Replace chipset fan

[Zatos]

My motherboard if the Lanparty UT nf4 Ultra-D and I believe the chipset fan is going bad. It's the one right behind one of the PCI-e slots. Is there a good fan that anyone can recommend as a replacement? Preferrably something on Newegg. I also need something that isn't any bigger than the current one since the graphics card is massive and fits right up against it.

 

Also, anything I should know about changing the fan out? I haven't actually changed a fan on a chipset before and the way it attaches to the motherboard I'm not accustomed to.

 

Also is the chipset pretty sensitive to frying if the fan does happen to go out? I know sometimes the cheap boards don't always have very great cooling options so I just wanted to make sure.

 

Thanks for the help!

[wevsspot]

Search is your friend!

 

But I'll save you some time. Literally thousands of us have used the Evercool VC-RE as a suitable replacement fan on the DFI NF4 boards that came factory equipped with the "magnetic levitation fans". The Evercool VC-RE can be purchased at the Egg.

 

Magnetic levitation fans = fancy word for loud, obtrusive and prone to early failure. But they sure sound fancy

[Nightwish68]

Indeed, i have installed the evercool vc-re on my ultra-d (sli modded) and my expert DFI board.

The vc-re even cools your chipset better than the stock one.

[wevsspot]

Also, anything I should know about changing the fan out? I haven't actually changed a fan on a chipset before and the way it attaches to the motherboard I'm not accustomed to.

 

There is a tutorial right here at the Street;

 

http://www.diy-street.com/forum/showthread.php?t=52950

 

 

If you decide to purchase the Evercool VC-RE or any other chipset cooling solution, please be kind enough to use one of the clickable banners found in the DIY-Street Storefront. Every purchase completed in this manner helps keep the Street alive and kicking.

 

Thanks.

 

p.s. If you're interested in a little bit more of an exotic cooling solution for the n/b you might also consider the Thermalright HR-05. It can even be used fanless since it is a heat pipe design, but it is a bit more expensive than the Evercool solution.

[RobFritts]

Great thread. This might ought to be stickied. I bought the same board about 2 years ago and the stock chipset HSF is also failing for me (loud vibration), which is how I got here...

[RobFritts]

please be kind enough to use one of the clickable banners found in the DIY-Street Storefront. Every purchase completed in this manner helps keep the Street alive and kicking.

 

Where's the banner for newegg?

 

{edit}

Nevermind... Found it. Sometimes I forget I have AdBlock installed. Had it turned off at DFI-street, forgot to disable it here when I found it had moved to DIY-street.

[3stars]

there in most peoples sigs and the evercool is pretty good

[radodrill]

Where's the banner for newegg? I looked on the storefront and the very first store mentioned is the egg, but there's nothing clickable on it, banner, text or otherwise... I got a lot of parts I need to buy (now including the stock HSF replacement) and I'd be glad to do it through a diy-street / newegg affiliate thing if I could find it.

 

Thanks,

Rob

 

Second post in the Storefront thread (click on the banner in my sig)

 

BTW, here's the direct link for the newegg tracker http://www.kqzyfj.com/click-2282030-10440259

[RobFritts]

d'oh... forgot I had AdBlock installed... turned it off and the banner showed up... Got it set to leave ads on diy-street now...

[wevsspot]

Wise young grasshopper

 

You can be assured that DIY-Street isn't putting anything into your browser (or worse).

 

You are safe to include DIY-Street in your whitelist.

[swaaye]

Believe it or not, my OEM maglev fan is still going strong and is only noisy during POST when the sys is pushing it to 100% for a moment.. A friend of mine has one that has become very annoying though. Our boards are almost the same age.

 

Right now I am using the maglev fan. But, I did have a Thermalright HR-05 SLI on there at one point too. The problem with these is that with some video cards, they won't fit. If you put an 8800 in your board, you aren't going to get it to fit arond that stock cooler. Even more annoying is that the OEM maglev fan will be covered up almost completely by the 8800 unless you put the 8800 in the lower PCIe slot (configed as 8x).

 

The position of the chipset is just not good on these boards.

 

Currently my HR-05 SLI is pulling duty as a Tualatin cooler. Would you believe that its base is identical in size to the Tualatin heatspreader? Heh heh. It is the perfect Tualie cooler if you are using a Slotket adapter!!! (I use a old heatsink clip that just happen to barely fit over it to hold it on)

[RobFritts]

Holy crap what a difference! Drops of 5C CPU, 4C PWMIC, 16C CHIPSET and 7C GPU.

 

No pics of the GPU - used to idle @ 45C, now idles at 38C.

Before and after temps at idle:

 

 

This was accomplished by the following changes:

• Stock NF4 fan replaced with Evercool VC-RE
  
• Added Antec PCI slot 15CFM intake fan under GPU.
  
• Replaced CPU panaflo fan w/ identical one w/ an RPM sensor on it (X at end of model#)
  
• Moved top exhaust fan to different header (not PWMIC) since it doesn't cool that part I didn't need to know it's RPMs (may add a specific one for that region later)
  
• Cleaned all intake/exhaust filters
  
• Cleaned out a massive amount of dust in the CPU heatsink
  

 

I think I'd have better cooling if I hadn't blocked my front intake w/ three more hard drives next to the first one. The 3 new drives are all 7200 rpm so hopefully not too hot under load.

 

"After" temps taken at ambient temp of ~21C. "Before" temps taken at an ambient temp of ~23C. Once it warms up again I expect it'll add a few C to my temps above.

 

It's also worth mentioning that the difference in CHIPSET temps benefits from all the above, but probably most by the increased RPMs of the new fan and more importantly, I think the old fan was failing at the time I took the "before" pic. That explains why it was so high to begin with I think.

 

It was highly stressful changing out that stupid fan. I haven't had my machine gutted like that since I put it together. I wish I'd done it at that time instead. And those damned springs were so tight I almost put out an eye when the pins flew out.

 

Overall I'd say it was worth the effort to get these temps, particularly since the fan was failing and soon to completely go down anyway. Only advice: use the right tools (needle nose pliers) and keep screw drivers away from the traces on your board (I scratched mine, hence the stress, but apparently I didn't break anything).

 

As always, thanks for the forums and the help in figuring out how to do these things.