I have everything else pretty well covered temp-wise, but was wondering if there are any good aftermarket north bridge coolers that you guys could recommend with air cooling.
I've seen a few others resembling the xigmatech (i think they were made by thermaltake) and they appeared to be of high quality, but they weren't sold on newegg and were also more expensive.
And I was wondering if they would fit considering this is what the motherboard looks like with the stock heatsink taken off:
I personally won't remove the original northbridge heatsink as long as the board is under warranty, especially if it's a high end board. The copper one with the fan looks pretty good, as long as the plug fits the fan port on the motherboard. I use a zalman fan mate rpm adjuster to control noise.
Hmm, I wouldn't be considering replacing it but it I overclock my processor and obviously this produces heat. Right now I'm at about 50 C idle and 60+ at load. I don't think it's a big deal to replace the heatsink because i'm not a (complete) idiot, and i would be very careful when doing so.
Right now my NB frequency is 2000Mhz and I would like it to be ~2400Mhz
Yikes, those are some crazy NB coolers. When I switched the one on one of my older boards (because the stock died) I found it wasn't too hard of a process, but be sure to measure the hole spacing (if there are pushpins) and the clearance around the NB. Also, it helps if you are handy with a dremel or the like, as usually there is usually one stubborn lip that sticks out a little too far.