Personally, I feel that the only time you should ever have to worry about Northbridge temperature is while overclocking. I've never had a big problem with NB temps while overclocking, but I'm not really into the extreme stuff. Even with the passive heatpipe cooling, you really should have additional active cooling, such as a fan blowing directly on the radiators, if you are pushing your system to its limits. What we need is an active NB heatpipe cooler that can do the job silently, efficiently, and with a fan that will last. The guys at Thermaltake have taken care of this problem with their new NB cooler, the Extreme Spirit II, an actively cooled heatpipe cooler for your Northbridge. Let's see if it will give me some peace of mind in the NB department.