Chipset cooling

[robd99]

Hi Guys,
Building a system based on Asus P5AD2-E Premium MB. I´ve read in a couple of places that the chipset cooling is less than adequate on this MB, especially if overclocking. I live in a place with very hot summer temperatures and I´m a bit concerned about this issue.
Do I just rely on 3 case fans (including one in a side window), fix a fan directly to chipset, or should I do more? :confused:

:cool:
TIA for any comments / experiences,

Rob

[pop pop]

I just built a system with a P5AD2E Premium. I find it difficult to believe the cooling is inadequate given the "Cool Stack" architecture underneath the CPU and 925XE chipset. But ... I coud be wrong. I have 6 case fans and a Zalman 7700Cu HSF for the CPU to go along with the VGA cooler on the 6800GT video card. At idle, the highest temp is the CPU and it's 33 Celsius, all others are close to or below 30 Celsius. At max'd out burn in, the CPU heats up to 43/44 Celsius and all others stay well below 40.

IF you're concerned add more fans or a chipset cooler.

[robd99]

Cheers Pop - I´ll probably add to the 3 case fans I already have lined up and maybe stick a blower on the chip only if it monitoring suggests I´ll need it. I read in the specs of this MB that it had a very effective heat dissipation system, yet 2 reviewers said they were concerned that the chipset had no active (i.e. fan) system. maybe they were bored and couldn´t think of anything else to criticise it on.

[Whyzman]

You might want to check on a Thermaltake "Blue Orb" or "Crystal Orb" both of which might fill the bill if you want cool insurance...;)

Does the motherboard come equipped with pin holes for a fan? Or, would you need to use thermal adhesive?

[pop pop]

they were concerned that the chipset had no active (i.e. fan) system

Well, it's true there is no "active" cooling system. The Asus engineers took a different design route, and I think it's a sound one. Or, maybe sound-less is more accurate.

First, the "Stack Cool" architecture means there's a second PCB layer under the main PCB. It's very visible if you flip the mobo over and take a look at it. That second PCB layer serves one purpose--to draw heat away from the main PCB. It does nothing else. Asus toutes a 10 degrees Celsius reduction in temperature because of it. I don't know that I've seen precisely that level of reduction, but it ain't bad at all.

Second, the chipset (Northbridge, anyway) has a rather large heatsink mounted right on top of it. Basically, I think the Stack Cool and Northbidge heatsink design serves the engineering requirements of form, fit, and function quite nicely. The proof is in the pudding as they say. My P5AD2E hasn't broken a sweat yet.


As for this : yet 2 reviewers said they were concerned

All reviews are not equal, especially when it comes to design engineering considerations. For example, PCWorld magazine just started reviewing mobos last month. Those people are good at telling you certain things, but they don't know diddly about mobos. I laughed at some of their comments about this Asus board.

Don't get me wrong, the P5AD2E is by no means perfect in design. The placement of the the PCI slots so close to the PCIe16 slot was just wrong given the size of cooling on PCIe graphics cards. And I have a beef with the optional second GBLAN/firewire connector. The placement of the second LAN connector plug on one side of the PCIe slot, the placement of the firewire connectors on the other side, combined with the semi-rigidity of the cables AND the size of a PCIe grahics card (6800GT, in my case), presents you with a real problem getting it all in. Very difficult. I left the second gigabyte LAN out for now.

So, the board could have been better. Still--it's probably the best single-core Intel-based mobo out there.

[Whyzman]

Wow, that sounds like a design that actually is working....:)

[pop pop]

YEah well--I also threw in six case fans and a 120mm Zalman CPU HSF for support. You can never be too cool :cool: --well..maybe you can. :D

[robd99]

The placement of the the PCI slots so close to the PCIe16 slot was just wrong given the size of cooling on PCIe graphics cards. And I have a beef with the optional second GBLAN/firewire connector. The placement of the second LAN connector plug on one side of the PCIe slot, the placement of the firewire connectors on the other side, combined with the semi-rigidity of the cables AND the size of a PCIe grahics card (6800GT, in my case), presents you with a real problem getting it all in. Very difficult. I left the second gigabyte LAN out for now

Yeah, I was a bit worried about getting what I want hooked up. But Matrox have succesfully tested this board with an RT.X100 real time edit card and that´s my main concern for this particular build. :cool:

[robd99]

Does the motherboard come equipped with pin holes for a fan? Or, would you need to use thermal adhesive?

Not sure as it wont arrive just yet (until the couriers get their act together) :(
However, based on pop pop´s experiences, I´ll probably hang fire on the fan for now, but will closely monitor it over the next few weeks.

Cheers for the advice

[pop pop]

Originally Posted by Whyzman
Does the motherboard come equipped with pin holes for a fan? Or, would you need to use thermal adhesive?

I missed that question before--yes, but really they're fastener holes made for at least a stock Intel HSF. Zalman provides a mounting kit whwre part of the mount goes under the mobo and the other part is over top of the CPY socket. The two halsves are then bolted together. The HSF then mounts on the bracket and is pressed down onto the CPU by the mounting mechanism.