I got my motherboard!

  • Thread starter Thread starter Richard Dower
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Richard Dower

Yippee!!!...i got my GA-8KNXP today, and the great news is it's revision 2.1
!!

But can anyone tell me how revision 2.1 differs from 2.0?
I also noticed that the USB 2.0 backplate only has two ports???

I thought it was supposed to be a 4-port USB backplate and a separte plate
for the Firewaire ports?

Anyone know where i could buy an additional backplate as i already use 7 USB
ports on my current PC.

Now some questions, the Northbridge cooler...how do i remove it?, is it
stuck to the 875P chip, how is it attached?, paste?, adhesive?

I plan to take it of and install a Microcool Northpole,

http://www.sidewindercomputers.com/minochcokit.html

I also got the Southpole passive heatsink, has anyone used this motherboard
in conjunction with the Thermalright SP-94?

http://www.sidewindercomputers.com/thsp.html

http://www.sidewindercomputers.com/miso.html


I have this also with some Arctic Silver 5 and a 92mm Vantec Tornado. I was
wondering if there is any installation problems i should be aware of?

http://www.sidewindercomputers.com/van92tor.html

http://www.sidewindercomputers.com/arcticsilver5.html

Such as interference with the Northbridge or the DPS2 power module?

Any advice is much appreciate, thank you.
 
Richard,

I suggest you slow down a bit before changing your northbridge cooler. The
existing one (assuming its the same) is overkill but the fans are somewhat
prone to get noisy. Most people that replace the NB cooler install a purely
passive one such as the Zalman NB32J. I ran for yonks with the fan removed -
the chip gets only slightly warm. Removing the existing heatsink needs to be
done carefully as it is effectively glued on with a heat pad - these have
the consistency of bluetak.

The SP94 is a heavy heatsink - a review says it is actually 588g + weight of
fan. The intel limit is a lot less than this so chucking your system in the
boot of the car will be out. Everytime you move the system, you should check
the heatsink and keep an eye on thermals. The mounting kit looks good - from
a distance.

No idea about your USB issues or the difference from Rev2 - may be the USB
you have seen.

You seem not to mind noisy systems - if thats the case then OK, but you are
heading in the direction of a very noisy system.

Given that historically the 8KNXP (all Intel 875 chipset systems in fact)
have been a blech with memory, I would look at doing what Paul calls the
cradboard trick. IE set the system up out of the case with your preference
of heatsinks, run memtest86 to prove memory stability (5 runs NO errors)
then install an OS. I suggest you get MBM 5 installed at the earlist
opportunity so you can keep an eye on thermals (only CPU - perhaps they have
fixed the motherboard temp monitor in V2.1 'cos that *always* says 25c on a
Rev 1 board) & voltages (only 12v and 3.3v)

The reason why I say this is you are likely to have a Prescott chip and so
it is likely to be HOT. It will be easier to dick around finding the best
thermal solution out of the case than IN. The key thing is - as it says on
arctic silver web site - to put a near transparent film of heatgunk on - not
an uneven mountain. Optimal mounting of a heatsink is *not* easy.

Watch out for static - no synthetic clothes, use an earth strap, no
synthetic carpet. If you keep static under control then you won't need any
luck :)

- Tim
 
Tim said:
Richard,

I suggest you slow down a bit before changing your northbridge cooler. The
existing one (assuming its the same) is overkill but the fans are somewhat
prone to get noisy. Most people that replace the NB cooler install a purely
passive one such as the Zalman NB32J. I ran for yonks with the fan removed -
the chip gets only slightly warm. Removing the existing heatsink needs to be
done carefully as it is effectively glued on with a heat pad - these have
the consistency of bluetak.
Click to expand...


If that is true then ay least it's not welded onto the chip, so i should be
able to remove it with care and patience.

The SP94 is a heavy heatsink - a review says it is actually 588g + weight of
fan. The intel limit is a lot less than this so chucking your system in the
boot of the car will be out. Everytime you move the system, you should check
the heatsink and keep an eye on thermals. The mounting kit looks good - from
a distance.
You seem not to mind noisy systems - if thats the case then OK, but you are
heading in the direction of a very noisy system.
Click to expand...

Noise is not an issue, my current PC has 14 fans and is super loud, i am
used to it. I am aware of the mounting issues with the SP-94, it's a hell of
alot safer than the new Aerocool Hyper 6 which is over 1KG in weight.

I will be using a Northwood 3.2GHz, Prescotts suck!
 
Richard,

I suggest you slow down a bit before changing your northbridge cooler. The
existing one (assuming its the same) is overkill but the fans are somewhat
prone to get noisy. Most people that replace the NB cooler install a purely
passive one such as the Zalman NB32J. I ran for yonks with the fan removed -
the chip gets only slightly warm. Removing the existing heatsink needs to be
done carefully as it is effectively glued on with a heat pad - these have
the consistency of bluetak.

The SP94 is a heavy heatsink - a review says it is actually 588g + weight of
fan. The intel limit is a lot less than this so chucking your system in the
boot of the car will be out. Everytime you move the system, you should check
the heatsink and keep an eye on thermals. The mounting kit looks good - from
a distance.

No idea about your USB issues or the difference from Rev2 - may be the USB
you have seen.

You seem not to mind noisy systems - if thats the case then OK, but you are
heading in the direction of a very noisy system.

Given that historically the 8KNXP (all Intel 875 chipset systems in fact)
have been a blech with memory, I would look at doing what Paul calls the
cradboard trick. IE set the system up out of the case with your preference
of heatsinks, run memtest86 to prove memory stability (5 runs NO errors)
then install an OS. I suggest you get MBM 5 installed at the earlist
opportunity so you can keep an eye on thermals (only CPU - perhaps they have
fixed the motherboard temp monitor in V2.1 'cos that *always* says 25c on a
Rev 1 board) & voltages (only 12v and 3.3v)

The reason why I say this is you are likely to have a Prescott chip and so
it is likely to be HOT. It will be easier to dick around finding the best
thermal solution out of the case than IN. The key thing is - as it says on
arctic silver web site - to put a near transparent film of heatgunk on - not
an uneven mountain. Optimal mounting of a heatsink is *not* easy.
Click to expand...
Actually.... Artic Silver web site says for P4 and Athlon64 CPUs, spurt the
compound in the middle of the CPU and mash it with the heatsink.
http://www.arcticsilver.com/arctic_silver_instructions.htm
It's about 80% of the way down the page...
Watch out for static - no synthetic clothes, use an earth strap, no
synthetic carpet. If you keep static under control then you won't need any
luck :)

- Tim
Click to expand...

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Hi,

It so nice that all these people care about others putting heatsinks on
correctly that they are willing to debate the finer points... so read on.

So, Mr Lord, have another read and look at the illustration. Compare the
amount they say to apply for the considerably larger P4 heatspreaders vs.
the older AMD chips. This is not an instruction to do as you paraphrase at
all. It says about 1 1/2 times the size of a grain of rice - they also make
it plain that the target area for conduction is the middle area although I
would err on the side of applying gunk to the entire area so as to achieve a
uniform spread.

You said:
"Actually.... Artic Silver web site says for P4 and Athlon64 CPUs, spurt the
compound in the middle of the CPU and mash it with the heatsink.
http://www.arcticsilver.com/arctic_silver_instructions.htm
It's about 80% of the way down the page..."


AS Says: "Once the heatsink is properly mounted, grasp the heatsink and very
gently wiggle it slightly clockwise and counterclockwise one time each if
possible. (Just one or two degrees or so.)" is not mashing the CPU down - it
is, to use an extremely technical term a 'Micro Wiggle'. Get a protractor
out if you need to visualise it. Wiggle = +- 10 degrees, micro = 1 or 2
degrees.

Mind you I did see a video showing the installation of an AMD 64 CPU and it
was closer to "Empty the tube onto the middle on the CPU then press / rock
the heatsink down until it can be fastened." - this made me a lot concerned
as it was blatently obvious thank gunk would ooze out around the edges and
if electrically conductive would have eventually crashed / damaged the
system. The reality that the AS site addresses is that without instruction
people are inclined to put a Pea sized (or more) lump of gunk on, spread it
around until the entire surface is occluded - IE 1mm or more thick then put
the heatsink on. Some then wrench / slide / remove / replace and then press,
press, press and hope like hell, not realising they have applied a 1mm
insulating layer with big air holes in that creates not spots and system
crashes. Little things like grain of rice, semi transparent, use a credit
card, press down but don't move are all good points that are repeatedly used
by people, but more often a reference to the AS site is best.

Thanks for the reference anyway. As for all things that can become
opinionated like this, one should benchmark and produce quantitative
measures that prove the best approach, rather than guess as too many do.

- Tim
 
Well, i personally feel one should follow the advice of the Arctic Silver
prople, they have years of experience in developing the compound and the
application proceadures.

The new method is also alot easier, less hassle and work involed, a tiny
blob of paste at the center of the CPU and just put the heatsink on.

My only question was about tinting the bottom of the heatsink, but AS also
say that Arctic Silver 5 is very thick and will not spread evenly, thus they
suggest simply leaving it bare and doing the little wiggle thingy.

I have emailed AS in this regard to clarify the situation as the
instructions are not all that clear.
 
On Thu, 20 May 2004 06:07:46 +0100, "Richard Dower"

| Well, i personally feel one should follow the advice of the Arctic Silver
| prople, they have years of experience in developing the compound and the
| application proceadures.
|
| The new method is also alot easier, less hassle and work involed, a tiny
| blob of paste at the center of the CPU and just put the heatsink on.
|
| My only question was about tinting the bottom of the heatsink, but AS also
| say that Arctic Silver 5 is very thick and will not spread evenly, thus they
| suggest simply leaving it bare and doing the little wiggle thingy.

Just putting a tiny bit in the middle as they suggest works fine.
Although AS5 is VERY thick and difficult to spread, I put some on the
bottom of the heatsink anyway. I figured it couldn't hurt. It's
almost impossible to wipe off as much as with other thermal compounds,
but the results are clear: just substituting AS5 for the stock Intel
thermal pad dropped my temps by several degrees! :-)

Larc



§§§ - Change planet to earth to reply by email - §§§
 
Larc said:
Just putting a tiny bit in the middle as they suggest works fine.
Although AS5 is VERY thick and difficult to spread, I put some on the
bottom of the heatsink anyway. I figured it couldn't hurt. It's
almost impossible to wipe off as much as with other thermal compounds,
but the results are clear: just substituting AS5 for the stock Intel
thermal pad dropped my temps by several degrees! :-)

Larc
Click to expand...

Cool...maybe just a smudge of paste and rub it into the base of the
heatsink.
 
On Thu, 20 May 2004 07:12:31 +0100, "Richard Dower"

|
| | > Just putting a tiny bit in the middle as they suggest works fine.
| > Although AS5 is VERY thick and difficult to spread, I put some on the
| > bottom of the heatsink anyway. I figured it couldn't hurt. It's
| > almost impossible to wipe off as much as with other thermal compounds,
| > but the results are clear: just substituting AS5 for the stock Intel
| > thermal pad dropped my temps by several degrees! :-)
| >
| > Larc
|
| Cool...maybe just a smudge of paste and rub it into the base of the
| heatsink.

Yup, and then use something clean and lint free — and disposable since
you'll never get it clean again — to wipe off as much of the AS5 as
you reasonably can (the little nicks and crevices will still have AS5
in them, which is the point of doing this).

Larc



§§§ - Change planet to earth to reply by email - §§§
 
Noise is not an issue, my current PC has 14 fans and is super loud, i am
used to it. I am aware of the mounting issues with the SP-94, it's a hell of
alot safer than the new Aerocool Hyper 6 which is over 1KG in weight.
Click to expand...

14 fans!

I've got to ask - why?
 
Hi,

It so nice that all these people care about others putting heatsinks on
correctly that they are willing to debate the finer points... so read on.

So, Mr Lord, have another read and look at the illustration. Compare the
amount they say to apply for the considerably larger P4 heatspreaders vs.
the older AMD chips. This is not an instruction to do as you paraphrase at
all. It says about 1 1/2 times the size of a grain of rice - they also make
it plain that the target area for conduction is the middle area although I
would err on the side of applying gunk to the entire area so as to achieve a
uniform spread.
Click to expand...
My paraphrase was deliberate to emphasize the disparity between what AS says
and what most people say that AS says. I have seen hundreds of posters and
websites claim you need to spread the thermal interface material in a thin layer
for every Single claim of dotting the center of the CPU and let the pressure of the
heatsink spread the paste. And of course they all cite the AS site without
differentiating between the die sizes.
Myself I've always frosted them like a cake with a single edged razor blade,
no matter what the CPU die size. This is based on my own personal interpretation
of the meaning of the word "heat spreader". I understand AS's phobia about
air bubbles but their own pic of the aftermath of their mash the rice method
shows the TIM covering less than 50% of the "heat spreader".
In a perfect world with perfect engineering that AS5 would suck the heat out
thru that little 49% straw never letting the heat spreader do it's job of spreading
the heat. AS would start their own line of heatsinks based on a copper funnel shape
that perches precariously on a little ½ x ½" area in the center of the CPU.
In an imperfect world, the heat spreader spreads the heat, the AS5 has a finite
thickness, and we shall posit that the heatsink has been lapped to a perfect
degree of flatness. Thus the majority of the heat spreader has no contact with the
heatsink at all. I shall stick with frosting my CPU.
You said:
"Actually.... Artic Silver web site says for P4 and Athlon64 CPUs, spurt the
compound in the middle of the CPU and mash it with the heatsink.
http://www.arcticsilver.com/arctic_silver_instructions.htm
It's about 80% of the way down the page..."


AS Says: "Once the heatsink is properly mounted, grasp the heatsink and very
gently wiggle it slightly clockwise and counterclockwise one time each if
possible. (Just one or two degrees or so.)" is not mashing the CPU down - it
is, to use an extremely technical term a 'Micro Wiggle'. Get a protractor
out if you need to visualise it. Wiggle = +- 10 degrees, micro = 1 or 2
degrees.
Click to expand...
2 MicroWiggles (µW) = 2° or 20% of a Wiggle is fine with me.
Thus P3 and small die AMDs; ½ a grain of rice, no wiggle
P4s; 1 full grain of rice and .2 Wiggle
Athlon64; 1½ grain of rice and .2 Wiggle
Mind you I did see a video showing the installation of an AMD 64 CPU and it
was closer to "Empty the tube onto the middle on the CPU then press / rock
the heatsink down until it can be fastened." - this made me a lot concerned
as it was blatently obvious thank gunk would ooze out around the edges and
if electrically conductive would have eventually crashed / damaged the
system. The reality that the AS site addresses is that without instruction
people are inclined to put a Pea sized (or more) lump of gunk on, spread it
around until the entire surface is occluded - IE 1mm or more thick then put
the heatsink on. Some then wrench / slide / remove / replace and then press,
press, press and hope like hell, not realising they have applied a 1mm
insulating layer with big air holes in that creates not spots and system
crashes. Little things like grain of rice, semi transparent, use a credit
card, press down but don't move are all good points that are repeatedly used
by people, but more often a reference to the AS site is best.

Thanks for the reference anyway. As for all things that can become
opinionated like this, one should benchmark and produce quantitative
measures that prove the best approach, rather than guess as too many do.

- Tim
Click to expand...
hmmmm..... you do realize it should by rights be a dW or deciWiggle as opposed
to a MicroWiggle......

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LOL :)



- Tim





Overlord said:
Hi,

It so nice that all these people care about others putting heatsinks on
correctly that they are willing to debate the finer points... so read on.

So, Mr Lord, have another read and look at the illustration. Compare the
amount they say to apply for the considerably larger P4 heatspreaders vs.
the older AMD chips. This is not an instruction to do as you paraphrase at
all. It says about 1 1/2 times the size of a grain of rice - they also
make
it plain that the target area for conduction is the middle area although I
would err on the side of applying gunk to the entire area so as to achieve
a
uniform spread.
Click to expand...
My paraphrase was deliberate to emphasize the disparity between what AS
says
and what most people say that AS says. I have seen hundreds of posters
and
websites claim you need to spread the thermal interface material in a thin
layer
for every Single claim of dotting the center of the CPU and let the
pressure of the
heatsink spread the paste. And of course they all cite the AS site
without
differentiating between the die sizes.
Myself I've always frosted them like a cake with a single edged razor
blade,
no matter what the CPU die size. This is based on my own personal
interpretation
of the meaning of the word "heat spreader". I understand AS's phobia
about
air bubbles but their own pic of the aftermath of their mash the rice
method
shows the TIM covering less than 50% of the "heat spreader".
In a perfect world with perfect engineering that AS5 would suck the heat
out
thru that little 49% straw never letting the heat spreader do it's job of
spreading
the heat. AS would start their own line of heatsinks based on a copper
funnel shape
that perches precariously on a little ½ x ½" area in the center of the
CPU.
In an imperfect world, the heat spreader spreads the heat, the AS5 has a
finite
thickness, and we shall posit that the heatsink has been lapped to a
perfect
degree of flatness. Thus the majority of the heat spreader has no contact
with the
heatsink at all. I shall stick with frosting my CPU.
You said:
"Actually.... Artic Silver web site says for P4 and Athlon64 CPUs, spurt
the
compound in the middle of the CPU and mash it with the heatsink.
http://www.arcticsilver.com/arctic_silver_instructions.htm
It's about 80% of the way down the page..."


AS Says: "Once the heatsink is properly mounted, grasp the heatsink and
very
gently wiggle it slightly clockwise and counterclockwise one time each if
possible. (Just one or two degrees or so.)" is not mashing the CPU down -
it
is, to use an extremely technical term a 'Micro Wiggle'. Get a protractor
out if you need to visualise it. Wiggle = +- 10 degrees, micro = 1 or 2
degrees.
Click to expand...
2 MicroWiggles (µW) = 2° or 20% of a Wiggle is fine with me.
Thus P3 and small die AMDs; ½ a grain of rice, no wiggle
P4s; 1 full grain of rice and .2 Wiggle
Athlon64; 1½ grain of rice and .2 Wiggle
Mind you I did see a video showing the installation of an AMD 64 CPU and
it
was closer to "Empty the tube onto the middle on the CPU then press / rock
the heatsink down until it can be fastened." - this made me a lot
concerned
as it was blatently obvious thank gunk would ooze out around the edges and
if electrically conductive would have eventually crashed / damaged the
system. The reality that the AS site addresses is that without instruction
people are inclined to put a Pea sized (or more) lump of gunk on, spread
it
around until the entire surface is occluded - IE 1mm or more thick then
put
the heatsink on. Some then wrench / slide / remove / replace and then
press,
press, press and hope like hell, not realising they have applied a 1mm
insulating layer with big air holes in that creates not spots and system
crashes. Little things like grain of rice, semi transparent, use a credit
card, press down but don't move are all good points that are repeatedly
used
by people, but more often a reference to the AS site is best.

Thanks for the reference anyway. As for all things that can become
opinionated like this, one should benchmark and produce quantitative
measures that prove the best approach, rather than guess as too many do.

- Tim
Click to expand...
hmmmm..... you do realize it should by rights be a dW or deciWiggle as
opposed
to a MicroWiggle......

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Bait for spammers:
root@localhost
postmaster@localhost
admin@localhost
abuse@localhost
postmaster@[127.0.0.1]
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Remove "spamless" to email me.
Click to expand...
 
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