Modifying an Asus Sabertooth X79

[Bunford]

Long time lurker, but finally had a shot of inspiration and looking to mod my system so here's my first post.

 

I have this board with a Core i7 4960X in it. I mainly use the machine for audio production so have no need to upgrade to anything at the moment as I don't touch anywhere near its potential, with the 64GB I have, with my current usage. However, I'm getting thus grade itch so was considering modding my machine.

 

im wondering a couple of things with this board:

 

1: Is it possible, and safe, to take off the chipset fan cooling system and replace with a heat sink/non-fan version;

 

2: Annoyingly this is the only recent Sabertooth that Asus did without the armor plate over it, or I could have pulled that out and painted for a refreshed look. Instead I am now considering making my own armor for the board. What are the best and cheapest materials to make the armor out of and is there any recommended way to stand it off the board?

 

Grateful for any advice!

[tarfeef101]

1. Yes, you can. Just make sure to monitor temps when you install your new solution, and make sure things are as expected.
2. You can try a variety of plastics as long as they are temperature-rated to the right level, carbon fiber is good but not easy to get. Aluminum works, and actually can be heatsinky, even vinyl could work.

[Dabombinable]

27 minutes ago, Bunford said:

Long time lurker, but finally had a shot of inspiration and looking to mod my system so here's my first post.

 

I have this board with a Core i7 4960X in it. I mainly use the machine for audio production so have no need to upgrade to anything at the moment as I don't touch anywhere near its potential, with the 64GB I have, with my current usage. However, I'm getting thus grade itch so was considering modding my machine.

 

im wondering a couple of things with this board:

 

1: Is it possible, and safe, to take off the chipset fan cooling system and replace with a heat sink/non-fan version;

 

2: Annoyingly this is the only recent Sabertooth that Asus did without the armor plate over it, or I could have pulled that out and painted for a refreshed look. Instead I am now considering making my own armor for the board. What are the best and cheapest materials to make the armor out of and is there any recommended way to stand it off the board?

 

Grateful for any advice!

Aluminium would be a good start in regards to the material for the armour (my Z97 Sabertooth MKII has the same lack-but it was around $100 cheaper). Though steel would be better. You could use an old case's side panel as a basis as well, since there would definitely be enough material. Also, if you did it right you could turn the armour into the chipset heatsink (excluding the vRAM of course-their heatsink is best left alone).