Northbridge Fan

[LifeNRA]

Is there a way to control the northbridge fan itself? Once the PC is turned on, you can hear the fan kick in, then it slows down. Temps in an idle state are about 40-50 degrees celsius. After about 2-6 hours of straight gaming they reach 60-74 degrees celsius. I never hear the fan speed up once the temps get any hotter. Asus support told me that the temps are within normal operating range, 50-90 degrees celsius under load. I have been looking to see a control somewhere, but I have not found anything yet. It would be nice have a set temperature for the northbridge for the fan to speed up or kick into high when the temps rise.

I have seen something about a northbridge standoff issue, but I am sure that I have one of their newer boards. I just put this PC together, all in all everything seems to be working great! This is my first new build, so yes I am a newbie! LOL!

[xeromist]

I agree, a peak of 74C is nothing to be concerned about at all. Are you worried that they are wrong about the operating specs?

[LifeNRA]

No. Not at all. I am just asking because I never had this type of board before. Being a newbie and building my first gaming machine, I tend to ask a lot of questions. Sorry if I ask a repeated or any annoying questions! LOL! Most of it is that I never had a machine that had all the bells and whistles before. I only dreamed of better things. So I built a machine with what money I could afford. Either way, I am very pleased with this board so far. No BSOD. Just smooth operating. But it seems that some people on the net that have this board, have been getting some high temps in the northbridge. So its hard for me to figure out what is normal, which is why I called Asus.

Also, since I found this site, I thought what better way to gain some more info about this. But thanks for responding!

[xeromist]

Well, I personally wouldn't be worried but that doesn't mean that you couldn't still try to improve things. If you remove the heat sink and reapply a high quality paste you will improve conductivity. Beyond that you can use a spot fan to move more air and remove heat. I'm not sure about controls to alter the fan profile directly.

[LifeNRA]

Ok, thanks! I didn't see any other controls for that particular fan, although, it would be nice. I won't be removing the heat sink anytime soon unless it keeps getting hotter. But I really appreciate the advice! Thanks again!!!

[LifeNRA]

xeromist, I did remove the north and southbridge. Cleaned and re-applied ArticSilver 5, re-installed, then removed again to check contact. Both times on removal, there was good contact. Re-did all over once more. Temps are still the same as they were before. I guess this is normal for this board. Not really sure, hope somebody in here would have an answer for this. Is it true that the paste needs a break in time?

[xeromist]

It depends on the paste. Some need a curing time but I don't think AS5 is really one of them. At any rate it might change a few C at best. If you're getting the same temps after a repaste then that just seems to be the dissipation rate of the heat sink. The only way you might be able to get any lower is cooler or more air flowing over the heat sink(or replacing the heat sink with something more aggressive like a water block).