I have the basic A8N SLI (only 4 SATA ports) and my fan died as well. At first I was freaking out a bit whenever it happened, but eventually, I would watch the temperture monitor and I didn't have any problems, with or without the case cover. Now, at the same time, I have 2 80mm intake fans, a 92mm exhaust, a funnel thing on the case for direct exaust of my A64 3500 and a geforce 6600GT with fan, none overclocked. What I'm trying to say is that my case was pretty cool to begin with, and even after the fan died, I didn't have any problems running Battlefield 2 on the computer for hours with the cover on. Ordering a (free) replacement fan and installing it was a bit of a hassle (you can also send in your mobo to have them do it), but with the replacement fan, which is a different model, I've had no problems. Bottom line, I'm still happy with this mobo and I would recommend it to anyone willing to deal with the dying chipset fan.