Original Article Link
Let me add:
The Northbridge doesn’t seem to run as hot for me as I’ve seen eluded to by others. (Some were even talking about adding a fan in the vicinity). The warmest I saw it, after playing multiple HD-DVD and Blu-ray discs, was high-60’s to low 70’s (that was with the top OFF the case – once I put the top back on, both my system and CPU temps dropped significantly as my “fan airflow” really works when the case is buttoned up…) Generally I would say the GPU temp was in the 40’s and 50’s. With the top on and [i]pushing the GPU[/i], I figure it’ll run in the 50’s and 60’s.
The placement of the Northbridge and it’s heatsink will have a PCIe x1 card running over the top of the heatsink – possibly blocking some airflow. Since I use a PCIe x1 analog tuner, and no discrete video card, I elected to install it in the x16 slot which leaves the NB heatsink completely exposed. I don’t know how much it actually helps – but it can’t hurt…
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