Hello, I am planning to upgrade my motherboard and cpu and even to do a little overclocking. I have chosen the following parts:

Gigabyte GA-P35-DS3L motherboard
Intel Pentium Dual Core E2160 Dual Core retail

But I have a few questions, should I add a fan to the northbridge chip to help it keep cool as some people say it can get quite hot even without overclocking. And if so, what size fan for the northbridge chip. Also would the stock intel cooler be sufficient cooling since I am hoping to be able to overclock it to 3.0 GHz.

One more question regarding installing the motherboard, should I use non conducting washers between the screws or is it ok to just use the metal screws that came with my Ultra wizard mid tower atx computer case to install the motherboard.

Thanks in advance for any help as this will be my first computer upgrade and overclock attempt.

No need for fan just for the NB. Yes stock cooler who get you to 3.0Ghz. Just use the original screws

Thanks itotallybe lieveyou for your speedy reply and info.

definitely get a new northbridge cooler. the stock unit should be immediately trashed if you're planning to OC.

get something like this:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6835116018

My stock NB cooling on a Blood Iron carries me to 450 MHz Bus without a problem.. He'll be fine.

to each his own i guess, but why cheap out on a $18 unit that could extend the life of your mobo? Last night i brought my E6750 from 3.2 to 3.6. after the first few minutes the heatsink was already on fire. IMO nothing inside your rig should ever experience that kind of temperature.

I have the same mobo with the thermaltake unit running E2140 @ 3.2 (100% oc'd), and this unit is running 10C cooler on stock CPU HSF compares to the 3.2ghz E675/Artic Pro 7 HSF with stock northbridge heatsink.

Because removing the stock NB cooling voids the warranty that will cover me when I blow up the Vregs running a quad over 3.6 GHz.

LOL.

hey i thought about that too, and it seems easy to restore the board back to original state. the only thing that can distinguish the difference is probably whatever the thermal paste u put on the chipset.

Except that mine has a sticker on it that will sheer if I remove it

Why not just add a 40mm or 60 mm (not sure of northbridge size) fan to the northbridge instead of buying a complete heatsink + fan for more money. Would just adding the fan to the northbridge invalidate the motherboard?

No, but inorder (on mine) to get airflow across the heatsink it's nearly impossible to position it. It has a flat top so blowing air right on it won't help.

Oops , I meant invalidate the warranty not the motherboard

Well this is an update, I finally got my new motherboard and cpu installed. I removed the thermal goop on the stock Intel cooler and replaced it with Arctic silver Céramique, also it’s running at stock voltage and room temp is about 24 degrees, but I’m concerned about the temps. My cpu is the new M0 stepping.

With stock cooler and stock speed ,It’s 33 degrees idle and 52 degrees under load running prime 95 on both cores.
After overclocking to 8x333= 2.66ghz the load temp shot up to 64 degrees, but as soon as I stop prime the temps rapidly falls to 34 degrees. I tried 9x333 = 3.00ghz and the temps went up to 66 degrees while prime 95 was running but returned to 34 degrees after a 1 minute when I stop prime.

Some people experiencing similar temps think this is poor internal heat spreader contact.

Is this normal for my cpu? And should I invest in an artic cooler freezer pro cooler?
I would like to be able to run my rig at 3 ghz (9x333) but I don’t want to risk damaging my cpu.

Dont go close to 70C

I would get a better cooler
Also try calibrating it (CompuTronix's guide at top)

I am running the same CPU on the following settings: 400mhzx8 (3.2ghz) 1.45v on the Vcore. I am running a Coolermaster Geminii and temps are as follows: idle 33'C Load 64'C 30min Prime95. My advice to you is keep it under 70'C and you'l be fine! 9x333 on stock cooling and stock voltages wont easily reach 70'C so I say run it at 3.0 and enjoy your little overclocking wonder!

Better cooling for the MB should help high overclocks. I just attached HR-05 IFX's to my 680i lt and am expecting to get some higher overclocks. The cool the more volts can be pumped through the better it will overclock.


But on a mobo IMO always replace the thermal stuff with a good compound it can reduce temps by like 5degrees. Passive is also only good with good airflow. Better airflow the better the cooling.

Thanks Silverion77 for the tip regarding the CompuTronix's guide. That's a nice overclock j_waylec. I'm currently at 8x333= 2.66ghz with the voltage at 1.32500. I think I will get a better cooler just to be on the safe side, and try to get it at 9x333 for a 3 ghz overclock. Does anyone know if the Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 PRO will fit on the Gigabyte GA-P35-DS3L motherboard? I heard of some really good reviews of this cooler with it's moderate price. I really don't want to spend more than $20 for a cooler.

I was running speedfan 4.33 and the Vcore1 is 1.3v and Vcore2 is 1.89. I have the voltage set manually in the bios at 1.32500, so how come speedfan is reporting that the voltage for Vcore2 is 1.89? Is this normal? Shouldn't Vcore2 be about the same as Vcore1 when both cores are used evenly?

Vcore 2 is voltage to your memory, in other words you have 1.9V for your memory.

Poop, you just missed a nice rebate, I have a Cooler Master TX-2 and bought it for $8 AR.

This one http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/Prod [...] e=10005600 (free shipping)

Is like the one I have, its $10 AR Works great and easy to install if you take your mobo out.

Then there is the slighty better/more expensive option:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6835186134

Thats $21 + shipping. It's really up to you, the AC 7 Pro is an overall better cooler, but the CM-TX will do a solid job as well. If your more concerned about money get the TX, if you want it quicker/no rebates get the AC 7 Pro.