Chipset cooling for K8NS Pro with AMD Athlon 2800+

[Ponko]

I've got this board and it's great, but recently the small fan (40mm) that on the chipset cooling started to make to much noise. I think it's going to end it's life soon...

Do I need this fan? can the factory heatsink be enough? there is no way to track the temp of the chipset, so I don't know what is the effect of working without the fan. If I replace the heatsink with a more advanced heatsink could this suffice for cooling?

thanks for any advice.

[Dark Mantis]

I would say in general manufacturers don't waste money by adding superfluios hardware so I would guess that it is necessary. That said I see no reason that by using a bigger or more efficient cooler that you would have problems. The other option is just replace the original fan.

[Ponko]

the fan is very small and noisy anyway. has anyone switched from this small fan to a passive heatsink?

[Dark Mantis]

I am sure that they have but I can't comment from personal experience. There is absolutely no reason not to go down that road if that's what you decide to do. As long as it's a larger heatsink than the one already there and you install it properly It will be fine.Just make sure that your other case fans etc are working efficiently.