Heatsink replacement for ECS NFORCE4 A754

[Mr_Bluntman]

Well, that darn fan on the nForce 4 chip just went bust. And to make matters worse it uses a wire retention mechanism so I can't use a Zalman. I'd prefer to go passive so this don't happen again. Any suggestions?

 

[Mr_Bluntman]

So I take it nForce4 4x must be actively cooled?

As for modding, it would be impossible to put on another 40mm fan since it's mounted on the top plate, pushing air down, inside the heatsink.

Anybody have a large and tall passsive NB cooler that uses wire retention they want to sell me shipped for a few bucks?

 

[Mr_Bluntman]

Can't mount it on the side since there's no side to mount it to. And no I don't plan to overclock, either. I'm too broke to risk shuffling off my hardware's mortal coil before it's time...

 

[Anoobis]

If I read you correctly, it uses a wire and loop install method correct?

The Zalman ZM - NBF47 should work for a wire and loop attachment. Just check out the nifty installation videos for it on Zalman's website.

The EnzoTech CNB-R1 might work for you too but its a bit pricey. They've got nifty installation videos on their website too.

The may have to rotate the heatsink in order to get them to work.

 

[Mr_Bluntman]

Can't use the Zalman because of the orientation of the loops near the nForce 4 chip (fins will interfere with my 6800 GT) are vertically oriented. It seems pretty much everything else uses push pins these days. The only other boards I actually recall using these damn hoops are chipzilla's i850 RAMBUS boards back in the netbust days...

UPDATE: I think I've got this one licked. I took the sticker off of the top of the offending hsf and lo and behold it's a sleeve (sleeze?) bearing unit. Went to the kitchen and grabbed some vegetable oil, of all things and saturated a Q-tip with it. I reinstalled it and turned it on, and applied gentle pressure to the sleeve with the veggie oil soaked Q so that the oil would work its way in there and lube it up and presto! No more noisy fan!

This should hold me off for a hot second until I can find a more appropriate long-term solution *cough* replacement *cough* that I'm not worried is going to fry my motherboard along with whatever it whims taking with it.

Thanks though for your suggestions guys (appreciated) and if anyone knows of something that's 100% compatible still post it here.

 

[Anoobis]

I'm not sure I follow as it looks as though the Zalman has quite a bit of flexibility when it comes mounting orientation while it's fin design shows good flexibility for clearance too. But, if it won't work for you then I'd simply suggest hot glueing a cheap 40mm fan from RadioShack on the existing heatsink. If ECS put the fan on it, then you should be able to remove it.

 

[WingDing]

...*enters, searching for new victims*...

 

[Mr_Bluntman]

It's all good now. Just had to clean it out and lube up the bearings is all. But I still will consider the Zalman if I can find it locally - that way I won't have to ship the thing back if it doesn't work out. Besides I heard that you can't passively cool nForce 4 chips because of their complexity, unless you use a REALLY big heatsink. Makes sense since the die is almost the same size as an old Thoroughbred, even though it doesn't run anywhere near the same freq though...

IF anybody can confirm or debunk the usage of an NBF47 to cool this hot running MB logic chip feel free to speak up!

 

[Anoobis]

Christ, you must've been bored Saturday night.

 

[Mr_Bluntman]

Christ, you must've been bored Saturday night.

That's what happens when the bills are due though.

 

[Anoobis]

I wasn't replying to you, but I can understand your plight.