MSI Pro-E Chipset Cooling (Need Some Major Clarification Here Before I Begin)

Question

Hey guys, about to bring up a very well known issue here, which brought about many 'heated' debates, no pun intended :P I know there has been many threads on this issue for nearly 2 years now, and well, i did tons of reading on the subject, starting with this classic thread here: https://forum-en.msi.com/index.php?topic=126885.0 and various others. I'll try and keep this as short as i can and get right to the point. I know what needs to be done, and the method i will be going with (though i am still debating with some options on the final decision), so i wont even bother going into all of that and save myself and you guys some time here. I am quite certain that HU16E has seen more than enough of these threads, and that every time he sees one, he probably gets a brain ache   (sorry man )
But basically, i want to remove the stock heatsink on my X58 Pro-E mobo, and replace BOTH the NB and SB heatsinks. This is something very simple to do, take maybe no more than half hour to get it all removed, put the new TIM on, reseat it, etc, and i am all done. The only problem is having to gut the system and put everything back, which takes even longer to do and is something i am not looking forward to doing, but i am just not comfy with an idle temp of 78c-80c, so i want to take care of all this asap. Yes, i know that is under Intels specs, and yes, it IS working, but i haven't even bothered to play any games on this new system yet, because i know if i was to fire up a power hungry game, that the temps would be well over 90c, and that is just NOT GOOD.
What i want to be sure of, and the main question here, is do any of you know, FOR CERTAIN, which heatsink will fit this mobo without any blood, sweat, tears, tedious modding and cussing up a storm and throwing temper tantrums? Or even worse, getting the heatsink and having it not fit at all? That is something i want to avoid, as it just wastes more time having to send it back, look for another and just creates more hassle. If i do decide to actually hacksaw the heatpipe that links the stock NB/SB together, well at that point, there is no going back, and when i go to put the new heatsinks on and they wind up not fitting, i am basically screwed and wont be able to use the pc for days until finding the right one, so again, i want to avoid all of that.
In that thread i linked to above, he mentions he used that Thermalright NB heatsink, but the problem here, is that he was using the Eclipse mobo, which is not the one i have. I seen some others in that thread saying that they had the PRO-E, but never went into enough detail that they used that same heatsink. It seems like it would fit ok, but 'seems' isn't good enough, and i need to be certain it would. Looking in the system right now, i can lower the gfx card to PCI-E slot 2, to make even more room, so shouldn't be a problem i would think.
But then i came across this thread, and found it quite interesting: https://forum-en.msi.com/index.php?topic=129044.0
Now this person used that Thermaltake Spirit 2 NB cooler, but it seems Thermaltake yanked that off the market, because the link to newegg in the thread, now shows it OUT OF STOCK/DEACTIVATED. Also if you go here:
http://www.thermaltakeusa.com/Product.aspx?S=1231&ID=1901 and click the pic of the old Spirit 2, it then leads you here: http://www.thermaltakeusa.com/Product.aspx?S=1231&ID=1901 , so they obviously recalled the other one for whatever reason. I am guessing because that one was copper, and this one is aluminum and also smaller and virtually do the same job as the other. This one seems really nice and would definitely be the one i would like to go with, since it has a 40mm fan on it all in one, unlike the Thermalright, which doesn't come with a fan (but can use an 80mn fan as well with the mounting contents it comes with). Based on what i have been reading about this issue, if i reseat everything properly, use AS5 and make sure the fans are blowing properly, this Thermaltake heatsink should have virtually the same effect as the Thermalright would. Of course, this leaves the SB completely exposed, which leads to me part 2 of this person's post. He linked to this NB/SB cooler, which is just about the same size as the stock SB cooler, and he 'claims' it fits just fine:
http://www.xoxide.com/enzotech-cnb-s1l.html
There is also another model by the same company, which has a small fan on it too:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835708006
The first one would definitely fit, at least where the gfx card is concerned, albeit, barely. Not sure if the one with the fan would, but then again, based on all that i've read so far, that seems like overkill, since the SB doesn't get hot at all, only lukewarm at this point, and a decent heatsink is all that is really needed. However, i say this person 'claimed' it fit, 'supposedly', because he never posted pics when asked about it, and then disappeared from his own thread shortly after. And what spoiled the whole read for me, was another person posting this:
"The enzotech low profile heatsink will not fit on the south bridge because the hole to hole diameter is too large for it to match up against the mounting holes of the south bridge on the x58 boards.
The Enzotech CNB-S1L has 2 possible hole-hole diameters: 54.6 mm and 59mm. However, the mounting holes on the mobo are only 49mm apart. So the Enzotech heatsink designed for the northbridge will not fit on the south bridge.
If you somehow managed to make it fit, please post pics."
So yea, now i can't be certain that heatsink would fit on the SB, and if this guy was telling the truth, if he did his own modding to force it to fit, or what. Yes, i can hacksaw the pipe off, and leave the stock SB heatsink there, but...i figure if i am going to replace one, i may as well replace the other while i am doing all of that. Like i said, i don't want to have to find out it doesn't upon installing it, because that is just unnecessary time being wasted.
And there you have it, guys. Now, i am no expert at all when it comes a lot of this stuff, as far as certain technical aspects go, but many posters here really know their stuff and from what i have read here and on other forums, i feel like a total noob sometimes lol. So all this boils down to, and what i really need to know, is will all the heatsinks that i have outlined here, fit this motherboard properly? I really need to take care of this asap, because this thing running at 78-80 all the time is really going to lower it's life span, and every second that it does, is just one less second of use. Maybe that is being a lil too dramatic, but still, i've seen so many get their temps down to the low 40s and 50s, so i know for sure this board DOES NOT need to be running that hot :-/
On another note, i noticed many saying they wanted to add nuts/washers or whatever, to give better stability and contact. Well, since as i am as bad as it gets with carpentry, measuring, etc, i have no damn idea which ones i would need. I once was asked to measure something long ago when i worked as a laborer for a carpenter and reported back, saying to him '2/3s'. The guy looked at me like i had two heads lmao. Fortunately, i can read a ruler/measuring tape much better now lol, but i'm still no Norm, from This Old House.  I hear all this talk of 'spring mounts', 'push pins' 'mounting holes', 'screws', etc. Since i am unable to see the back of my mobo right now (only the CPU area from the other side of the case panel when removed), i have no idea if its using metal screws, or push pins, or what. I see the heatsinks i mentioned here, as well as many others, use these various methods, so im uncertain what would work on this board (if it needs plastic/nylon screws or metal ones). Now, i checked out this youtube vid of a guy showing how to remove my exact mobo and reseat it with new/better paste. It was quite informative. Just so you guys know, i have the older 'brown colored' Pro-E board. The one in the video looks to be the same color. However, i just purchased this board, along with the whole system less than 3 weeks ago, so i don't know how old this Pro-E may be.
Another important question about what this guy did in the vid too. You can fast-forward to where he takes it apart. Looks to me like they are metal screws, but again, im unsure if mine use those. The front of the heatsinks have two holes, those of which i can easily see, and have what looks to be a plastic washer or something on it. It looks 'greyish'. Now, A VERY IMPORTANT issue in this vid, is this guy removed the THERMAL PADDING on the heatsinks. I read here all over the place, that you are NOT SUPPOSED TO DO THAT, as to ensure that the heatsinks aren't touching any components on the board, the chipset itself. As you can see in the first couple comments, the guy says 'Yes, the existing pads were scraped off. It's important to remove the old thermal pads, otherwise you won't have any benefit & it may even be worse.' So yea. all that does is just confuse me more. Considering how gunked up, though, that the paste will be when removing it, i can only image that the stock pad on there is probably gonna be pretty nasty as well too, which is why he probably took it all off. But yea, wondering if you guys could clarify that for me, if that should be done or not. Seems many here were very firm that it should NEVER be removed.
I can honestly i never have had an issue with MSI until now, and they do put out quality products, but i hope in the future, that newer mobos would use better TIM and have a fan added on the NB or something. Other manufacturers do this, some don't, but they ALL should, so i am not just singling out MSI here. We live in an age where technology is very capricious and always progressing, and back in the day, well, PCs didn't require crazy amounts of fans, watercooling, etc. But with things putting out so much wattage these days, apps/games/movies requiring better hardware, which also needs more power and/or outputs a lot too, well you don't have to work for NASA to know that heat is going to be a problem, and the motherboard being an obvious vital component, should be adequately cooled just as well as everything else that needs it. I do love this board, and it does more than enough to suit my needs, i just wish it didn't run so dang hot   That's the ONLY gripe i have about it.

Answer 1

Hey, HU16E, and others,
I just wanted to let you know that i finally broke down and attempted this procedure (after a lot of hesitation), and everything worked out perfectly as you said, WITHOUT having to buy some aftermarket chipset cooler. Maybe it was meant to be for me, because i learned a crap load of things in the process and in the end, it wasn't as hard or grueling as i thought (although 1 process was, which ill get to shortly lol).
Once i finally got everything gutted (well, just the stuff attached to the mobo), i then removed it, and hit a wall, because the screws that hold down the chipset heatsink, wouldnt fit any phillips head screw drivers had, so i had to stop, run out and buy a lil six pack of VERY small philips and flat heads. I had assumed during my extensive research on all of this, that those screws used the 6-32 size, which is pretty much the smallest i could find out there. Many pointed out the RC/Model Airplane hobby shops, but nothing i could find out where i live. Those 4 screws differ from everything else in the case. I thought they would be the M3 type screw (6-32), which on the wiki for pc-screws, had said they were commonly used on most mobos. But anyway, i got those off with the right screwdriver, and that was where the 'grueling' part came in.
The NB heatsink came off after 5 minutes of careful wiggling/rocking/twisting to the left and right. I never once PULLED UPWARD, until it was VERY LOOSE, in fear that i would crack the NB die, because if that happened, well, the mobo would basically have become nothing more than a good coffee cup stand). The SB took about 20 minutes since it was cemented on there pretty good. I had to use a wrench and lock both sides of it on there, and then again, just twisted to the left n right carefully, because my hands/fingers were too big to get a grip on the heatsink it uses. Finally, it came off, and i was good to go, but my goodness.....
...not to sound to harsh here, but man, that original paste it had was just terrible, HU16E. This Pro-E i have is the brownish colored one, and so, it had this pink, bubble gum stuff, that was VERY sticky and hard, and i can now see why these heating issues were taking place. Also, the HS itself wasnt as tight as when i finally put it all back. I used alcohol and qtip swab, and also your toothpick method of scraping from the outside, in, to form a clump, which worked well, but the thinner residue afterward was a real hassle to get off there, both on the HS and the NB die/SB surface. Used a butterknife on the HS, but only soft and non-metallic stuff on the NB die, and just kept wiping with alcohol and a microfiber pad for what felt like an eternity until it just basically dissolved and got that nice mirror finish. I used 4 of the 6-32 washers between the stock screw/spring/washer, and believe it or not, it fit very well. It's not loose, the screws head doesnt go through it at all, and once it was scerwed in nice n tight, there was no play at all, so it worked out really well. I mean, at most while it was loose, was probably just a micro millimeter of space while it was around the screws shaft, but again, once it was in there it was tight as can be. I used Arctic Cooling MX-4, since it one of the best out there and i liked the fact it was non-conductive. From what i have read about pastes, metallic-based compounds just arent necessary in this day and age anymore. Also replace the paste on the CPU cooler too.
So i fired up, and well...checked the bios temps, and there ya have it. Went from 82 degrees, down to 48! That definitely made it all worth it. Now i can finally do some gaming/hd content without having to worry about it going into the 90s. It hasnt even exceeded 60 on load, so all is well for sure   Also have an antec spot fan set on medium and aimed right over the NB and added a 200mm fan on the top of case, acting as exhaust, so im sure that all plays a part too.
Honestly, though, i really hope MSI is NOT using that paste anymore, because it really is just....well.....ill just say it's BAD lol. It sure as hell would work awesome for some kind of adhesive or glue that is for sure lmao. Maybe MSI should hold onto to that stuff, and give the glue market some competition lol. But yea, as a thermal compound, umm...i just sure hope they switched to a good type of paste for all their future mobos, especially the z68s. I also don't believe that the NB/SB heatsink ever needed a combo type deal, via the heat pipe, as this just creates more tedium. Heck, i dont even think the SB even needs a HS on it, as it doesn't even give off much heat at all. Mine is barely lukewarm to the touch. Not to mention, when taking it off, the heat pipe tends 'move/bend' a bit, and this means the heatsinks on either side will not match up well, or be perfectly parallel when you seat them back on the board. I had to keep bending it gently and standing it on my table til all 4 pegs on the bottom would touch, this way i would know that it'd reseat properly. I hope in the future that MSI will scrap that whole linked HS set-up.
As i stated before, love the board, and the TIM issue was the only issue i had with it, and now since that is resolved, i have no gripes whatsoever. Down the line, ill probably get a z68 soon, and wouldn't mind at all going with MSI, but id like to be assured first that some changes were made to the chipset cooling, because even though this was all a good learning experience for me, it is not something i want to go through again lol.
But hey, thanks a bunch for all of your advice HU16E and other mods as well. I was going to go with that Thermalright HS, and your posts (past and present) convinced me otherwise and the temps are down to what others got them to WITH that same aftermarket heatsink, so you saved me 30USD