EVGA 780i Chipset Cooling Mod

So as many of you know, back in December I got a shiny new EVGA 780i Motherboard (which was later followed by a slew of other hardware, but that’s another story for another day).  Anyway, over the course of these 2 months I have been battling with some pretty severe chipset temperature issues.  The IDLE temp of the MCP (Southbridge) chipset was 62C!  While this is "in spec" according to NVIDIA, to me this is completely unacceptable, especially when it was cranking up to 70C under load.

Now, I know what some of you might say.  Did you try replacing the TIM?  Did you follow [p]’s guide on the EVGA Forums?  The answer to both of those questions is a yes, those temps I provided are AFTER doing the mentioned things, you don’t want to know what it was before the initial mod.

So I decided to get a Thermalright HR-05-SLI High Riser from FrozenCPU.  That coupled with a little handy work modding the stock cooler and I should be all set.  Here’s some pictures of the progress with an explanation of the steps (click the images to see larger pictures)

HPIM0090 HPIM0091

Ok, so step 1 was of course to pull the motherboard out of the case.  As you can see here this is the motherboard with the stock cooler as it came from EVGA.  The only mod is the 60mm fan on the NB Heatsink, to push more air (yes I know it’s an AMD Fan lol).

HPIM0093 HPIM0094

Here are a couple of shots of the Southbridge chipset after removing the stock cooler.  As you can see it resides right under the Video card, so this thing getting hot does not spell good things for the video card temperatures, especially considering that I have an 8800GTX.

HPIM0095 HPIM0096

Here you can see the HR-05-SLI Mounted on the MCP.  It is mounted on an angle because the way the mounting system works it cannot be mounted straight.  This does not hinder the cooling performance whatsoever, and this proves that this product DOES fit on the 780i MCP (it does NOT fit on the northbridge because of the second NF200 chip).  So now that this is mounted, how do we get the rest of the cooling system in place?

HPIM0097 HPIM0098

As you can see here, the stock cooling system is back on the Northbridge and the MOSFETS.  The only thing missing is the heatpipes and the small block that sat on the MCP.  I simply cut this section of the cooler off with a hacksaw and filled in the heatpipes with lead free solder to avoid any possible leakage of the heatpipe element.

HPIM0099 HPIM0100

Here are a couple of pictures after everything is back in the case, as you can see everything fits great, and even better, there is enough clearance to get a second video card in the bottom PCI-E slot.  Tri-SLI however, is not possible when using this cooler on the MCP.

So now for the real good stuff, how does this all perform?  Well I mentioned before that my temp ranged from 62-70C on the MCP with the stock setup.  With the new setup the MCP temperature ranges from 41-46C.  That’s a full 20C decrease in temperature which is great.  As an added bonus, this also dropped my 8800GTX temperatures by almost a full 10C.  So all in all I’d say this mod is MORE than worth the cost of the cooler plus the time it takes to perform the mod (about a half hour if you’re good at this stuff).

Anyway, enjoy and feel free to leave any feedback in the comments area or e-mail me :) .

Posted by: Chris123NT

Published on: February 27th, 2008 at 10:34 PM

Posted in Hardware

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27 Responses to 'EVGA 780i Chipset Cooling Mod'

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  1. February 28, 2008 at 8:18 pm

    David Taraso:

    Heh, I see Nvidia still hasn’t managed to get some reasonable stock cooling on their reference boards. I had the same problem with my 680i. With the stock cooling, temperatures were roughly in the same range you mentioned. So I went and picked up a Noctua NC-U6 chipset heatsink, it did wonders. My temperatures were lowered to 45-50C.

    Pretty sweet system you’ve got there though :)

  2. February 29, 2008 at 1:09 am

    lionel:

    hi
    not sure to understand

    you cut the southbridge from the northbridge cooler, or it s just plug ?

    you can answer to my email

    thanks

  3. February 29, 2008 at 10:21 am

    David Taraso:

    I think the heatpipe just snaps off. That’s what I did anyways.

  4. March 9, 2008 at 10:52 pm

    Mike:

    Did something come out of the pipes or was it just filled with air? (heard some rumor there is liquid in there)

  5. March 9, 2008 at 10:55 pm

    Mike:

    … also, it looks like it could have been mounted straight? What was the exact reason it has to go at an angle? Also, I hear that it’s hard to make good contact with the chip, i think it would be worse if the computer was a tower, does your PC stand vertically?

  6. March 10, 2008 at 12:37 am

    Chris123NT:

    Mike,
    There was really no visible liquid in the pipes, it’s kind of hard to explain what exactly was in there but I sealed the cutoffs with solder just to be on the safe side.

    Also, to answer your question about the mounting. The reason it could not be mounted straight is because doing such made the mounting bracket interfere with the heat pipe on the heatsink itself. And there are no contact issues with this cooler, and my PC is a tower, so if there were issues I would have noticed them.

  7. March 19, 2008 at 8:19 pm

    Ryan Ferguson:

    I have the same motherboard (EVGA 780i) and also have heat problems. I believe the problem stems from the chipset as you have identified.

    I have dual 8800GTXs plus a QX9650 CPU which also runs hot. Nothing but heat, heat, heat throughout the case. My cores idle at about 52 deg C with a Zalman 9700 fan attached to the CPU. Anyway, I don’t see how you could do dual-SLI much less tri-SLI with this setup. I’ve looked at your picture a bunch of times and it looks like there’s no way you could fit the bottom VGA in. What am I missing?

  8. March 24, 2008 at 2:14 am

    TomD:

    Yeah, that passive cooler is not a good fit, there’s got to be a better solution.
    I just got a 780i myself and running it with a 8800gt single-slot, there’s too much
    heat on the video card from the stock chipset fan (what were they thinking?)
    and the MCP is way too hot to overclock.

    I’m really starting to think about watercooling the rig.

  9. March 24, 2008 at 9:11 pm

    Ryan Ferguson:

    TomD: watercooling is the only option for my rig and I’m starting to come to the conclusion that 780i combined with a couple of hot VGAs is just too hot to overclock with air. I’m really disappointed but water cooling ought to solve the problem and I was thinking about going that route anyway.

  10. March 24, 2008 at 9:54 pm

    Ryan Ferguson:

    One other thought. The southbridge is really the achilles’ heel and has to be aircool by my estimation. There’s no way to get a water block there — it is covered up by VGA #1 (assuming it’s a big long card, and it better be for a board like that) so a heat sink dedicated just to the SB is really the only way. It sucks.

  11. March 27, 2008 at 1:44 am

    Dany:

    Hi

    Awesome Mod. A few questions for it though, I have the same motherboard with the same crappy motherboard cooloing but i have a few questions. (Please reply to my email) I have a Scythe Infinity on my Q6600 and do you know if a 60mm fan will fit on the MCP, and do you just screw the fan onto the metal block? About the Thermalright HR-05-SLI whats the difference between that and a HR-IFX-05-SLI? and does it need thermal paste to stick on and how would I go about removing the stock heatsink? Thankz

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  17. August 10, 2008 at 11:19 am

    Jerry:

    Hi,
    I want to ask about a fan on the heatsink (MCP). I noticed, that you used a blue AMD fan. I ‘ve got a 60×60x15mm fan for myself but I don’t know what type of screws I should use. I don’t want to damage fins on heatsink! I was thinking about a ANTEC’s rubber fan mount but I’m affraid that they gona melt from high temperatures. If you please write me back on my email I would appreciate it. Thank’s.

  18. October 10, 2008 at 3:30 am

    Del:

    Can you put something in the PCI slot with this mod?? See diagram

    http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y67/viddkideo/xfx780i2.jpg

  19. November 7, 2008 at 11:12 pm

    Deja:

    I would’ve done this mod already if I didn’t have to muitilate my board SPP/ MCP HS. If only I can replace my NB/ SB/ Mosfet heatsinks with aftermarket coolers. As someone pointed out can you do SLI w/ two large gpus such as GTX 260/ 280s or what if later you want to put it back.

  20. February 10, 2009 at 1:43 pm

    Jason Herrick:

    Ok, so i have a 780i LSI FTW edition. When i first got it and fired it up my MCP was running at 105c insane right? yeah so pulled the heatsink off and did some handywork put it back on using all factory mounting and my MCP temp is now 55c. This is with an OC on a q6600@ 3.2ghz. I would like to go to all thermalright on everything, ram, mosfet, cpu, BUT no NB cooler???? how is this possible? they make a cooler for everythning else but not fr the NB???? Any ideas? I you got one then let me know what works and im buying this shit today.

  21. May 14, 2009 at 1:52 am

    Babylya:

    Π’ΠΎΡ‚ Ρ‚Π°ΠΊ,согласСн с ΠΏΡ€Π΅Π΄Ρ‹Π΄ΡƒΡ‰ΠΈΠΌΠΈ высказываниями
    ) :-)

  22. May 29, 2009 at 11:01 pm

    Ash:

    heh.
    780i, intel core2quad cpu, 8800gts

    New 780i, freshly installed, idle temperature in bios: 89c. Called tech support and they said that it was ‘normal.’ Being the seventh replacement board I’ve had, I don’t want to RMA it again, but that’s just too hot. I’m probably just going to say screw EVGA and buy an intel board and be done with it.

    Without the heatsink, I could put a frying pan on the southbridge and make myself breakfast in about the same amount of time as on a stove. lol.

    Anyway… humor aside, this board sucks.
    ~ Ash

  23. June 8, 2009 at 5:04 pm

    Dunnam:

    Great post … I love this site…Thanks

  24. June 9, 2009 at 5:35 am

    Mitch:

    great job am gonna replace the NB fan on my 780i just wondering what cooler u have on the CPU as im trying to work out if a scythe mugen2 will fit

  25. June 14, 2009 at 4:44 am

    assishamyfons:

    ΠœΠΎΠ»ΠΎΠ΄Ρ†Π°,согласСн с ΠΏΡ€Π΅Π΄Ρ‹Π΄ΡƒΡ‰ΠΈΠΌΠΈ Π±Π»ΠΎΠ³Π³Π΅Ρ€Π°ΠΌΠΈ
    Π‘ΠΏΠΎΠΊΠΈ Bye

  26. June 15, 2009 at 4:34 am

    assishamyfons:

    ΠœΠΎΠ»ΠΎΠ΄Ρ†Π°,нСсогласСн с ΠΏΡ€Π΅Π΄Ρ‹Π΄ΡƒΡ‰ΠΈΠΌΠΈ ΠΎΡ€Π°Ρ‚ΠΎΡ€Π°ΠΌΠΈ
    Π‘ΠΏΠΎΠΊΠΈ :-)

  27. June 20, 2009 at 4:02 am

    assishamyfons:

    Π”Π°,согласСн с ΠΏΡ€Π΅Π΄Ρ‹Π΄ΡƒΡ‰ΠΈΠΌΠΈ высказываниями
    ) Bye

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