Please Help! very high X58a UD3R northbridge temps

[Spiffy G.]

Hey guys I just bought a gigabyte x58a ud3r motherboard.

Here are my system specs:
i7-930 @ 2.8
6gb g.skill ripjaws @ 1600mhz
2x GTX260s in SLI

Ok now the issue I’m having is the NB temps seem to be way to high.  When I first got the board I noticed the LED light turning red after a few minutes and would reach temps of over 80c!  To counter this I have removed the blue gigabyte cover and mounted a fan onto the heatsink.  With the fan, the temps now idle at 47c and will reach a max temp of 64c after some really heavy gaming.

64c is A LOT better than 80+ but it still seems to be very hot!   In bios, the only setting I have set differently from the Optimized Settings is the memory profile is set to extreme profile 1 to activate the 1600mhz memory. 

I read somewhere that leaving the motherboard on auto can screw up voltages.  Is this true? Are there different settings in the bios I should set?  What are acceptable operation temperatures?  Is there anything else I can do to lower NB temps?  Please help me.   I cant afford water cooling and really don’t what this beautiful motherboard to die on me after a couple of months. 

Thank you,
-Spiffy G.

[dkslim]

Yes, if you leave the voltages on auto, the motherboard will set the voltage to very high levels (at least on the UD3Rs I tested). You can tell by looking at the lights on the motherboard, if they are orange or red then you know the motherboard has overvolted itself. To fix this you need to set the voltages manually. Don't follow the "normal" voltage numbers that the BIOS recommends, they are way over the actual normal levels.

Although 80 degrees plus is way too high, even with overvoltage. I never got that temperature when I had the voltages on auto. So you might want to RMA it.

[Spiffy G.]

Yes, if you leave the voltages on auto, the motherboard will set the voltage to very high levels (at least on the UD3Rs I tested). You can tell by looking at the lights on the motherboard, if they are orange or red then you know the motherboard has overvolted itself. To fix this you need to set the voltages manually. Don't follow the "normal" voltage numbers that the BIOS recommends, they are way over the actual normal levels.

Although 80 degrees plus is way too high, even with overvoltage. I never got that temperature when I had the voltages on auto. So you might want to RMA it.

From what i've been reading it turns out that the the passive cooling on these boards is designed to be used with a fan-based cpu cooler.  The stock intel cpu cooler has a big fan on it the blows air down onto the entire heatsink assembly.  I think the reason why my temps got so high is because i'm using an H50, which does not blow air onto the heatsinks.  The reason why i really dont want to RMA this board is because it is not making that squealing  electrical noise that so many people are complaining about.  

Ok so i looked at the motherboard and the orange cpu light is on, the green ram light is on, and the green nb light is on.  All of them referring to voltage, not temp.   What should i set them at manually?  For now i'm just running the i-7 930 stock

[dkslim]

If you get orange and green lights, it means you are over-volting. It is possible to lower the voltages manually until there are no lights at all. An i7 930 default voltage is 1.2V, but you might be able to set it lower than that depending on how good your specific CPU is. For example, my i7 920 C0 could run at 1.15V, but my i7 920 D0 can run at 1.0V. When you have voltage below 1.2V there should be no more orange light. To get rid of the green lights, you need to set the other voltages lower too, I can't remember what to set the voltage to however. From memory, the QPI voltage can be lowered to 1.1V, DRAM voltage must be set to whatever your RAM package specifies it to be.

[Spiffy G.]

If you get orange and green lights, it means you are over-volting. It is possible to lower the voltages manually until there are no lights at all. An i7 930 default voltage is 1.2V, but you might be able to set it lower than that depending on how good your specific CPU is. For example, my i7 920 C0 could run at 1.15V, but my i7 920 D0 can run at 1.0V. When you have voltage below 1.2V there should be no more orange light. To get rid of the green lights, you need to set the other voltages lower too, I can't remember what to set the voltage to however. From memory, the QPI voltage can be lowered to 1.1V, DRAM voltage must be set to whatever your RAM package specifies it to be.

Thank you for replying. what should i set the performance level to?  The default setting is Turbo.  Should i turn it to standard or leave it at turbo? Also what is your IOH set to?   I'm worried about my board. 

[dkslim]

You shouldn't install the Gigabyte programs at all, they cause problems like lag and dropouts. So there's no need to set performance to anything. The only thing you might have to install for the motherboard are the drivers (not programs).

I can't remember what the IOH was sorry, and as I am still waiting for my replacement UD3R motherboard to arrive (hopefully it won't squeal/whine this time), I can't find out either.

[videodrone83]

I am having the same issue except mine hit 110C

[Spiffy G.]

You shouldn't install the Gigabyte programs at all, they cause problems like lag and dropouts. So there's no need to set performance to anything. The only thing you might have to install for the motherboard are the drivers (not programs).

I can't remember what the IOH was sorry, and as I am still waiting for my replacement UD3R motherboard to arrive (hopefully it won't squeal/whine this time), I can't find out either.

lol i had a feeling i shouldn’t install those programs so i didn’t.  The only things i installed were some drivers and that’s it.  What does the performance mode do? Is it supposed to do something with the smart 6 program?  If i don’t use any of those programs that came with the drivers will i experience a performance loss if i switch the performance mode in the bios to standard?  The manual is very vague about what this feature does.

I am having the same issue except mine hit 110C

turns out the chipset heatsink is designed to be used in conjunction with a stock cpu cooler.  The passive design needs airflow to stay cool and that airflow is intended to come from the cpu cooler fan.   Because I’m using an corsair H50 there is no airflow around the heatsink.  To solve this problem I removed the blue GIGABYTE plate from the top of the NB heatsink and mounted two 40mm fans to it.  To mount the fans I took thick double sided tape and cut out a six quarter inch squares, three per fan.  I then stacked the squares and stuck them onto the center of each fan to give them about a half inch of clearance from the heatsink.  Then I mounted both fans side by side onto the heatsink and used a very thin strip of skoch tape to hold them together.  This setup is not noisy at all and has effectively dropped my NB temp down to a 45c idle and a high of 60c under extreme load for hours with the case closed.  Hopefully when I get the voltages to where they should be that temp will go even lower.  

I hope your able to solve you heat issue.  It seems stupid of gigabyte to use this kind of heatsink but oh well.  I wish you luck

i will post a picture of my setup when i get home from work tonight.

[videodrone83]

You think zip ties will hold down a fan and not melt with it being that hot :-), im not genius when it comes to melting points for plastic. I dont even have any 40mm or 60mm's fans, if you asked for 120mm i got like 10 sitting in a box. Pictures would be definitely helpful. I started pulling heatsinks off old S370's and mobo's i have from work to mount onto this, I really dont feel like ripping that thing apart though, putting a fan on it would be much easier.

[videodrone83]

I have an H50 as well with a push/pull config. I also am using a Lian Li V1000 case with the side slot fan installed in front of the xfx 5870, so its like right next to the NB heatsink...

http://www.crazypc.com/images/cases/pcv1000/pcv1000sp2sidefanhuge.jpg

I have 1 intake 120mm fan in the front. then the push pull for the h50, and also the side blower as an exhaust. Is this an ideal setup? should I have another intake fan in the front?

I was using the mobo for monitoring the rpm's on the fan but was useless, I went and bought a fan controller thinking it would help but made no difference

[Spiffy G.]

I updated my setup last night with this 60mm thermal controlled fan: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811999615

I used double sided tape to mount the fan on the NB and.  It is now idling at 45c and reaches max temp of 58c.  What is nice about this new fan is that it has a little thermal sensor that controls the speed of the fan based on how hot the air is around it, and this of course means less noise at idle.  With the double bearing though it really doesn't get that noisy even on full blast.



My h50 also has a push/pull setup going on.  To compensate for using the rear 120mm exhaust fan as an intake I've  mounted another 120mm fan in the front of the case right below the dvd rom to maximize air flow.  There is also an 80mm fan in bottom front that works as an intake to feed the video cards with cool air.



Overall i'm very pleased with my setup. 

[bcrawfo2]

I'm in the exact same boat as the OP.   
Same mobo, same CPU, same cooler.
I'm not trying to OC...I got the H50 in hopes of quieting down my setup, which it did greatly.
When I switch to the H50, I noticed my NB temp went way up...from 50 to low 60s.   
I had some space problems related to the H50 in my CHEAP case (no room for the 120mm fan) so I upgraded to a nicer case (Lian Li from slickdeals) and now my NB temp is 70.   I just can't win.   It makes sense the comment that the stock cooler is so close to the NB and is fan cooled...so it would provide some benefit.

I'm running all my voltages at Auto.   I guess it's just trial/error on lowering them til you get reliability?   (I'm new at this level of hardware).
I'm concerned that adding a NB cooler will invalidate the noise savings brought to me by the H50.
I'm wondering if the better case may have better air flow and noise isolation that I may get away with the stock cooler and be in a better boat longertem.  OC'ing is not my goal....goal is -> a decently fast system that isn't too noisy.

Thanks for any comments.

[Dark Mantis]

What you have done already is a good start but as you have found out no two setups are the same and some small alterations can make a big difference. You could go the full hog and watercool your entire system (see my pics by clicking on my website under my avatar) or you could just alter the arrangement of your fans. The only trouble is the more fans the more noise.

[Dark Mantis]

Another thing to check is that you have a proper airflow through the system box. It should enter at one end usually the front and then exit at the other usaully the top or back. All fans should be inline with this setup including the H50. If you dont subscribe to this idea all you end up with is dead air in the centre of the case which will not cool anything.

[bcrawfo2]

Progress...
I configured my H50 fan to push out and pointed a 120mm fan towards my north bridge.
This got me down to 45C.  I'll work on a more permanent solution.

Thanks
Scott