Okay to unplug my motherboard chipset fan?

Factual Questions
1

One for the hardware techs out there:

I have an Asus A7V133 motherboard, and the chipset fan noise is driving me (and the wife) crazy. This is actually the second fan I’ve had on it as the first lasted less than a week. I’ve seen many motherboards not run any fan at all on the chipset, just a heat sink. I currently have the fan unplugged and MBM is showing my CPU temp at 107F and the motherboard sensor is at 64F, although it is a cool 56F in the room right now (winter in NZ). Where is the MB temp sensor anyway? It doesn’t tell me in TFM.

I should add that the computer is not overclocked, and the case has both front and rear fans. I have an internal thermometer in the case and temps there have never gotten out of hand.
Many thanks.
capn

2

here is info on obtaining a free passive chicpset cooler from Asus. I don’t know if they are still doing this, but worth a try. Apparently the Northstar heatsink fans they originally used are pretty crappy.

3

Ack! That’s only for germany. In any case, it appears that it will be fine if you replace the HSF with a sufficiently beefy passive heatsink.

4

Just to clarify, the “motherboard temperature” is actually the ambient temperature of the air in the case, not monitoring any actual component. On an A7V133, you should be fine if you just remove the fan, since the KT133 chipset doesn’t produce all that much heat and you’re running at a quite decent ambient temperature. Do remove it as opposed to just unplugging it, since it will block airflow to the heatsink if it’s just sitting there.