Hiyas, new guy and new computer here

Asus Rampage Formula
Q9450 VID 1.2500
4 sticks Mushkin 2GB PC8000
700w PSU
Noctua NH-U12P air heat sink.

I must say, I'm impressed by the mobo and chip, it booted right off the bat with 450Mhz FSB with 1.5v NB and 1.34v FSBT with everything else on auto and it's prime95 stable.

Now, I have one problem and that is the north bridge. It is hot, and I mean very HOT! First time I OC'd my machine I set everything on auto and booted with 450 FSB, once in windows I started Prime95 and then a minute later started Asus Probe. It went haywire and told me that NB had a temp of 77c and it was climbing
Nedless to say, my machine crashed and burned shortly after that..

It turns out the reason to that is due to my big heat sink that covers NB's heat sink blocking air flow and heat dissipation. Temporary fix was reducing NB voltage plus zip tie a 80mm fan to my case and have it blow air to the heat sink. It's a ugly fix but it works..


Now, anyone here that's knowledgeable about the heatpipe cooling system that is mounted on the Rampage formula board? I want to replace it two Thermalright HR05-SLI sinks but I'm uncertain in how I should remove the heatpipes and if that would have any effects on the cooling of the voltage regulators.