chipset fan on VIA KT400

[Molly Tournquist]

> ----- Original Message -----
> From: D. Hugh Redelmeier
> Sent: 03/03/13 03:07 AM
> 
> I have an old motherboard: GA-7VAXP 
> <http://www.gigabyte.com/products/product-page.aspx?pid=1391#sp>
> 
> 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.)

I believe that from that era, it was the nforce chipsets that produced tons of heat, The fan might have been there because of being cheaper than a decent size heatsink, and a better failsafe against lots of dust and bad airflow. Or, putting those two things together, it might have looked inadequate compared to nforce boards, but even some of those had passive cooling, albeit with pretty solid heatsinks.

If you were willing to replace the heatsink on that ... like, if you think it might be a good idea to get some practice, and try it to see what the result would be, a 4 x 4 x 2.5 cm heatsink, or even something of similar size and weirder shape, should work well.

Anyone trying out sawwing down a bigger heatsink, be careful not to hurt yourself!
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