I'll be the first to admit that many times I can be pretty clueless, but just exactly how noisy can a northbridge really be? Personally, I'd be worried about having the fins exposed on the I/O slot that could easily be bumped and the next thing you know, either your northbridge is fried or you've got a cracked mobo.

Hey, I'm all one for innovation but with me, the glass is always going to be half-empty as long as I can barely afford this gear.

Kudos to Abit for their ingenuity but it's not something that I'd look into getting.

Rob