Where's north, where's south, and where's east [bridge] on ASRock Z77 Extreme 4?

soarwitheagles

Lookin' for higher ground
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Hi again!

Ok, I am in the middle of my new build, and I would like to place 4 temperature probes for my Scythe Fan/Temp Controller.

I was thinking of placing one on the CPU [for sure], one on the northbridge, one on the southbridge, and one maybe on the RAM or Z77 chip.

Here's my challenge:

I see 3 heatsinks on this MB, but I cannot determine what is what.

Can someone please help me determine which is the northbridge, southbridge, and that other third heatsink I circled? I think the bottom small heatsink is the Z77 chip. Is that also called the Northbridge?

And where would you recommend placing the 4 temperature probes?

Please help me if you can and thanks in advance!

Soar
 

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The NB on Intel Core i chips are part of the CPU and the little heatsink on the bottom is the "southbridge" even though it is really just a small controller. Those don't get hot at all really so no point in placing a temp probe there. The top 2 heatsinks are the digital mosfets/PWM. Those also don't get very hot unless you are OCing pretty high. The CPU has an internal probe as well as the motherboard has a socket probe built in. DDR3 RAM also barely gets hot. Nothing really to warrant an external probe and anything that needs one has one built in like the CPU and GPU.
 
I would still put one on the RAM, CPU, GPU, and Hard Drives just because I've noticed built in ones aren't always right. Mine can sometimes be off 30 degrees F + or -.
 
I would still put one on the RAM, CPU, GPU, and Hard Drives just because I've noticed built in ones aren't always right. Mine can sometimes be off 30 degrees F + or -.

Either the sensor is broken or the software you're using isn't any good. If it's the sensor on the hardware I would RMA it because something else could be wrong too. If your drives are getting hot enough to warrant the need for a sensor then you don't have enough airflow in your case because your drives nor RAM should be getting hot.
 
I would still put one on the RAM, CPU, GPU, and Hard Drives just because I've noticed built in ones aren't always right. Mine can sometimes be off 30 degrees F + or -.

Since I already purchased and installed the Scythe Fan Controller and Temp Monitor, I will probably follow your good advice just for peace of mind and extra safety!

Either the sensor is broken or the software you're using isn't any good. If it's the sensor on the hardware I would RMA it because something else could be wrong too. If your drives are getting hot enough to warrant the need for a sensor then you don't have enough airflow in your case because your drives nor RAM should be getting hot.

Yes, you have a good point. And with the HAF X, I probably will never really need sensors as you suggest. But I like to be able to look anytime at my computer and see the temps on important components with just a quick glance. That is why I always use the Scythe Fan Controller and Temp Monitor in my personal set ups. Another reason I like it is because I can adjust the fan speeds and check the accompanying temp changes.

Soar
 

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Well my deal is you can't put your trust in external sensors because you don't get the exact heat. Internal sensors are much better on things like CPU and GPU due to them showing the actual temp of the product without heat loss. If I have any kind of feeling that I might be running hot then I just run my temp programs on my second monitor during gameplay. To each his own though. Everybody has personal comfort levels.
 
Well my deal is you can't put your trust in external sensors because you don't get the exact heat. Internal sensors are much better on things like CPU and GPU due to them showing the actual temp of the product without heat loss. If I have any kind of feeling that I might be running hot then I just run my temp programs on my second monitor during gameplay. To each his own though. Everybody has personal comfort levels.

Yeah, I totally agree I will not receive exact heat temps, but for me, in the ball park temps will do the job by granting me peace of mind that nothing is burning up due to dead fan, short, etc. I do not have or use a dual monitor set up, but that must be very, very sweet!

I simply enjoy the ability to glance down any time and get an in the ball park estimate of how the components are doing. I suppose I value peace of mind very, very much. Esp. after having a H70 fry my system. Who knows, maybe this Scythe may save my system one day!

Soar
 
Well, you can get one of those Logitech keyboards that has a screen to report temps. Or even a USB LCD to prop next to your monitor lol. I have thought about doing that several times.
 
Well, you can get one of those Logitech keyboards that has a screen to report temps. Or even a USB LCD to prop next to your monitor lol. I have thought about doing that several times.

Really?

I have never heard of a temp reporting keyboard or USB LCD. Please give me some links.

Thanks,

Soar
 
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