# Aggressive Cooling Mod - How I lowered my MB Temps by 25C



## Paraleyes

Okay, so here's Phase Two of this project. You can check out Phase One Here which was much easier, much quicker and a much cheaper solve to the super high temps of the MCP/South Bridge on the 790i Ultra SLI. It was a great fix, but I wanted to do this right. I wanted it to look great AND perform great and I think I accomplished what I set out to do here.

So obviously, this is what I started out with. XFX 790i Ultra SLI stock Nvidia designed cooling system.

















I started off by trying to grind down the cooling fins here, but I wasn't too confident with the accuracy of the tool so I went with the trusty cutoff wheel.









More cutting.









Here are the cooling fins completely removed.









I started off with a pretty course grit paper on a small cordless sander.









Here are my initial lapping results starting with the cordless sander.









From this point, I stuck with the traditional lapping method.









A few more pics showing the results of the lapping process.

























I called it good enough at this point as I was pert near out of elbow grease.









Here's what I came up with for mounting the Thermalright HR-05 SLI Chipset Cooler on top of the stock Nvidia cooling block.









Here's where I knew I would run into issues as far as clearance underneath the primary VGA.









This is how I solved that issue.









The other issue I had to deal with was lining up the heat sink to fit between my expansion cards. The Thermalright HR-05 SLI was designed so that the heat sink would block the PCI slot, but I need that slot for my Creative Audigy 2 zs card. This is how I went about bending the heat pipes from it's original 90 degree L shape bend into more of a gradual S shape so that the heat sink would occupy the PCI-E 16X slot rather than the PCI slot allowing me to use my sound card.









What's great about this is that I will still be able to upgrade to an X-Fi sound card using the middle PCI-E 16X slot as there is still more than enough room inline with the heat sink in that slot. Then that still leaves me with the empty PCI slot giving me more options in the future if I want to install my Pinnacle Card in this system or whatever else; possibly an expansion slot cooler of some type, but only if I can find one with an intake that aligns directly up to the new HR-05 heat sink in hopes of sucking out some of the heat generated by the MCP.









Here's a couple shots of the many times I test fitted the HR-05 while bending it's heat pipes.

















This shows the fraction of a mm clearance I have between the top of the Thermalright HR-05 SLI and the bottom of my primary VGA. The video card does snap into the slot as intended. If not, I was fully prepared to lap down the bottom of the HR-05 until there would be.









Here's a couple shots of how tight, but how great it all fit together.

















Here's a shot of the top of the HR-05. Notice the additional little heat sinks I attached to the sides of the heat block before installing it. You can see the 40mm fan that I had previously installed onto the upper section of the North Bridge heat sink, but I wanted to do one better from what I had going on before this mod.









Here's a few shots of the 60mm aluminum fan that I trimmed up to fit tight against the stock North Bridge heat sink.

























I made some changes to the finish of the 60mm aluminum fan so it would match the MB a bit better.









Notice the additional little HSF on top of the Xigmatek Dark Knight CPU cooler's heat block as well as the heat sinks I attached to the sides of the heat block. Check out the Thread on this little mod HERE! I was going to make a new thread for this, but someone already had one that worked.









Here's a shot of the XFX 790i Ultra SLI with all the heat sinks and fans installed. Ready to put in the case!









Before I installed my Audigy 2 zs, I put a few layers of masking tape over the back of the card to protect it from shorting out against the HR-05 Cooler. I also painted the tape to match the back of the card. Yeah, Sharpies are great for those ugly beige expansion slot connectors or DIMM slots too! Come to think of it, I forgot to paint all the fan power connectors and the locking toggles for those DIMM slots green before I installed everything. I forgot to hook up my HDD and Power LEDs anyways, so I may do what I can when I have my VGAs out to access those connections.









A couple shots after installation.

















A few shots running and all pretty.

























Okay so starting from a very high and nonfluctuating MCP temp of 65C on the following moderate overclock:

FSB 1684MHz
CPU 4000MHz(421Mhz X 9.5)
Memory 2000MHz Unlinked
PCI-E 5500MHz
MCP 1.5v(Might have been 1.55v Don't Remember)
SPP 1.4v
Let me know if there are any other significant factors that would effect the MCP temperature and I will provide the info if I can. I also used to have a slightly less CFM 60mm fan on the North Bridge heat sink at that time. Now, I have a bit more aggressive overclock except I have added the following upgrades to the cooling system:

An additional 9.56 CFM total air flow through the North Bridge Heat Sink(See Phase One info for more info)
Thermalright HR-05 SLI Chipset Cooler (The Non-IFX Version)
Arctic Cooling MX-2 Thermal Paste
The system is at the following specs now:

FSB 2040MHz
CPU 4335MHz(510MHz X 8.5)
Memory 2040MHz Linked Sync Mode
PCI-E 7500MHz
MCP 1.6v
SPP 1.45v
The south bridge temps are now down 25C from 65C staying consistently at 40C! Every now and then, I'll notice it bump up to 41C for a second or two. I'm sure I could have shaved a few more degrees off if I didn't paint the heat sink black, but I really wanted that look on this project. Ideally, I'd like to have had it nickel plated, but that's just not realistic. All feedback and criticism welcome, especially those including + marks.









*EDIT: FAQ & Additional Information*

The NB/SPP stays right at 31C
The upper/primary VGA has risen 3C-4Cish from this mod. Considering Slot Cooler Options.
Tons of photos available from this mod. PM me if you want them.
*Update for Upgrades:*

I upgraded to a new case, added water cooling for the CPU which is irrelevant, but also finally swapped out my PCI sound card with a PCI-E X-Fi sound card and I wanted to show how it fits in line with the HR-05 chipset cooler MOD.


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## low strife

Wow dude... Holly ****. Incredible work, truly incredible. I would certainly never try something on that scale. Very nice documentation too.

Great job!


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## Paraleyes

Thanks low strife








*UPDATE: MAY 5th, 2011*
I recently swapped in another 790i with stock cooling. Out of curiosity, I took snips of the temps from before(Modded) and after(Stock). Take a look at the difference in temps on the motherboard and the MCP(South Bridge)! The GPU temps are hotter too, but only because the fans were only at 30%.


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## motoray

NICE MOD!! +rep


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## Twysted

Wow, some of you are guys are very driven... nice job! +rep


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## Paraleyes

Quote:


Originally Posted by *motoray* 
NICE MOD!! +rep


Quote:


Originally Posted by *Twysted* 
Wow, some of you are guys are very driven... nice job! +rep

Thanks guys!


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## Rick Arter

Nice work sweet mods!


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## motoray

Ive been wanting to do something like this to my NB seeing such good results like this just motivates me even more.


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## Paraleyes

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Rick Arter* 
Nice work sweet mods!

Thanks Rick!

Quote:


Originally Posted by *motoray* 
Ive been wanting to do something like this to my NB seeing such good results like this just motivates me even more.

Glad to inspire! BTW... The North Bridge temp barely changes from 31C at all with this setup.


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## I_dalder_I

Great mod, how much did your video card temps increase?


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## GoHigh

Is that a VGA cooler on top of your DK? That's a first, and I have yet to see anyone do that yet. I guess it makes a lot of sense, but does that help?


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## motoray

I dont think the video cards would get much hotter. I think The only reason the southbridge is hot in the firstplace is the only thing cooling it is a minimal ammount of case air passing thru it but maybe now it gets rid of the heat faster than it can produce it.


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## Paraleyes

Quote:


Originally Posted by *I_dalder_I* 
Great mod, how much did your video card temps increase?

Great question! 3C-No more than 4C. I think if these monitors read more accurately, it would say 3.6C by the way the upper VGA has been acting. The lower VGA is virtually unchanged. I do have a 80mm Vantec Tornado blowing through the side panel onto that gap between the two VGAs which is directly onto the new heat sink.

Quote:


Originally Posted by *GoHigh* 
Is that a VGA cooler on top of your DK? That's a first, and I have yet to see anyone do that yet. I guess it makes a lot of sense, but does that help?

Yes it is. I also installed some ram sinks on the outer edge of the cooler's base. Honestly, I couldn't say if it makes a difference. I am going to have to assume it's worth at least 1C, maybe 2C? I never had this CPU Cooler without it, so who can say? I guess I could unplug it, but then it would still be acting like a passive heat sink then too.


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## Paraleyes

Quote:


Originally Posted by *motoray* 
I dont think the video cards would get much hotter. I think The only reason the southbridge is hot in the firstplace is the only thing cooling it is a minimal ammount of case air passing thru it but maybe now it gets rid of the heat faster than it can produce it.

I can't figure how Nvidia can say that 65C is normal for their SB to run though. I did a very similar mod to my 650i board because of the same problem. Those 650i chipsets were known for frying, but I can say mine is still as good as new. I'm hoping this board will last that long too. Of course, I can't say it's because of my mods, but I'm sure it at least helped. I really think they should design all boards with a flat SB heat pipe block like on the Striker Extreme, but then provide a small heat sink that we can opt to install over it with some thermal tape, OR be able to do just as I did with this TR cooler upgrade. That way, depending on what expansion slot we intend to occupy, we could still be able to maintain a decent life expectancy of the MBs we buy.


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## motoray

You idling at 65c or at load. 65c load is pretty norm on air. I dont pass 38 on load with water. Might be a good idea for u to go water on gpu.


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## Paraleyes

Quote:



Originally Posted by *motoray*


You idling at 65c or at load. 65c load is pretty norm on air. I dont pass 38 on load with water. Might be a good idea for u to go water on gpu.


I'm talking about the south bridge. Sorry. I was pretty unclear about that.


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## Paraleyes

Bump-a-chicka-bow-wow... Cuz my mod is like porn for geeks like me








.


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## Livinstrong

This is one of the best cooling mods that I have seen on a motherboard! I looked at your cooling mod on your TiVo computer, another very nice job!! REP+


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## Paraleyes

Quote:



Originally Posted by *Livinstrong*


This is one of the best cooling mods that I have seen on a motherboard! I looked at your cooling mod on your TiVo computer, another very nice job!! REP+


Thanks a lot man! You would like this MB mod too then. I'm also adding to that TiVo/Skype server thead with another mod just like it that I did for my brother last night using the other half of those old heat pipes onto his new P5Q. It turned out to be a sweet build with impressive overclocks.


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## PhaedraCorruption

That is amazing, just amazing. WOW.
I'm going to do something similar with a 780i chipset









My MCP sits at a brick shating 87 celcius WITH active cooling.
I need to put a true on there


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## Paraleyes

Quote:



Originally Posted by *PhaedraCorruption*


That is amazing, just amazing. WOW.
I'm going to do something similar with a 780i chipset









My MCP sits at a brick shating 87 celcius WITH active cooling. 
I need to put a true on there


Thanks Ph*! The Xigmatek Porter will work for this application too. The Xigmatek needs to be bent just a bit like I did the HR-05 on mine, but not nearly as much. The thing I didn't like was that the Xiggy is like nearly 50% larger than the HR-05, but if you don't need that PCI slot, it would definitely be a better choice being bigger, especially if you're MCP is at 87! :holy****eyesbulgingoutsmiley: haha

The Zaward twin towers chip set cooler would work as well. My thought on that one was to just not use the middle tower and only the outer. Whichever one you use just depends on whether or not you need to use whichever slots they might occupy.

And of course the Thermaltake Extreme Spirit II will work just like the one I modded onto my 650i board. That little cooler is amazing for it's size. The ONLY reason I didn't use it this time is because it is solid copper and would not match. If you do use that one, I'll send you the bracket I made for it to mount the thing. It would work with that cooler well on for that mod, but not the other two as their heat pipes are in the way.

Let me know if you have any questions or if you would like to see all my pictures. I am really excited to see more people taking this type of mod on! Good luck!!! And be sure to let me know when you get going on your mod.


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## Lord Xeb

Quote:



Originally Posted by *low strife*


Wow dude... Holly ****. Incredible work, truly incredible. I would certainly never try something on that scale. Very nice documentation too.

Great job!


Very same came from my mount as well.... but more with an F


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## Paraleyes

Quote:



Originally Posted by *low strife*


Wow dude... Holly ****. Incredible work, truly incredible. I would certainly never try something on that scale. Very nice documentation too.

Great job!



Quote:



Originally Posted by *Lord Xeb*


Very same came from my mount as well.... but more with an F


Thanks a million guys! There really wasn't anything too difficult about the whole project other than making the time for it. The hours sure did pile up by the time I was done.

Those types of remarks sure do help reflect the pride I have in making it my own. Thanks again!


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## reedo

nicely done dude


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## samster25

im in love
+rep


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## R00ST3R

Really nice work! Good to see the Nvidia easy-bake ovens....err I mean chipset, being tamed.


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## Paraleyes

Quote:


Originally Posted by *reedo* 
nicely done dude


Quote:


Originally Posted by *samster25* 
im in love
+rep


Quote:


Originally Posted by *R00ST3R* 
Really nice work! Good to see the Nvidia easy-bake ovens....err I mean chipset, being tamed.









Thanks guys!

Haha, No joke! I have an extra AC that runs in my bedroom even during the winter. I may as well wire in a switch so that it turns on my AC at the same time as when I power on my gaming system.


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## PuffMaN

dude!
ur sick!


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## Syrillian

Living proof that, "Fortune favors the Bold".

Awesome job on an ambitious mod.

+


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## Angmaar

This is an epic mod! Nice job.


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## MCBrown.CA

Nicely implemented cooling solution.







Obviously done in a professional manner with great results! Look forward to seeing more in the future...

+1


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## Thejosh

damn nice work


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## Paraleyes

Quote:



Originally Posted by *PuffMaN*











dude!
ur sick!



Quote:



Originally Posted by *Syrillian*


Living proof that, "Fortune favors the Bold".

Awesome job on an ambitious mod.

+











Quote:



Originally Posted by *Angmaar*


This is an epic mod! Nice job.



Quote:



Originally Posted by *MCBrown.CA*


Nicely implemented cooling solution.







Obviously done in a professional manner with great results! Look forward to seeing more in the future...

+1



Quote:



Originally Posted by *Thejosh*


damn nice work










Thanks guys!









Well I am super happy with the MB mod and damn do I ever appreciate the feedback from everybody?! I'm not totally happy with my case though at this point. I'll be ordering a larger tower so I can make some more room for water cooling. I've got a lot more research to do before I decide on which pump, block, tubing, fittings, etc I'll be purchasing, so this is all going to be a few weeks out.


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## bavarianblessed

Nice work. I did a similar mod on my old 780i. I just cut the MCP plate and heat pipe off to install an HR-05 sli IFX. Got similar temps afterwards too.


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## Paraleyes

Quote:



Originally Posted by *bavarianblessed*


Nice work. I did a similar mod on my old 780i. I just cut the MCP plate and heat pipe off to install an HR-05 sli IFX. Got similar temps afterwards too.


Thank you.

Does that 780i MB still boot up? I'm surprised you didn't fry that SPP chip because it relies at least partially on that heat pipe you cut off to cool it as it runs through the bottom of that large NB heat sink and continues along the RAM side of the CPU all the way around the top of the MB to aid in the cooling of those upper most mosfets. At the very least, it would have severely jeapardized the overclocking potential of that board.


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## xexoticmr2x

Gosh you people are smart lol and i'm not being sarcastic either! I ffreakin wish i can come up with stuff like this!


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## Jus'Chillin'

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Paraleyes* 


You sir, are a freak! In a good way. Rep +

Awesome!


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## TestECull

Backyard engineering at it's finest....hehehe....








When something is broke, and noone makes something to fix it, fix it yourself!


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## Paraleyes

Quote:


Originally Posted by *xexoticmr2x* 
Gosh you people are smart lol and i'm not being sarcastic either! I ffreakin wish i can come up with stuff like this!

















Awwh shucks... I just wanted to keep the stock cooling because I really like the way it looks. When I 1st started doing these mods, I just happened to be reading about lapping and sorts and it just made sense to go this route.

Quote:


Originally Posted by *$SpEEdFreAk$* 
You sir, are a freak! In a good way. Rep +

Awesome!


Quote:


Originally Posted by *TestECull* 
Backyard engineering at it's finest....hehehe....








When something is broke, and noone makes something to fix it, fix it yourself!

Exactly! Thanks guys!


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## walker450

What do you think the results would be if you simply cut off the part that you ground down and placed the same heat sink directly onto the chip?


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## Paraleyes

Quote:



Originally Posted by *walker450*


What do you think the results would be if you simply cut off the part that you ground down and placed the same heat sink directly onto the chip?


I already kinda answered that when I replied to bavarianblessed.

Quote:



Originally Posted by *Paraleyes*


Thank you.

Does that 780i MB still boot up? I'm surprised you didn't fry that SPP chip because it relies at least partially on that heat pipe you cut off to cool it as it runs through the bottom of that large NB heat sink and continues along the RAM side of the CPU all the way around the top of the MB to aid in the cooling of those upper most mosfets. At the very least, it would have severely jeapardized the overclocking potential of that board.


In theory, you could do that and just crimp off the heat pipe where you cut, but there is moisture inside heat pipes which has a great deal to do with how they transfer heat throughout the whole pipe. Cutting it would allow that moisture to evaporate and even if you soldered that cut/crimp point to reseal the pipe, it would never have the same performance potential as before.

If you have a dremel, this really is a pretty simple mod to do. It just takes time. I'd be glad to answer any questions you have while doing the mod.


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## walker450

What I meant was to leave the SPP heatsink and heatpipes intact... But cut the part off that you ground on. 
But I was wondering..... nm I'm going to open up paint and make a pic lol I'll be back in a few minutes. ....


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## walker450

Ok... I am not sure if this would work as well as what you did, or if it would work at all... but here goes-









Would it be possible to cut off the MCP heat sink area near the solid red line?









Then you would have something like this:









*Then the new heat sink could be directly mounted on the MCP chip.*
Possible issues:
Without the two MCP heatsink screws, the SPP portion of the heatsink would not be held down good enough. (I'm not sure where the other hold downs are... I am not near my rig now)
The SPP temperature could rise without the connection to the newly installed MCP heatsink... right now a lot of heat may be coming from the SPP and being dissipated through your new cooler... cutting it would null and void that benefit, but the MCP would be cooler because it don't have to deal with the heat being transferred from the SPP.
I doubt this is happening... but here is what I mean by the newly installed heatsink actually aiding in the cooling of the SPP:


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## walker450

I think what you done is awesome and I want to try it myself- I am only brainstorming here!!


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## walker450

I meant to ask this earlier- but what was your SPP temp before/after this mod- and what program do you currently use to monitor there? I only see MCP in my eVGA 780i FTW BIOS


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## Paraleyes

I knew what you meant. The way heat pipes work is to equally distribute the heat load from one end the the next. So, if you put one end of the pipe over a chip, the other end in theory needs to have heat sink on it. This way, while the chip heats the pipe at one end, the heat sink cools it on the other end because the heat pipe constantly tries to equally distribute the heat across it's whole self.

That heat pipe you want to cut off which is approximately 1/2" by 1/8" runs underneath the NB heat sink and on my 790i, it runs through and continues past upwards to where the mosfets are. Cutting it off on either of these boards would severely effect it's performance. It would be more less as if the SPP was directly open to air.

Did you see how I dealt with the mounting issue on my mod? I noticed that was a concern of yours. You could simply install the new cooler with thermal adhesive. That stuff is insanely tough!

Another option would be to put a small fan and heatsink over what is already there without doing any cutting at all. Check the Green link in my signature.


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## walker450

I was not aware that the part I am wanting to cut off is a "heat pipe"... I just figured it was a solid chunk of aluminum- or whatever it is that its made of.


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## Paraleyes

Quote:


Originally Posted by *walker450* 
I meant to ask this earlier- but what was your SPP temp before/after this mod- and what program do you currently use to monitor there? I only see MCP in my eVGA 780i FTW BIOS

I don't remember what it was before. It sits at about 31C no matter what I do now though.

I like to use Everest to monitor for those temps.


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## Paraleyes

Quote:


Originally Posted by *walker450* 
I was not aware that the part I am wanting to cut off is a "heat pipe"... I just figured it was a solid chunk of aluminum- or whatever it is that its made of.

Most people aren't aware of that. Yes it's aluminum.

So do you have a dremel tool? This mod is really pretty easy to do. There's a lot of leeway with the thickness of the metal between the heatpipe and the fins that need to be removed. But like I said, you could go with phase one of this mod which was really just a test run to see if the final mod was going to be worth it. It wouldn't cost more than $20 after shipping.


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## walker450

I have a dremel tool. I also have access to several machining tools here at work (I would have an expert operate them though!) We have a milling machine that could cut all of the fins off very smooth and very easily- securing the fragile heatsink would be the biggest barrier I believe.


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## IntelFloyd

This gives me ideas for my MCP running at 70c idle...
My SPP runs at 50c also. This is on my Striker II NSE board (790i)


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## Paraleyes

Quote:


Originally Posted by *IntelFloyd* 
This gives me ideas for my MCP running at 70c idle...
My SPP runs at 50c also. This is on my Striker II NSE board (790i)

Cool man! Go for it!


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## IntelFloyd

Well im going to have my loop drained tonight to add another radiator so I might yank my heat sink and AS5 it first and see where that gets me.


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## almighty15

I don't know why people go to these extremes, my XFX 780i didn't get excessively hot enough for me to worry about and the 790i chipset is supposed to run cooler.


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## IntelFloyd

Quote:



Originally Posted by *almighty15*


I don't know why people go to these extremes, my XFX 780i didn't get excessively hot enough for me to worry about and the 790i chipset is supposed to run cooler.


If your 790i south bridge was at 70c idle wouldnt you worry... This is with a spotcool fan pointed at the northbridge section of the assembly.


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## OSDCrusher

Nice job.


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## Paraleyes

Quote:


Originally Posted by *almighty15* 
I don't know why people go to these extremes, my XFX 780i didn't get excessively hot enough for me to worry about and the 790i chipset is supposed to run cooler.









Because we can. I don't know why you don't.









Really though, I've got a lot of time on my hands these days. It was something fun to do that didn't cost too much at all.

Quote:


Originally Posted by *OSDCrusher* 
Nice job.

Thanks!


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## Rogue1266

Beautiful work paraleyes. Love the step-by-step photo's.. Great Mod Job...


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## Paraleyes

Quote:



Originally Posted by *Rogue1266*


Beautiful work paraleyes. Love the step-by-step photo's.. Great Mod Job...


Thanks Rogue!


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## walker450

Paraleyes:

I have read a little about the 780i nb/sb heatsinks having poor TIM application. I was thinking about pulling it off, taking off all of the foam pads, cleaning, and using MX-2 to put it back on. What do you think?
I'm just not ready to do the full mod, but I would like to decrease temps a little, I have been getting the BSOD at OCs above 3.6, and I think my 62C MCP may have something to do with it... please correct me if I'm wrong.

This is the thread that gave me the idea:

780i NB heat fix is here now

.


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## Paraleyes

Do it. But don't remove the foam that goes around the chip. You can wipe off the old TIM with a paper towel just fine without disturbing it. I can't believe you would take the time to remove the MB and take off the heat pipes without doing that mod though. I mean so long as you've been considering it all this time. Peer pressure man! haha


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## walker450

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Paraleyes* 
I mean so long as you've been considering it all this time. *Peer pressure man!* haha

I think I just need some peer pressure some times. I know I want to do it, but I don't know why I am putting it off.

I may be ordering some items from Newegg tomorrow. I might, just might, order a chipset cooler too.









Once I have the heatsinks off, I will probably be contacting you for assistance. What would be the quickest way to get you? AIM?


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## CallmeRoth

Anyone else not seeing the images ?


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## IntelFloyd

Quote:


Originally Posted by *CallmeRoth* 
Anyone else not seeing the images ?

Nope he ran out of bandwidth on those pics lol


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## G|F.E.A.D|Killa

yea i cant see them either, i want to cause i did alot of mods on nforce boards so im curious about it.


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## CallmeRoth

It's been common today I've seen several accounts on photobucket today that exceded.


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## IntelFloyd

Ok I didnt get this extreme but I did put some AS5 on my NB and SB and also shaved the standoffs so I could have more clamping force and so far it didnt do squat for my NB but my SB lowered about 8c from 70c to about 62c.


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## Paraleyes

Quote:


Originally Posted by *IntelFloyd* 
Ok I didnt get this extreme but I did put some AS5 on my NB and SB and also shaved the standoffs so I could have more clamping force and so far it didnt do squat for my NB but my SB lowered about 8c from 70c to about 62c.

So you ran a bolt through your MB then? I was thinking about doing this myself because the SB can wiggle a bit and I don't like that at all. It is secured evenly, but I want it to be tight. So did you just shave off the tops of those standoffs then? When you did that, did the stand-offs fall off, or did they stay so that you could thread a bolt straight through them?


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## woodpigeon4

Great mod - wish I was skilled enough to do that with my 790i


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## Paraleyes

Quote:


Originally Posted by *woodpigeon4* 
Great mod - wish I was skilled enough to do that with my 790i

Thanks woodpigeon4!


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## IntelFloyd

On my board I have a copper back plate with pressed in nuts that acted as a standoff. Once I sanded down the standoffs a little I was able to tighten the screws more and get better contact.
The standoffs are threaded all the way through so space wasnt an issue.
Now if I could only get the NB/SB water block for this sucker.


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## MrDeodorant

Quote:



Originally Posted by *Paraleyes*












Sorry to quote a photo, but could you tell me about the fans you have on your RAM in this photo? They look handy.

Awesome work, by the way.


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## Paraleyes

Quote:


Originally Posted by *IntelFloyd* 
On my board I have a copper back plate with pressed in nuts that acted as a standoff. Once I sanded down the standoffs a little I was able to tighten the screws more and get better contact.
The standoffs are threaded all the way through so space wasnt an issue.
Now if I could only get the NB/SB water block for this sucker.

Cool. I'll be doing this as well then.

Quote:


Originally Posted by *MrDeodorant* 
Sorry to quote a photo, but could you tell me about the fans you have on your RAM in this photo? They look handy.

Awesome work, by the way.

Thanks!

Those are left over from the two Thermaltake Extreme Spirit II chipset coolers I used on my other 650i motherboard mod.


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## MrDeodorant

Thermaltake? No wonder I've been ignoring them.


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## Paraleyes

Don't knock them too much. Those are one of the highest rated chipset coolers available as far as HSF/types.


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## .dts^!?

lol dude, i really like this :O

but it's really expensive.


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## Paraleyes

Ummm. . . I think that HR-05 chipset cooler cost me $20.

BTW. . . Here's an update. I was able to fit the X-Fi Sound Card just as I planned. Damn! -what an incredible sound card too! Now I can fit my Pinnacle card(Video Capture) in the freed up PCI slot and do all my video editing/rendering with my best machine.


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## IntelFloyd

Looks like you took a green highlighter to your bridge?


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## Paraleyes

Quote:



Originally Posted by *IntelFloyd*


Looks like you took a green highlighter to your bridge?


Yeah, I used a sharpie and colored all over my motherboard and such- got rid of those ugly beige motherboard parts.


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## kga92

Nice work







I think i'm in danger to become more computer obsessed because of this forum, should leave when I can...NAH!







Great inspiration


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## Paraleyes

Quote:


Originally Posted by *kga92* 
Nice work







I think i'm in danger to become more computer obsessed because of this forum, should leave when I can...NAH!







Great inspiration









Thanks! haha I didn't think I could become more of a geek, but yeah; this forum will push you in that direction.


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## dw.shift

everything on its place







nice mod


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## Ruckol1

Thats impressive to say the least man.. hit up nVidia with that! never know lol.

Also, Is that hockey tape used to tie some psu cables together? i thought i was the only one??? lol


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## Paraleyes

Quote:



Originally Posted by *dw.shift*


everything on its place







nice mod











Quote:



Originally Posted by *Ruckol1*


Thats impressive to say the least man.. hit up nVidia with that! never know lol.

Also, Is that hockey tape used to tie some psu cables together? i thought i was the only one??? lol


Yep, That's the stuff! I use it for everything from band-aids to rope.









Thanks guys!


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## Ruckol1

Quote:



Originally Posted by *Paraleyes*


Yep, That's the stuff! I use it for everything from band-aids to rope.









Thanks guys!


Go leafs go!


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## Enigma8750

Love the Extreme Cool. It truly is extremely cool.


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## Enigma8750

Quote:



Originally Posted by *Paraleyes*


Thanks! haha I didn't think I could become more of a geek, but yeah; this forum will push you in that direction.










Ohh this is total Geekdom in its purest form.


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## Paraleyes

Proud to be a geek. haha

Hey BTW, great PSU link! - Thanks! That can be really helpful.
How Much Power Does your Rig Need.


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## linkinparkfan007

beautiful rig i want it


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## Paraleyes

Thanks! It looks better now that I sleeved everything and finished all the mods I wanted to do. -Well most of them. Check out my build log.

Hey, what's up with that stats thing in your sig? I'd think it'd be pretty hard to lie about your system once you start asking questions about it and posting pictures of it. I'd think it would be more like 5% that do. I don't really see what the point would be.


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## mrscott

Tremendous mod. 1 of my PCs has that motherboard, and I'm severely tempted to attempt this myself. Nice work, man.


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## Paraleyes

Quote:


Originally Posted by *mrscott* 
Tremendous mod. 1 of my PCs has that motherboard, and I'm severely tempted to attempt this myself. Nice work, man.

Thanks! Go for it! Let me know if you have any questions!

Really, I would have preferred to go water on the board, but there just aren't any good options for the 790i Ultra SLI. So that was my solve. Not quite water temps, but WAY better than stock for sure! haha

Oh, and somehow I posted that link twice. OOPs! Sorry


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## pcnuttie

I really wanted that motherboard it's so hard to find that one on sale anywhere


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## Serifus

I decided to go for something a little more drastic, I went though 2 revisions, there arent really any pictures of during the mod only after it was finished









By serifus at 2010-06-02









By serifus at 2010-06-02









By serifus at 2010-06-02









By serifus at 2010-06-02









By serifus at 2010-06-02









By serifus at 2010-06-02









By serifus at 2010-06-02


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## Paraleyes

Cool. Any improvements?


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## Serifus

largely, I no longer have to worry about getting burned poking around inside the case while the system is on. that and its easier to reach the Pci-e card release


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## Paraleyes

Good job then. Do you have any before and after load temps of the NB & SB?


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## DON'T GET HIT BY A CAR!

WOW crazy mod i can see how it would lower temps!


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## Paraleyes

I recently swapped in another 790i with stock cooling. Out of curiosity, I took snips of the temps from before(Modded) and after(Stock). Take a look at the difference in temps on the motherboard and the MCP(South Bridge)! The GPU temps are hotter too, but only because the fans were only at 30%.


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## Helios.be

So amazing it scares me.


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## Paraleyes

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Helios.be;13488338*
> So amazing it scares me.


Thanks Helios!







I did a handful of those mods to MBs. They're all in my sig links if you want to check them out. This one was the best though. Actually, I was more proud of what all I did to my HAF case which is also in my sig links. I just sold the whole case and water loop this week to a really cool guy.


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## piranhamoose

VERY NICELY DONE!!!! clean and purposeful.... looks like hella fun doin it.


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## ronnin426850

Madre Santisima, how many fans you got in there? What's the saound this thing makes when you power it on?..
The work on the heatsink - massively impresisve! I wish I could so something like that for my CPU


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## Paraleyes

No kidding! It was pretty loud when I cranked up those fans while gaming, and before the BIOS posted, the NB fan and SB fans were especially loud. It was surprisingly quiet though considering when I turned them down. I did pay a little extra for decent fans.

And I just thought about it and there were 20 fans on that thing including PSU and GPUs.

6-Radiator
4-Door Panel
1-Rear
1-Front
2-North Bridge
1-South Bridge
2-Ramsinks
2-GPUs
1-PSU

Apparently I named that one correctly. "Ultra High Air Flow" hahaha

Thanks for the post!


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## Paraleyes

Bumping my MB mods. See if I can get more people doing this!


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## ronnin426850

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Paraleyes;13645215*
> Bumping my MB mods. See if I can get more people doing this!


I would, my friend, I'm very much into mods, but I lack the tools.
Here's my ghetto MOSFET sink







:
http://www.overclock.net/amd-cpus/984905-got-myself-new-ath-2.html#post13046174


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## Brittain

I have an old 790i in my wife's computer and I am really considering this mod. I have been running a 60x25mm fan (silenx) for a while but I like your aluminum choice. I have been looking at thermalright's Heatsink choices for that board for a while but the NB has always been a problem that darn n200 chip or whatever it's called... Your solution kicks butt. the new SB sink pulls heat from the NB too! I think I might just be game for such an extreme mod.

+rep


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## Chroma

Very nice! Simple ideas are often the best!


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## d3daiM

Really good motherboard heat pipe mods!! Clean up those shavings!!


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## Paraleyes

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Chroma*
> 
> Very nice! Simple ideas are often the best!


Quote:


> Originally Posted by *d3daiM*
> 
> Really good motherboard heat pipe mods!! Clean up those shavings!!


Thanks guys!


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## dylanc0100

hey man do you still hae this mobo laying around because my north brige is hitting 103 and i need to do the mod but i cant find the north bridge cooler any more


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## Paraleyes

Any 60MM fan and some zip ties will work mate.







The one on there was a 60x25, but if you don't want it to be loud, I'd order a 60x20. That will get your temps down a TON! You could also reaplly thermal paste to the NB & SB there and have your mind blown with how much your temps drop! hehe


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## dylanc0100

ok man i have tryed fans hay i have tryed a nother heat ing on top of the other fan its low untill i go play games then the heat gose up to 103 and i have ryed rvry thing now and it sucks cant play games arg its starting to suck ass do you think this will help http://www.frozencpu.com/products/15093/cpu-tri-88/Thermalright_HR-55_Heatpipe_Chipset_Cooler_-_SLI_CrossFire_Ready.html?tl=g40c16#blank

realy like the board but starting to give me head aces now


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## dylanc0100

and my south bride is fin it runs at 34 its the north brige


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## Paraleyes

Yep that's why I did the mod the way I did, but honestly, I'd reapply Thermal Paste to the NB AND SB BOTH. Then just put a BIG FAN on it. It will be fine. That cooler works, but I don't know if it will fit for sure. You'll have to check for that for certain. The thing is if you buy that, you'll need to do something for your SB too, because if you just cut your pips off, they will DO NOTHING AT ALL for cooling. They must be sealed without cracks, okay. It is when you start gaming that your SB will heat up. The NB works constantly between the CPU and RAM. The SB kicks in when your expansion slots start operating, as in supporting the GPUs. Seriously, start with thermal paste and a NB fan. Especially if you can mod the fan with a dremmel so that it fits TIGHT to the NB, it will suck the air through way more efficiently. You can also hook up the fan direct to PSU rather than the MB and get more power out of it. Hope that helps.


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## dylanc0100

thanks man ya i found a nother cooler that is made for the nforce 4 and 780 i so i am going to get that and its 30 x 30 so it should work but i have replaced the nb and sb thermal paised and it still gose that high but what monitoring program did you use ??? and thatnk it hase help man lol just need to get the money now i have to in poert the cooler now


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## Paraleyes

I used Everest Ultimate which is now AIDA64 Extreme Edition to monitor everything. There is nothing better.

That little fan will do VERY LITTLE for you. You need to move that airflow QUICKLY! and also have good flow through your case, okay. if you have a fan just on the MB NB and not good enough airflow, the heat doesn't do anything but cycle around through the fan over and over. Good lluck


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## dylanc0100

thanks hahaha ag ya i hate being a student lol hahaha wish i could work


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