Aftermarket northbridge cooler on Asus P5Q-Pro

[ihaveaname]

Hey guys,

I just got an aftermarket northbridge cooler, and when I went to take out the stock northbridge cooler, I discovered it was connected to this other heatsink which, according to Google, cools the MOSFETs which controls voltage or something P). Is there a chance I can just take it out and leave it bare, like the other MOSFETs above the CPU socket? Here are the relevant details:

Asus P5Q-Pro
Core 2 Quad 8200 OC @ 3GHz (not standard voltage)



I know, I know, I should have researched this before buying....

 

[bluebob951]

You shouldn't run it without the mosfet cooler since your overclocking, you could just buy a separate mosfet cooler, like these

 

[red1776]

just out of curiosity, are you having problems with the temp of your NB? what is it running at?

 

[dividebyzero]

If you're going to fit a nb cooler to any board that features a stock heatpipe interconnect- whether it be mosfets and/or southbridge you are going to be left with three choices:
1. Cut the connecting heatpipe. Wont affect the voltage regulation heat dissipation. (not recommended if the board is under warranty)
2. Purchase and fit a MOSFET cooler (overkill)
3. Tone down the northbridge cooling whilst still using the stock nb heatsink -i.e. strap a 40mm fan to the stock heatsink (10mm depth if height is a problem, 20mm if not)

Unless you are heading into 450+ core frequency (1800 FSB) and/or pumping 1.25+v through the northbridge I would think that heat dissipation should be handled fine by going with the fan option. If it isn't I would check whether the pushpins that hold the heatpipe in place are well secured, that the board isn't warped, and finally, lift the heatpipe assembly and check the state of the thermal pads.

 

[ihaveaname]

Okay thanks for the help guys!

 

[ihaveaname]

@red1776: I bought it because I thought it would look pretty, no other reason. It wasn't all that expensive so I figured it might help. I have no idea what temp my northbridge is running at. This was a stupid, embarrassing purchase, one of those 'you live, you learn' things