Chipset Fan Dying. Options?

Fanny Cradock

I have a Asus A8N-SLI Deluxe motherboard and the stock chipset fan has been making an awful racket - especially during start up - for the last week or there abouts. I believe that the fan dying is quite a common failure on these type of boards.

I really don't want to go down the whole RMA route - either from komplett or ASUS - as this means I'll be with the computer for 3 or more weeks. My only other option (unless someone has a magic fan fix) is to fit a replacement myself. I assume this would void any warranty if I did, but as I bought this motherboard as clearance stock (B grade) from komplett, I'm not sure if I have a full warranty.

I don't mind fitting a new fan if it is cheap (around the €10 - 15 mark), especially if it saves me 3 computerless weeks; however, I have no idea what fan would fit the mounting. Can anyone could suggest a definite fit - either passive cooling or fan. On seconds thoughts, even though I don't plan on doing any overclocking, I would think fan cooling would be best just in case.

:::Edit:::

I forgot to mention that I am a fairly high end user - mainly gaming. So I would need a fan that is equivalent to or better than the crap stock fan.


I was thinking of this Cooler Master option.

This passive Zalman Cooler is also supposed to fit/ function OK - not sure about temps though

Any opinions?

Khannie

I'd say if you arctic silver'd the heatsink, any small fan near / on top of it should suffice.

Fanny Cradock

That's a possibility. My main concern would revolve around the fan fitting. I'm probably going to order this off the internerd, so I wont be 100% sure if it will fit. As the is located in a tight spot close to the 2nd SLI slot I'd like to go with a tried and tested all-in-one solution.

awhir

i think those asuses have a custom fit bracket ask hendrix.

Fanny Cradock

awhir wrote:

i think those asuses have a custom fit bracket ask hendrix.

Reading the user review for the Cooler Master (see my first post) it appears that the guy had exactly the same problem as I had, yet was able to fit it no problem.

The passive Zalman (1st post) seems to be used by most people as a solution but it can be tricky to fit.

At the moment the only reason I would go for the Cooler Master is that it seems a little less hassle in the short term. However, the passive option wont break (assuming I manage to fit it) and it will be quieter than any fan.

TonyM.

Just contact Asus and they will post you out a new fan foc i got one in a few days no need to rma.

TonyM.

http://vip.asus.com/eservice/techserv.aspx

link to the UK site

christophicus

Hi man , where do you check for the clearance stuff on komplett?

Fanny Cradock

Eh, under the clearance section


Thanks Tony, I've tried that and I'll wait to see what happens. However, I'm wary about replacing one piece of crap with another!

I may buy the Zalman NBF47 or ZM-NB47J. Both are widely used as replacements and get excellent reviews. As they are both passive cooling, they are both quiet, which is a good thing when considering the hair-dryer that is my PSU.

Peats stock the 2nd one, and although it seems inferior to the 1st I mentioned, it's about €13 cheaper when factoring in P&P from komplett. Any thoughts on this?

el Bastardo

The older square-shaped models are fine and they're easy to fit. I'll guess that the new flower-shaped ones are even better but tricky to fit (because they're bigger and some people also seem to be having problems with the mounting pins).

There's no need to worry about passive cooling unless a) you've got integrated graphics on the same chip and its enabled or b) you're overclocking or something, in which case you can always direct a larger, quieter case fan across it.

Fanny Cradock wrote:

Eh, under the clearance section


Thanks Tony, I've tried that and I'll wait to see what happens. However, I'm wary about replacing one piece of crap with another!

I may buy the Zalman NBF47 or ZM-NB47J. Both are widely used as replacements and get excellent reviews. As they are both passive cooling, they are both quiet, which is a good thing when considering the hair-dryer that is my PSU.

Peats stock the 2nd one, and although it seems inferior to the 1st I mentioned, it's about €13 cheaper when factoring in P&P from komplett. Any thoughts on this?

TonyM.

The replacement fan from Asus is a lot better and runs at 5000 rpm so is not as noisy. I bought the NB47J but it would not fit under my gpu and i never got the mounting clips with it .

Try HiTide if you could collect it would be cheaper.

http://www.hitide.ie/catalog/product_info.php/products_id/402

Kintarō Hattori

Fanny Cradock wrote:

Peats stock the 2nd one, and although it seems inferior to the 1st I mentioned, it's about €13 cheaper when factoring in P&P from komplett. Any thoughts on this?

Let me know if you want the first one!

CombatCow

Just unplug the fan from the power connector, iv had that board for a long time and used it for months without the fan powered, if you have good enough airflow through the case it will be fine.

CC

IamMetaldave

I have the exact same board and had the same problem. I have a spare fan if you want it?

[EDIT] I should this, Ill have to look for it... I got 2 replacements off Komplett, it took them 3 months to deliver...

Fanny Cradock

Dave Eyesclosed and eo980 thanks for the offers. I've taken Tony's good advice and ASUS will send me out a replacement fan. In the mean time I'm going to get the NB47J anyway and see how that works out.

Thank you all for the advice/ offers.

If I remember I'll report back with the temps I'm getting with the passive option.