Project Reality Forums

Hi,

This MB has a fairly hot north-bridge chip I would like to get a bit cooler and I'm hoping for someone experienced can shed some light here.

There are only two ways to achieve this;
A under-volt the chip by physical means on the motherboard (adjusting a regulator)
B use software, in this case ntune utility (see below) because luckily this MCP87 supports that.
There are no options in BIOS and adding a fan is out of the question. (space constraints).


Separate from the primary objective of getting NB cooler, secondary objective was underlcock of CPU, although not as critical, certainly more straight forward;
CPU speed was adjusted from from 3.6GHz to 2.9Ghz via CPU Multiplier, from 18x to 14.5x. Ideally, 2.9Ghz so to match that of a ''low power' equivalent of the same processor:

Athlon II X2 280 - 65Watts TDP
Athlon II X2 245e - 45watts TDP

Luckily some stray info online shows the multiplier of the 245e being 14.5, I plugged that into ntune and voila, 2900Mhz was the result. It is likely they're identical die's, the only difference being multiplier:


Back to primary objective, a reduction of HT Multiplier in Motherboard tab, from x10 to x6 has negligible effect on the NB temp.
I guess my question at this point is whether an adjustment of HT Ref. Speed (departure from 200Mhz stock) can potentially affect NB temp and whether or not this would be stable/advisable?

Other Info: RAM is PC2 DDR2 800Mhz

You are missing a 3rd option -- and it's not adding a fan:
Custom Liquid Cooling Blocks can dissipate heat from very compact spaces. But if I am reading this correct, those are some very old parts and spending money is likely not an option if we are discussing what I think is a $35 CPU... Lowering performance may be your only way to go. Also, by "fairly hot", what do you mean? Are we pushing greater than 90C ?

A possible 4th option is to optimize in-case airflow to better dissipate heat build-up. Couldn't discern what MoBo you have specifically (unless it's designation is MVP78 - in which case, it's just not easy to google), if you could list your MoBo/PC specs so we could see what's up.

A final possible 5th option would be to tear off any current heatsink on the northbridge and paste on a better one, get all Dr. Emmett Brown on it.

Whatever you do, best of luck!

Nice one. This motherboard, although old as shi8 is top secret

Yer correct about money, I'm assessing the options, of the 5 options improved airflow is by far the easiest. The temps are typical nforce chip temps (power guzzlers, I read these chips are designed to withstand upto 100C); in any case this particular sink varies, even when idle the NB sink, can become hot to the touch, or cool, same with when under load its unpredictable, your probably right about 60C.

The reason for this reduction of temp is it will be going in a very confined space. There will be adequate cooling, but if one can easily reduce temps of the NB thats a bonus right? Its unclear if the graphics segment of the chip is on permanently or if its disabled when external GPU is added. I welcome the recent development by manufacturers to move to make onboard GPU optional; by moving them inside CPUs; one now has a choice to disband the iGPU entirely with a CPU that doesn't have one (FX in AMDs case and whatever equivalent in intels). In my case a 9100 is sitting there and its unclear if its on all the time or not.

So far, I'm happy with this processor at 2.9Ghz. It's safe to say the 3.2Ghz requirement for PR is conservative figure. I believe if one has a sound card, 2.9 is adequate. It follows a sound card alleviates a processor by some amount, whether 0.3ghz worth of power is anyone guess, provided sufficient GPU of course.

I'm gonna go out on a limb and say that heat buildup in the case is currently not a concern

But if it will be in a very small case eventually, a smart airflow design will be key. Looks like you have some room between the height of the PCI cards and the top of the NB heatsink. This means you could fit a fan there to blow constantly on the NB, and could dissipate another -5 to -10 degrees. If the PSU can be compartmentalized to not share the same airspace as the MoBo compartment, with a slightly insulated wall between the two areas, all the better. Otherwise, having a Push/Pull design with intake around the RAM side and exhaust around the CPU and PCI sides would be smart.

There are a lot of small fan options you could use for that NB, and there's even a Spot Cool fan by Antek that can reach areas where mounting is not an option:

I appreciate the input, but it was really more a question of under volt NB than adding fans.