Cooler for my GTX 280?

[geno]

I can't seem to find a good selection or many reviews of coolers for GTX 200 series cards. The majority I see are designed for the 9800's and so forth and happen to work with the 200 series. I guess I'm not familiar enough with the 9800's and 8800's to know if there are many physical differences between them and the 200 series cards to know what coolers I should be looking at. Right now, searching for coolers specific to the 200 cards isn't turning up much. Can anyone either recommend a cooler to me or let me know what series I can cross reference as working with my card? Any info is appreciated - thanks!

 

[masteryoda34]

I haven't seen any aftermarket air coolers designed for GTX series. There are a large number of waterblocks available though.

 

[chizow]

PCGH GTX 280 Cooler Review

The stock GTX 280 cooler is really quite good, you can do a little bit better on the GPU with after-market, but the trade-off is higher VRM temps. The HR-03 is also quite expensive, not really sure if that's worth it for slightly better temps.

Older GPU heatsinks for the 8800 and 9800 series are typically not compatible with the 200 series, as the mounting holes and VRM cooling are different. This is also why I tend to avoid spending on additional cooling for GPUs, besides the price; I much rather spend more up front on more card, or a card with better stock cooling.

 

[error8]

This is the cooler for you:

http://www.thermalright.com/ne...ga_cooler_hr03gtx.html

But, what is wrong with the stock cooler?

 

[geno]

Originally posted by: error8
This is the cooler for you:

http://www.thermalright.com/ne...ga_cooler_hr03gtx.html

But, what is wrong with the stock cooler?

That's why I was looking for some reviews, too, to see if there is any noticeable gain over the stock unit. I just notice it gets REALLY hot and was hoping to find a unit with more airflow to get that heat out of my case a little better. I didn't know if such a piece existed or if the extra money just isn't worth it

 

[zagood]

Might want to start with your case airflow. Take off the side panel...if temps are remarkably lower, you need better airflow. Sometimes a simple thing like a PCI slot cooler next to the video card, a side door fan, Antec spot cool or Zalman fan bracket can have a huge effect.

-z