Cheers mate. That is interesting info. Will try the 40mm fan on the SB.
To be honest I am not a huge overclocker like yourself. I bought this board for stability and to be able to run SLI as my EVGA gave me a terrible time. Would have kept my Intel Bad Axe 2 only for I wanted SLI. I will be happy if I run my quad at 2.93ghz by just upping the multiplier. Should not add to much extra heat I think. And that is why I want the bios fixed. Alas my Bad Axe 2 ran it at 3.3ghz and ran it about the same temp underload (according to CoreTemp) as the Quad at stock on the Abit. And when idle it ran it about 10 degrees cooler then the abit (according to CoreTemp). Come to think of it Intel implemented EIST properly on their board and my multiplier dropped to 6x and my vcore dropped along with my cpu speed (1.6ghz), which explains the low idle temps. And I am just after realising this does not work at all on the Abit board despite it being turned on in the bios. My IN9 board always runs the quad at 2.66ghz. Should it not be running it at 1.66ghz if EIST is working ?? Another bug perhaps in the bios !!
As it stands now, even without the 40mm fan on the NB (and none on the SB), I have gamed at stock settings (except gpu's overclocked to 650/2000 and memory unlinked at 1066,4,4,4,12,2T) for over 8 hours non stop and never saw my cpu pass 60, and my pwms seems fine too. As you say the SB is probably roasting away. But heh..if the board blows from the SB overheating and Abit only recommend cooling the NB to dissipate heat more quickly - then that is what warranty is for I guess
Right now I think I am reasonably well ventillated....I am using an Akasa Mirage case. Have a 120mm Noctua 1200rpm fan as intake, and another on the Akasa thermal sidepanel, and a 3rd as an rear exhaust. Runining one of the better air coolers (Tuniq) though it is a tight fit and I probably need a thinner layer of AC5. May step up to a basic water cooling or TEC at some point. Will definitely try the fan on the SB anyway.
Thanks