<!-- ~MESSAGE_AFTER~ -->
 >> Stay informed about: Aopen AK79G Max & Northbridge chipset fan