Northbridge issues

[Dabombinable]

I have recently had issues with my motherboard's northbridge overheating when I have my GTX 970 installed. I know its not the overclock on my CPU as even with the clock reduced down to 2.6GHz the same issues persist. Is there any active cooler that someone could recommend from experience as its more cost effective to upgrade parts on my mobo instead of buying a whole new one with the better heat-sinks.

[ViruZ_HUN]

Don't you think a Core2duo will bottleneck a GTX 970?

[AlwaysFSX]

The 970 could be pumping in more heat than it can handle, or it might just need new paste.

[LiamApex]

just a suggestion but get a new motherboard and cpu like even go to Z68 and a core i3 

[Dabombinable]

Don't you think a Core2duo will bottleneck a GTX 970?

No it doesn't, at 4GHz I have 99% GPU usage on PCIe x16 gen 1.1 (done several benchmarks and only had it drop down to 98% once)

 

The 970 could be pumping in more heat than it can handle, or it might just need new paste.

It definitely isn't the 970 as it barely hits 60^oC at full load.

[ViruZ_HUN]

No it doesn't, at 4GHz I have 99% GPU usage on PCIe x16 gen 1.1 (done several benchmarks and only had it drop down to 98% once)

 

Still sounds pretty suspicious...

 

Can you tell me FPS rates in games?

[Dabombinable]

just a suggestion but get a new motherboard and cpu like even go to Z68 and a core i3 

I have a core i5 4440 on an h87m pro - the VRM is overheating on that mobo even with plenty of airflow so I'm doing an RMA on it. As far as I'm concerned if a new computer has more issues than my older one, its not worth the hassle.

[harrynowl]

Find a small fan from an OEM PC and ghetto mount it to the NB heatsink.

[Dabombinable]

Still sounds pretty suspicious...

 

Can you tell me FPS rates in games?

Can't get decent ones when the Northbridge overheats, throttles the 970 (I have the case open-it gets to the point the northbridge burns my fingers) and then takes out the wifi card.

[Dabombinable]

Find a small fan from an OEM PC and ghetto mount it to the NB heatsink.

I'm not sure as I've never had to worry about the northbridges in my previous computers but would a pentium 1 heatsink and fan do the job? Its never been used and still works.

[harrynowl]

I'm not sure as I've never had to worry about the northbridges in my previous computers but would a pentium 1 heatsink and fan do the job? Its never been used and still works.

I guess it would, as long as it fits in the space

[Dabombinable]

I guess it would, as long as it fits in the space

The fit wont be a problem, its design makes it easy to modify.

[lani100]

Get a small heatsink fan, won't a 970 bottleneck a core 2 duo/quad

Also with a big OC like that you can expect the northbridge to run hot.

[Dabombinable]

Get a small heatsink fan, won't a 970 bottleneck a core 2 duo/quad

Also with a big OC like that you can expect the northbridge to run hot.

I know that a core 2 will apparently 'bottleneck' a 970 but so far I haven't seen any evidence of that with my computer (say in games optimized for single or dual cores, it will perform better than any AMD cpu at the same clock (done the tests) and gets within 500 MOPS of an i7 5820k that is clocked at 3.3GHz. And even with the CPU running at 2.6GHz the Northbridge was overheating, I rigged a 40mm fan onto it but that appears to make only 2 degrees difference in temps and everything gets throttled.

[Dabombinable]

Did some more thorough testing and I've still got the northbridge overheating with this setup:

 

This is the size of the chipset (reminds me of a core 2 duo removed from an old toshiba):

 

Since the current strategy failed I'm going back to my original idea and getting a replacement cooler. Is anyone able to recommend a good active cooler as I'm not going to be able to do anything really intensive for long periods of time until I have one.

[vlkn´]

never installed one of those.

But this one has good ratings: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835226019&cm_re=northbridge_cooler-_-35-226-019-_-Product

[WaitForMeImOnDialUp]

a better cpu cooler for sure would help lower your northbridge temps. when i was on 775 (e5450 with 771/775adapter) i noticed all my temps dropped quite a bit from a heatsink like yours to a artic freezer 7, and thats not even a very good cooler.

 

with my 8350 and stock hsf my northbridge temps were around 65c and after getting hyper 212 evo it dropped to 45c

 

i also tried to put a small fan on my northbrige to cool it and it did nothing honestly.

 

you could try a aftermarket northbridge heatsink with a fan...but i think you'd have better results with a better cpu cooler.

 

im actually surprised you got 4ghz stable on that cooler you have.

[patrickjp93]

I would first try giving the NB a better thermal paste. After that, if the performance does not improve to satisfactory levels, jerry-rig a little 80 or 92mm fan near it to blow air directly onto it. If at that point you aren't satisfied, it's an oxidation problem in the electronics that you won't be able to fix.

[Dabombinable]

a better cpu cooler for sure would help lower your northbridge temps. when i was on 775 (e5450 with 771/775adapter) i noticed all my temps dropped quite a bit from a heatsink like yours to a artic freezer 7, and thats not even a very good cooler.

 

with my 8350 and stock hsf my northbridge temps were around 65c and after getting hyper 212 evo it dropped to 45c

 

i also tried to put a small fan on my northbrige to cool it and it did nothing honestly.

 

you could try a aftermarket northbridge heatsink with a fan...but i think you'd have better results with a better cpu cooler.

 

im actually surprised you got 4ghz stable on that cooler you have.

I actually have an arctic freezer 7 pro rev 2 that so far has been beaten by the aluminum block cooler no matter what I do (its pathetic in other words). The current cooler however was designed to operate on a pentium 4 @3.2GHz and had no issues when I bumped a 630 up to 3.8GHz. In regards to temperatures I'm trying every single option that has a chance of working (liquid cooler is on its way for the CPU, ordering VRM heatsinks). I can hit 4.2GHz stable in regards to the VRM and cpu temps (86^oC throttles it, 90^oC shuts the computer down-not bad for a 75^oC limit, it is the E0 stepping though), but the NB struggles most of the time and is just plain useless unless I go with my gtx 650 ti, which can't really drive any game at 1080p.

 

I would first try giving the NB a better thermal paste. After that, if the performance does not improve to satisfactory levels, jerry-rig a little 80 or 92mm fan near it to blow air directly onto it. If at that point you aren't satisfied, it's an oxidation problem in the electronics that you won't be able to fix.

I had a small amount of arctic silver leftover from my i5 4440 which I applied after cleaning of the original thermal pad and it hasn't made a noticeable difference (though the wifi card doesn't drop out anymore when the NB overheats). I'll try using the 80mm fan that came with the mobo but there isn't much in the way of space for it.

[patrickjp93]

I had a small amount of arctic silver leftover from my i5 4440 which I applied after cleaning of the original thermal pad and it hasn't made a noticeable difference (though the wifi card doesn't drop out anymore when the NB overheats). I'll try using the 80mm fan that came with the mobo but there isn't much in the way of space for it.

If cooling the CPU better actually helps I'll be a bit surprised. That's such an old platform though I suspect you have wires oxidizing and their resistance has climbed to the point heat generation is far beyond original specs.

[Dabombinable]

If cooling the CPU better actually helps I'll be a bit surprised. That's such an old platform though I suspect you have wires oxidizing and their resistance has climbed to the point heat generation is far beyond original specs.

If it has oxidization, its no big deal since I've only spent $15 on the cpu and the rest was given to me for nothing (or salvaged), and I do have my i5 rig. The newer rig isn't preferred though as its all-round compatibility sucks, and its mob even though classed as 'mATX' is smaller by a significant margin than the older true mATX board (almost snapped off the edge off my new mobo when installing the 20+4 pin connector).

[vlkn´]

intel e8500 ftw

[Dabombinable]

I'm starting to think there is a fault in the mobo, I was able to play 'spot the difference' when I did a before and after with folding@home (a mobo sensor showed up after everything was at load).

[sgloux3470]

When you lower the clock speed back down, are you lowering the voltage?

 

As in, are you resetting to factory defaults in BIOS or just taking your overclock profile and reducing the clock speed?  Because the latter may mean that your voltage is too high and overheating it.

[Dabombinable]

When you lower the clock speed back down, are you lowering the voltage?

 

As in, are you resetting to factory defaults in BIOS or just taking your overclock profile and reducing the clock speed?  Because the latter may mean that your voltage is too high and overheating it.

I've been resetting the bios back to defaults every time as it is literally a matter of turning off the PSU because the CMOS battery is dead. Everything but the NB has been fine at the settings I use which is why I'm getting a cooler for it, although now I have the AUXTIN temperature sensor randomly showing up and giving erroneous readings.