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Thread: Super Hot Southbridge

  1. #1
    Undead Pirate d_stilgar's Avatar
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    Default Super Hot Southbridge

    So, my motherboard manual says that the fan on the southbridge is optional on my older motherboard, so I left it off, but . . . I boot up and go to the system monitor and then watch it climb to nearly 90C.

    What really sucks about this is that the little fan on it makes a ton of noise. It's totally obnoxious. Also, the case is pretty small, so there's only one way I can orient my CPU cooler to make it work, and that means the fan on the CPU cooler is in the way of the fan of the southbridge.

    Anyway, I'll get this figured out.

  2. #2
    Its not cool till its watercooled. Fuganater's Avatar
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    Default Re: Super Hot Southbridge

    what mobo and what size fan?

  3. #3
    Yuk it up Monkey Boy! Airbozo's Avatar
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    Default Re: Super Hot Southbridge

    I wish I had a picture, but a custom system I built last year had a similar issue. I ended up using some non-conductive plastic (the stuff SuperMicro and other companies use for directing airflow in their chassis) and built a small tunnel like device that directed some of the airflow from the cpu fan over the southbridge HS. Even though that air was normally warm, it kept the temperature of the SB HS down.
    "...Dumb all over, A little ugly on the side... "...Frank Zappa...

  4. #4
    Undead Pirate d_stilgar's Avatar
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    Default Re: Super Hot Southbridge

    Motherboard is this: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813188024

    Even after replacing the fan the temp stays at like . . . 80C. It's crazy but the computer hasn't exploded yet. The fan kinda sucks because it is loud and small and this is supposed to be a HTPC. I think I'll try and remove the heat sinks and re-seat them with some IC diamond, and then I think I might try modding that little fan shroud and put a new fan in there. For now, the computer is running and I don't think it's going to die. It's always run really hot (this computer is over 4 years old now) and I've never had any real issues.

    I would probably have ignored it, but last night I was trying to install windows and was having issues. As soon as I got everything fanned up again, things worked. Oh well. I'll post pics and a video later when it's all set up.

  5. #5
    I ... fight ... for ... the USERS! f8l_0e's Avatar
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    Default Re: Super Hot Southbridge

    A couple of years ago, my sister's computer would crash during boot just as the Windows GUI would load up. I noticed that the nvidia southbridge was hot enough to fry an egg on. As soon as I swapped out the heatsink for a larger one with a better fan, the machine did not have any further issues.

    If there are proper mounting holes or retention clips for the SB chip, you should see if you can get a sink with larger fins. The stock sink probably was never capable of dispersing that much heat.

  6. #6
    Moderator TLHarrell's Avatar
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    Default Re: Super Hot Southbridge

    I had a friend who's computer kept locking up. Her (deceased) husband had hacked together a way to hold the cooler onto the south bridge with a couple pieces of aluminum angle screwed inside the case. It eventually fell off. Turns out the original problem was the retention clips both came out of the mobo (bad solder job). I drilled out the holes slightly and built new mil-spec clips that will never pull out. Fixed.
    I have a hammer! I can put things together! I can knock things apart! I can alter my environment at will and make an incredible din all the while! -Calvin

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