ASUS Motherboard problem

[Flash477]

I purchased an ASUS A8N-SLI SE through yourselves back in August 2006, so I am not sure what kind of warrenty this board has, but either way I'm kinda hoping you can point me in the right direction.

Basically the chip fan on the board is dying, and I quite often have to get the fan started by pushing the blades - once started it seems to work fine. I have checked for dust buildup and that does not seem to be the problem.

I tried contacting ASUS direct reading that this was a common problem and that they were just sending out chip fans, but they were wanting me to send in the whole board and pay £16 (postage) for the pleasure. Given that this is running my only PC which is also used for work I cannot be without it.

So my question really is:

1. Is there something that can be done to get a new fan under warrenty that does not require the motherboard to be sent in?

or

2. Do you sell a chipset fan that would likely be able to take its place?

Thanks

[leepen@scan]

Flash477,

Have you just been on the phone with me? Your board repair is likely to take 28 days if sent to them direct.
I am aware that these fans from Asus are in very short supply.

I have personally repaired two of the A8N motherboards with the following product;

http://www.scan.co.uk/Product.aspx?WebProductId=413050

I remember you stating that this may not provide enough clearance for an HD4870 card - if this is the case then my suggestion would be to pick up the Zalman cooler, sit it onto the motherboard and test whether the card would fit (but without fitting the cooler). If there's enough room, then you're onto a winner. If not, just return the cooler to us and look for another solution.

Either way, the above solution I can guarantee to work for that motherboard. The issue I had was A8N-SLI Deluxe motherboard fan failed (Purchased 2004) and repaired the motherboard thereabouts 18months ago. The system is still running fine, albeit with a GeForce 6200 (don't ask, long story!!!).

[Flash477]

Nope, that was not me on the phone - obviously a common problem indeed.

So are you saying that the only way ASUS will deal with these now is to be given the whole board? If that is the case then I'll look into the fan mentioned

[GoNz0]

http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Akasa...-with-BLUE-LED

should do the trick

[leepen@scan]

See Gonzo, I thought the same until I tried that. Basically there are no fittings/fixtures with that fan, only a thermal pad to stick it onto.

Stick with the Zalman cooler as I 100% guarantee that to work based on two previous repairs of A8N-SLI based motherboards

[Flash477]

hmm, I just double checked the layout and the trouble is I have a 7800GTX in there with a Zalman fan fitted, this leaves me literally mm near edge of the fan as it is, so still an 8cm high passive cooler on there would not work, unless if it was possible to run the card from the 2nd PCI-E slot it might just fit

[GoNz0]

2nd pci slot would kill the performance. u tried taking the sticker off the fan and putting a drop of oil in to get a bit more life ?

[synaesthesia]

Certainly worth noting that's a common failure point on all A8N's and you can pick up a suitable replacement sink and fan for a matter of a few pounds.

[Lee H]

Certainly worth noting that's a common failure point on all A8N's and you can pick up a suitable replacement sink and fan for a matter of a few pounds.

Yeah... my A8N-SLI deluxe fan failed but the replacement I recieved from Asus worked flawlessly until it decided that 1 of the RAM slots wasn't going to work and effectively dropped my memory from 2 Gb to 1.5 Gb (3 x 512 Mb sticks) and caused various BSOD's to appear.

It was just the excuse I needed to upgrade lol