VanguardLH said:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northbridge_(computing)
It's for a fan on the northbridge chip. Not all mobos use a fan.
Depends on how much heat can be dissipated and if quickly enough using
just a good heatsink, or by using vapor tubes to combine the cooling
between CPU and chipset.
http://www.geek.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/ma785gt_ud3h_1.jpg
http://www.gigabyte.us/products/product-page.aspx?pid=3150#ov
(didn't find a -UD2H model)
Seems Gigabyte believes the stock heatsinks on the chipset without fan
is sufficient for cooling or may rely on the CPU's HSF to provide some
additional airflow. They may not have planned for overclocking.
There's a good chance that a fan won't fit atop the NB chip because the
CPU's heatsink would be in the way. Fans might be used on the SB chip,
especially if the mobo has onboard video.
His previous post says the motherboard is GA-MA785GM-US2H. Apparently
they have a few alternative letters they can add in. Slapping a t
on the name, results in a different manual than this one.
ftp://download.gigabyte.ru/manual/mb_manual_ga-ma785g(p)m-ud(s)2h_e.pdf
This is the GA-MA785GM-US2H here.
http://images17.newegg.com/is/image/newegg/13-128-394-S03?$S640W$
The Northbridge heatsink looks like it's designed for "side-spill" air
from the CPU fan. There doesn't appear to be any place to put a
40mm fan or a clip-on. And no auxiliary fan comes in the motherboard
box. (Some Asus motherboards include a blower style fan as an
included optional item. But that is usually for the MOSFETs.)
http://images17.newegg.com/is/image/newegg/13-128-394-S02?$S640W$
Some CPU fans, blow towards the back of the computer case, instead
of downwards onto the CPU. In such a case, a user may find the
Northbridge gets a little too toasty, in which case, adding a fan
(somehow) may help. I've added fans to my computer here, by screwing
a Home Depot paint stirrer stick to a PCI slot cover screw, and lashing
a fan to the end of that with nylon tie wraps. So there are ways you
can position a fan, even if it isn't very secure. (I used a piece of
aluminum angle iron in one project, but the price of that stuff is
ridiculous for what you're getting.)
The Northbridge fan header, doesn't include a monitoring capability,
so you can't even tell whether it is connected or spinning. The
BIOS won't complain if it happened to be unplugged or missing.
Some enthusiasts, unscrew the Northbridge heatsink, and use an
aftermarket cooling solution. Which is another reason those
users may have need of a Northbridge cooling fan connection.
Some will even use water cooling and a water block, for the
Northbridge.
The Gigabyte Northbridge cooler, uses pushpins to hold the cooler
in place. But the spacing between the two pins, looks a bit bigger
than normal. So many of the fan based NB coolers, probably wouldn't
fit in there as a substitute. The reason the cooler is so weird,
is they shaved it down so you could insert a PCI Express x1 card in
the top slot.
After looking at all the angles, the best answer is a CPU cooler that
blows downwards, and some of the exhaust air spills over the
Northbridge. That doesn't require any mechanical mods at least.
Paul
