chipset fan on VIA KT400

[D. Hugh Redelmeier]

I have an old motherboard: GA-7VAXP 
<http://www.gigabyte.com/products/product-page.aspx?pid=1391#sp>

It's in my MythTV backend and has been running for years.  In recent 
years, the chipset fan has vibrated badly for the first few minutes after 
it is turned on (rare, since it is hardly ever turned off).

Now it won't stop buzzing.

So I've removed the fan, leaving the heatsink (while the system was 
live!).  The heatsink on the chipset doesn't seem very warm to the touch.

Does anyone know if the KT400 northbridge (or is it the 8235 southbridge? 
I don't think so.) actually needs active cooling?  Or was the fan there 
just to make the thing look cool?  (See the picture: the fan's cover has a 
big "8X" emblazoned on it.)

Overclockers talked about this chipset 10 years ago.  They thought that 
cooling was a must for overclocking.  I'm not overclocking.

I guess I'll find out soon.
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