Heatsink problem

[Peaks]

Hey all,

I just changed the motherboard in my build and reinstalled windows. Everything seems to be working ok apart form the fact that when my heatsink goes over a certain RPM it begin to rattle. The heatsink was really tricky to fix to the motherboard because of the Northbridge Heatsink being in the way. In the end I had to place the heatsink on top of the CPU before I fixed the supports to the motherboard.

What do you guys think my problem could be? Either the Heatsink itself is broken/bent in some way or its just not fixed to my board properly???

Thanks

 

[Proximon]

You'll have to do better than that... I'm good but not psychic

Pictures?
Specs?

Throw me a frikken bone here

 

[Peaks]

Lol my appologies.

The heatsink is a Zalman CNPS9700 NT and the motherboard is a Gigabyte EP45-UD3P.

Here is a picture of the clip pressed against the the heasink on the motherboard:

And here is a picture of the Heatsink in its right position:

Having looked at the manual for the heatsink in more detail, may I add now that it is a terrible manual that is really hard to follow, I can see that I might not actually have to put the clip in for an intel socket, just screw it down.

Since writing my first post, I have tightened all the screws but I can still hear the rattling sound.

 

[Proximon]

Know anyone with a stethoscope? They are great for isolating noise.

It would be alright to put a finger on top of those heatsinks while it's running, to see if that stops the rattle. Should not be more than mildly warm.

Are CPU temps OK?

It's really more an AMD type cooler.

 

[Peaks]

Yea temps are fine. I know for a fact that the noise is coming form the heatsink and when I put my hand on it the rattling does stop!!!!

I now have another problem tho. My computer keeps shutting itself down!!! Could this be a power problem, motherboard problem, windows problem?

 

[Proximon]

Maybe your northbridge is overheating because the heatsink is now loose?

Is that a Gigabyte PSU? That could be a problem. They make good motherboards.

Wait a minute.... is that bracket sitting on top of those capacitors????

 

[Peaks]

its not sitting on them no, but it is pretty close. Northbridge temp is fine!! I really dont think the heatsink is loose, all the screws are pretty tight. Should you be able to twist the heatsink ever so slightly? No its not a Gigabyte PSU its am OCZ one, think it is only about 600w - 650w. Do you know how I can find that out for sure?

 

[Peaks]

it is the OCZ GameXStream PSU

 

[bonanzaguy]

When you tightened the screws did you do the one on the heatsink as well? I'm talking about the one in the picture which you can find by looking at the I in Gigabyte and going straight up. I assume there will be one on the opposite side as well.

 

[Peaks]

Yes i tightened all the screws, base and heatsink screws. Looking closely at the fan I can see that it isn't actually straight, so could be spinning at an odd angle and brushing the the metal sheets that encircle it. Its hard to see though so I haven't bothered taking a picture of it. Could this be the problem.

The rattle only happens above a certain RPM, basically when I game.

 

[Proximon]

The PSU should be OK. You haven't listed your video card, but 600W is fine for any single card.

I think you should either use a different method to secure the cooler or get a different one. The whole arrangement there makes me nervous.

If the shutdown still occurs, check the RAM settings and make sure the voltage and timings are right.

 

[Peaks]

Ok thanks for the advice. Can I just ask why the heatsink setup makes you nervous? Is it to do with the clips nearly touching the capacitors?

 

[Proximon]

Yep And the contact/pressure on the heatsink. I've never seen that kind of installation on a board before though, so all I can do is give you my impression.

The Zalmans were good for AMD CPUs, and we have one around here cooling an Opteron, but that's a different setup.

 

[Peaks]

Ok. I thought I might be applying too much pressure. In the manual it seems to indicate that you only use the screws for Intel sockets and the clip for AMD, it wasn't clear.....me using both might be too much? I just thought due to the size of the fan it might need more support. It is being used in a vertical setup. What makes this heatsink more suitable to AMD setups?

 

[Proximon]

The design has been around a while now. Pretty sure it was made for AMD then adapted to Intel for core 2.

I'm not sure how you are using both the clips and the screws. If you went over to the heatsink section of the forums and included the cooler name and Intel in the title of the thread, you might build some consensus on the right way to do it