My North Bridge fan died: Seeking some cheering up

[Drew Carey]

Hi guys,
I have an Abit IC7-G and lately the North Bridge fan has been slowing down for small periods of time until this morning when I think it died.
I'm currently working with the heatsink alone, and was wondering how safe this situation is? I truly don't want to RMA the board just for the tiny fan. Is there any way to replace it?
Advice would be great.

[Riptide]

It'll probably be OK as long as you don't overclock. I would replace it, either with the fan direct from Abit or this:
http://www.excaliberpc.com/product_info.php?cPath=156_158&products_id=2469

[Drew Carey]

Thanks man, I didn't know they sold those seperately.

[ynnek]

or some people put a massive heatsink on it, if you got good temps and airflow in your case..

[Daneel Olivaw]

Don't worry about it... But you can easily bolt a 60mm fan on the Heatsink usually, that's what I did with my i865

[Bill The Cat]

I ripped out that 40mm fan on my old ABIT IC7. I got tired of the whiney noise it put out. Worked great without it.

I don't think a 60mm replacement fan would work. The Abit IC/S7 boards have the fan glued on there if I remember correctly. I recall trying to elegantly remove the fan from the heat sink, and eventually just ripping the sucker out, leaving a bit of mauled plastic and metal.

[Drew Carey]

Thanks guys,
I've been considering getting a Vantec IceBerq fan, what do you guys think (pic below because lack of being able to link to the site)?

http://www.vantecusa.com/images/image-ccba1c.jpg

[BioHazZarD]

should work good.