Cooling for DS3...NB?

[Chris583]

So I've got the giga DS3...e6400, and a xp-90c and thermaltake a2017 blue led smart fan and AS5 coming this week to assist in cooling the CPU since I plan to OC to at least 3ghz. I have TeamGroup 667 3-3-3-8 2GB kit coming monday hopefully.

My question is what to do about the NorthBridge HS. It is aluminium painted to look like copper. Many people reccomend just putting a 50mm fan ontop, but I was wondering about taking it one step further. Has anyone else used aftermarket mobo/NB coolers?

I've had my I on MircoCool's NorthPole XE Whisper cooler...See it here (http://www.frozencpu.com/vid-26.html?id=Pi6Ct8b9)

It has a copper HS and integrated smart fan on top. It has got some nice reviews. So my question is this, is it easy to remove the NB HS on the ds3, and would this Whisper cooler fit and be very good? Perhaps you can show me to other NB HS/Fan solutions for cooling the DS3 mobo.

Thank you.

[ZBr]

I've had my I on MircoCool's NorthPole XE Whisper cooler...See it here (http://www.frozencpu.com/vid-26.html?id=Pi6Ct8b9)


Here's a couple more to consider post1 (http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showpost.php?p=1630860&postcount=81) post2 (http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showpost.php?p=1630864&postcount=82).

You may want to pm PcCI2iminal, he uses non stock NB cooling on ds3,
I know The Stilt is using the swiftech one with excellent results
in post2 for the 965 biostar board...

[theteamaqua]

i jsut put a 40mm fan above the stock NB heatsink and i put another 120mm fan hovering abaove it, between the CPU heatsink, and the Graphics card.

its not even hot when i touch it now, b4 i couldnt even put my finger on it for more than 1 sec

[tuoho]

If u dont want to build your own NB cooling system like theteamaqua suggested, u could buy The MCX159 is Swiftech, one of the best Chipset coolers.

[Chris583]

thanks guys for the feedback!

anyone know how compatible these NB coolers are for the gigabyte DS3? If its easy to remove the aluminum ds3 nb hs, than i might as well get an aftermarket one if it will fit and be cooler.

I'm thinking between three differant NB coolers in no particular order. First, Cooler Master Blue Ice (http://www.performance-pcs.com/catalog/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=197&products_id=20495)- its cheap and looks effective, second Thermaltake Extreme Spirit II (http://www.performance-pcs.com/catalog/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=197&products_id=20325)-few more bucks and rotatable fan i really like, third Microcool NorthPole XE Whisper (http://www.frozencpu.com/vid-26.html?id=Pi6Ct8b9)-most universal slightly more expensive and nice auto-fan.

I like em all pretty much.

[Serra]

Though I'm not sure about the fit, I'm sure the ThermalTake will be the quietest of those three.

Another one along similar lines is the Jing Ting north bridge heatpipe cooler. Not a double cooler like the ThermalTake, but reviews at various sites claim that even with just the single heat pipe it can be run effectively without a fan provided you have even somewhat-decent air movement in your case.