I think I may have done something that may not have been necesary. I have a gigabyte KT400A series board that has a onboard fan that says gigabyte agp 8x on it. I put in an 8x AGP 64 meg video card.

Would it be OK if I disconnected the fan that is connected to the onboard video agp chip, or, should I remove the video card which doesn't have a cooling fan?

I'm just wondering if I'm wasting power by running the onboard video cooling fan (it says agp 8x on its sticker)if all my video is actually running thru my card and not thru the on-board video, or, do I still need both?
I am sure the on-board video has been disabled in the bios settings. And, I was told when I bought the board that I needed a video card that I may not have really needed.
The book that came with the board doesn't tell me anything about on-board video.

That mobo doesn't have onboard video. I believe the VIA KM400 chipset has onboard video. The printing on the fan refers to the AGP 8x capability of the AGP slot, not to an allusion of onboard video.

Yes, you need that fan plugged in! It keeps your northbridge cool. Without it, your system will suffer instability problems and you could even fry your mobo. General rule of thumb, never unplug anything built into your mobo.

Thanks saphalline. I was trying to find ways to reduce the noise factor and thought that might be 1 of the things that didn't realy need to be plugged in.

Bye the way, how come you're up so late or are you just getting ready for work on a Sunday?????????

Is your system overly loud? What kind of fans do you have in there?

I have a add-on case fan, the fan on the on-board video I mentioned, a cpu fan, and a psu fan. I know that the cpu fan was beginning to make noise when I turn the machine on for the last week or so, and I will be changing it asap.
I guess I was just curious about that agp fan.

Originally posted by roy67ss
the fan on the on-board video I mentioned

Nope, that fan is sitting on top of the Northbridge chip. It's there to cool the chip. The sticker on it refers to nothing more than the fact that the AGP slot is 8X capable. The sticker and the fan, are not related.

It looks like I'm in the market for a new cpu cooling fan. I read lots about the Volcanos. Which ones are considered the best ones for noise/cooling? Any recomendations?

I use a Volcano 9 and have been quite pleased with its performance.

At first I set it up to use the thermal monitor to control the fan speed, but didn't care much for the differing "surging" sounds as the fan moved up and down to regulate temps.

I quickly installed the manual control (included potentiometer) and can crank it up or down at will. You might prefer this method to control the level of sound you can tolerate.

Thermaltake coolers are excellent.

I'm currently running an older Coolermaster/Thermaltake hybrid on my Athlon XP 1600. I can't remember the models, but the Coolermaster heat sink is rated higher than the Thermaltake, but the Thermaltake fan moves more air and is quieter than the Cooolermaster fan. So in theory, the combination is better than either of the two individual models. Temps according to the Asus utility peak at about 95F, 35C. Ok, I'm ranting. I'll stop now.

If you go with Thermaltake, you won't be disappointed.

Thanks for the replies guys.
I discovered that the northbridge chip cooling fan is the biggest culprit for noise. I don't ever see any posts about replacing it. Is it basically a smaller version of the cpu fan and heatsink? And is it replacable? There are 4 screws holding it on so I should be able to replace it easily if they are available.

Thermaltake makes some great chipset fans...The Blue Orb and Crystal Orb to name a couple...

The most important thing to take note of is the position of the mounting holes...make sure the distances match up for your particular application. I do believe they are noted in the specs for each...

Another thing to consider is your overall plan for case cooling. It's possible to get by with just a heatsink on your northbridge as long as your case stays relatively cool. I prefer my 80mm case fans to be those nifty clear Cooler Master fans that light up. The big thing about those is that they use a pantented "rifle" bearing that makes for very quiet fans. The fact that they look cool is just a bonus. :D

I agree with Whyzman, those little Thermaltake orb units are just about the only chipset fans that I would buy. They have a good reputation and work very well for such tiny heatsink/fan combos.

Thanks again, guys.

Should a person prep the chipset heatsinks like the cpu heatsinks, ie polish and use an Arctic Silver type compound?

When I assembled this computer, I just used the compound that came with the cpu and heatsink/fan in the AMD box. I am expecting that I will have to clean that all off the cpu when I change that heatsink/fan.

Originally posted by roy67ss
Should a person prep the chipset heatsinks like the cpu heatsinks, ie polish and use an Arctic Silver type compound? I am expecting that I will have to clean that all off the cpu when I change that heatsink/fan.

Yes and yes.