Quieting My Computer

[CyrixInstead]

I'm in the process of quieting my computer down. I recently bought a Coolermaster Aero 7+, which is excellent at keeping the noise down compared to before.

Now, I want to get rid of the fan on my Northbridge Chipset, and replace it with a large heatsink. I had the Zalman Motherboard Cooler in mind (find spec here (http://www.zalman.co.kr/english/product/NB32.htm) ) and was wondering what you guys thought about it.

I did buy one of these before, and I found that it was a little too big to fi using the pins, so I had to use the thermal epoxy. I was wondering how much of the stuff to put on, as last time my computer/motherboard f****d up and I think I used too much.

[Spinner]

I use those Zalman chipset coolers, they're great. I always just stick it on, a very thin layer of thermal glue will be all you'll need. Keep the paste smooth and thin, use an old credit card or something similar to smooth the stuff flat and over the full area of the chips surface.

Also, this is a great site for buying quiet stuff for your PC. www.quietpc.com

Cheers

[WuGgaRoO]

go watercooling :)

[Straight_Man]

Arctic Silver makes an adhesive thermal paste also(non-epoxy). Mostly that with a pinhead sized dot of super glue on a small unpasted area should work right and possibly be more thermally conductive.

[Geeky1]

I wouldn't use Arctic silver epoxy, since it conducts electricity. Arctic alumina epoxy is better...

Also, what chipset? I would NOT use the Zalman cooler without a fan on most modern chipsets. Why? because I've felt the back of my A7N8X-Dx right behind the chipset when the board's on. It's nearly burning hot. Also, the zalman got uncomfortably warm on the 760mpx (10w heat dissipation) on my dually system without a fan. if you want fanless, I'd get just a relatively new hsf designed for CPUs and glue it on after taking the fan off. By relatively new, I mean something that actually has some surface area, not those dinky little socket 5/7/370 coolers that aren't much bigger than the zalman thing is... something like a stock AMD hsf for a 1GHz+ cpu is more like what I was thinking

[CyrixInstead]

My chipset is the Via KT266A.

I do have a massive copper heatsink from my Thermalright SK-7 (I recently moved to the Coolermaster Aero-7) but surely this would be too big to fit on the chipset and have room for all my other components too??

Supposing it was ok, would I just use thermal epoxyto secure it on??

~Cyrix

[TheLostSwede]

Geeky1 said
I wouldn't use Arctic silver epoxy, since it conducts electricity. :confused2

Wasn´t it for glueing a heatsink on a chipset? Who gives a damn if it conducts electricity. Don´t you have any paste between the cpu and the heatsink? That conducts as well.

The Zalman will do just fine on that chipset. It´s nearly impossible to go over 190 fsb anyway, therefore, not so much heat will be generated.

[CyrixInstead]

Righty ho. A Zalmann should be fine, and what thermal epoxy would you recommend Mackanz?

[TheLostSwede]

Either of those Artic Silver adhesives will do fine. Do a google and see if you can find any reviews on both and compare.

I´ll have a search as well and get back to you.
JB weld have also worked very good for a lot of peeps as well even if it doesn´t transfer the energy as well as silver does. Weld is a lot cheaper though. Weld on the corners of the Zalmon, and normal Artic silver on the rest of the surface will do just fine.

[CyrixInstead]

I think I'll got for the AS epoxy solution.

Last time I stuck it on I made the expoxy layer quite thick as I remember. How thick would you recommend, and does it have to be spread all over the chipset?

[TheLostSwede]

Spread it as you do with normal silver, just a LITTLE thicker, but not much. It´s strong stuff as hell.

[CyrixInstead]

I know, it nearly voided my warranty last time when they had to rip it off. Took nearly half the motherboard with it!! :D