Can anyone give an idea as to how to remove the chipset fan on my DFI LPNF4-SLI-DR without pulling the MB out? It has stopped working and I need to replace it quick before I mess up the MB. (runninf at 70*C!!!!)

sounds familiar, Seems to be the motherboard in the next room that didnt' even work out of the package for me..haha.. Love those motherboards for being so poorly designed...

Im assuming I haven't gone stupid and you're meaning your CPU fan that gets attahced to it to to prevent your CPU chip from overheating like hell

in that case its just simply figuring out how to detach your fan from its slot, Depending on the processor it might be attached to your cpu because of the compound you put on it or that got put on it, that part will be really tricky to do if that's the case, Im not 100% sure how to do that exactly..

Assuming your fan is much like mine, Which is a long shot, There should be a screw on one side of it that you can losen, I actually had to walk to the next room to get the look at the DFI, basically the board has a hook design for cpu fans, which basically requires one side to latch on the bottom area of it, If not both, so if you can loosen the one side of the fan enough to unlatch it, the other should come off no problem

if your cpu is attached to the fan via the compound like I said, I have no idea how to go about that,

This might confuse you more than help you but, Eh, Hope it helps a little

EDIT:

Here is a quick picture of your motherboard bare, To better illustrate what I mean...

if you look at the yellow square in the middle you'll see 2 fork type areas, Your CPU fan should latch onto those, and there should be some way of loosening the grip on it, Most likely a screw like I said, So just loosen the one side and it'll unlatch

Your compound (if dry and cool) should "stick" your cpu to your heatsink. No problem, a hair dryer to to heat up the heatsink (once you've removed the fan itself: see below) will help to soften up the compound between the two. Be sure to clean all of the compound then reapply before you attach your new fan/heatsink to your cpu.

If your cpu doesn't have screws as resp has said, then it may very well have "clips" or levers that "snap" into place. To undo these, read the manual on them as it may have pictures or specific step by step instructions. In a nutshell, be extremely careful with it! You'll have to pull the arms on either side of the heatsink to free the heatsink from the motherboard (it attaches to the motherboard, not the cpu itself: it just sits on the cpu). Now, take a hair dryer to the cpu to warm it up a little bit, trying frequently to gently (GENTLY) pull the heatsink off the cpu.

To replace everything, just follow the directions that come with the new items that you've purchased. You'll have to apply a thin, even coat of thermal compound to the heatsink or cpu (follow instructions which one), then attach the heatsink to the cpu then mount the fan.

Hope this helps!

Its not the CPU fan. That would be too easy! In your picture of the MB, its the fan lower and to the left (south bridge I think.) So, it looks like the MB has to come out because these are push pin type fasteners.

FWIW, I have never had a problem with DFI MB's. I have had DOA MSI, BIOCHAIN <?>, TYAN and a few others. Never a DFI. The tick with this issue is the size of the fan.....it is small. I found an Vantec that I think will fit but I'm not sure. We'll have to wait and see when I get the nerve up to pull it apart.

You totally lead it on to be hte CPU fan..totallly.. mobo fan would've been more correct for the problem

YEa you're going to have to take it out, Im not sure how these things come out but it should be as easy as unplugging it and uscrewing somethings or prying it off,

you might be lucky to find a fan to fit that, not too sure hwere you can get one


and, For the record, At the time I bought my DFI board, they were brand new out of the factory type thing, Like my friend just built his at the time, And it was quoted as being 8/10 of the boards that they produced were faulty or something like that, because of some way they made them or whatever, can't remember the exact specifics but I know that a ton of people bought them and RMA'ed them or traded them in right away

Sorry you thought the wrong thing! I built this one so I know how it comes out, I just hate pulling it all apart. You know unplugging everything from the back of it and pulling the case apart again. I just put in a new power supply. I need a new case fan too. I see that one of them isn't working. More stuff, more money. Oh well.

Perhaps you should replace everything at once...just to get it all over and done with in one swoop!