Fixing Things

The Northbridge fan failed on my Asus A8N5X Motherboard.

2009-07-11T01:26:37Z

pitonyak
The Northbridge fan failed on my Asus A8N5X Motherboard.

There are two black pins holding the fan in place. You can cut them off (I don't recommend it) or you can pinch the clips from the back side of the motherboard and push them through.

2009-07-11T02:08:49Z

pitonyak
There are two black pins holding the fan in place. You can cut them off (I don't recommend it) or you can pinch the clips from the back side of the motherboard and push them through.

This is how the pins look from the back. Squeeze them together using needle-nose pliers and push them through. It helps to hold the fan against the motherboard when you do this.

2009-07-11T02:08:48Z

pitonyak
This is how the pins look from the back. Squeeze them together using needle-nose pliers and push them through. It helps to hold the fan against the motherboard when you do this.

After pushing the black clips out, the fan is still stuck to the motherboard with the heat sink compound. Although the fan has four internal screws, do not bother to remove them. This releas ...

2009-07-11T01:40:51Z

pitonyak
After pushing the black clips out, the fan is still stuck to the motherboard with the heat sink compound. Although the fan has four internal screws, do not bother to remove them. This releas ...

Immediately after removing the fan. There is heat sink compound everywhere and a black spongy material covering the underlying board (and plastic over the green board). Although I cleaned th ...

2009-07-11T01:17:31Z

pitonyak
Immediately after removing the fan. There is heat sink compound everywhere and a black spongy material covering the underlying board (and plastic over the green board). Although I cleaned th ...

(1) I removed the thin plastic cover sheet from the heatsink. (2) I added arctic silver heat sink compound to fill in the cracks, exactly as if I was dealing with a high-end CPU [you will pr ...

2009-07-11T02:08:47Z

pitonyak
(1) I removed the thin plastic cover sheet from the heatsink. (2) I added arctic silver heat sink compound to fill in the cracks, exactly as if I was dealing with a high-end CPU [you will pr ...

I used arctic silver after cleaning the chip with acetone and 100% alcohol (I did not get any on the non-chip portions). You will probably just use the compound included with your heat-sink. ...

2009-07-11T01:03:16Z

pitonyak
I used arctic silver after cleaning the chip with acetone and 100% alcohol (I did not get any on the non-chip portions). You will probably just use the compound included with your heat-sink. ...

The fan faces my video card (not installed) because it provides more clearance between the heat-sink and the video card. I purchased this Extreme Spirit II Universal Northbridge Chipset Copp ...

2009-07-11T01:38:57Z

pitonyak
The fan faces my video card (not installed) because it provides more clearance between the heat-sink and the video card. I purchased this Extreme Spirit II Universal Northbridge Chipset Copp ...

You can see my 4GB of RAM in the background. I purchased this Extreme Spirit II Universal Northbridge Chipset Copper Heatpipe Cooler for about $25 from Microcenter. Mfr Part #: CL-C0034

2009-07-11T01:27:43Z

pitonyak
You can see my 4GB of RAM in the background. I purchased this Extreme Spirit II Universal Northbridge Chipset Copper Heatpipe Cooler for about $25 from Microcenter. Mfr Part #: CL-C0034

The fan is held very nicely in place. My north bridge chip hovers around 78 to 82 degrees Farenheit. In comparison, my CPU is around 84, the MB 95, and my graphics chip around 113. These num ...

2009-07-11T01:18:59Z

pitonyak
The fan is held very nicely in place. My north bridge chip hovers around 78 to 82 degrees Farenheit. In comparison, my CPU is around 84, the MB 95, and my graphics chip around 113. These num ...

The screws holding the new fan from the back. The black pins used to stick out here.

2009-07-11T01:13:28Z

pitonyak
The screws holding the new fan from the back. The black pins used to stick out here.

After installation into the computer. The video card is in front of the CPU; there is plenty of room to spare.

2009-07-11T02:34:28Z

pitonyak
After installation into the computer. The video card is in front of the CPU; there is plenty of room to spare.

I LOVE this Antec case. The hard drives and the power supply are on the bottom (see right) so that their heat stays away from the CPU and other items. The CPU is on the left with two additi ...

2009-07-11T00:45:42Z

pitonyak
I LOVE this Antec case. The hard drives and the power supply are on the bottom (see right) so that their heat stays away from the CPU and other items. The CPU is on the left with two additi ...

This is a close-up of a pin after it has been removed. The pin is not damaged and may be re-used.

2009-09-13T10:07:45Z

pitonyak
This is a close-up of a pin after it has been removed. The pin is not damaged and may be re-used.

The clip contains a spring, I compress the spring here using my fingernails.

2009-07-11T01:04:21Z

pitonyak
The clip contains a spring, I compress the spring here using my fingernails.

This is my Casio MTG910DA-1V, which is able to set itself. I love this watch. I did need to resize the band, however. It was not that difficult to do. It took me about 30 minutes to remove a ...

2009-10-06T15:06:12Z

pitonyak
This is my Casio MTG910DA-1V, which is able to set itself. I love this watch. I did need to resize the band, however. It was not that difficult to do. It took me about 30 minutes to remove a ...

This is my Casio MTG910DA-1V, which is able to set itself. I love this watch.

2009-10-06T14:39:42Z

pitonyak
This is my Casio MTG910DA-1V, which is able to set itself. I love this watch.

To remove a link, you must stick a small jewler's screwdirve where the arrow is on the band. I pulled a plunger connector on the right. The part closest to us pushes in (the tube is hollow a ...

2009-10-06T14:59:26Z

pitonyak
To remove a link, you must stick a small jewler's screwdirve where the arrow is on the band. I pulled a plunger connector on the right. The part closest to us pushes in (the tube is hollow a ...

Stick the screw driver (if you can) between the two ridges and push the piece into the hollow metal body so that you can pull the links apart. Although it is not shown, when in place, the pi ...

2009-10-06T14:48:40Z

pitonyak
Stick the screw driver (if you can) between the two ridges and push the piece into the hollow metal body so that you can pull the links apart. Although it is not shown, when in place, the pi ...

This shows where you must stick the screw driver. Notice that there is an arrow on the band pointing to the spot.

2009-10-06T15:13:50Z

pitonyak
This shows where you must stick the screw driver. Notice that there is an arrow on the band pointing to the spot.

It is not obvious, but to "open" the band, you must push down on the tab shown above. There is a tab on each side.

2009-10-06T14:36:19Z

pitonyak
It is not obvious, but to "open" the band, you must push down on the tab shown above. There is a tab on each side.

One link ends in a location under the clasp. This link uses a different pin, which has a plunger on both ends, not just one. This is the easiest item to resize. I removed two entire links (o ...

2009-10-06T14:54:34Z

pitonyak
One link ends in a location under the clasp. This link uses a different pin, which has a plunger on both ends, not just one. This is the easiest item to resize. I removed two entire links (o ...

This is my Casio MTG910DA-1V, which is able to set itself. I love this watch.

2009-10-06T14:54:40Z

pitonyak
This is my Casio MTG910DA-1V, which is able to set itself. I love this watch.