The fan on my year-old 9800Pro was starting to die. I decided that instead of dropping ~$1300 for a complete new system I'd just spend $140 and buy another Pro since I'm not playing any of the latest gen games anyway in the little gaming time I have anymore.
When it arrived I swapped out the old card and noticed a pretty big change in the cooling fan. As you can see below, the old one had many more blades and they are angled in the opposite direction (so it likely spins in the opposite direction... and after installing the new one, I can tell you the old one was also much louder than the new one!).
I guess over time they have updated the fan to this newer design that is quieter and probably more efficient. I wouldn't be surprised if it spins at a lower rpm as well but I have no way to determine that.
http://users.adelphia.net/~jrockcls/9800Pros.jpg
When it arrived I swapped out the old card and noticed a pretty big change in the cooling fan. As you can see below, the old one had many more blades and they are angled in the opposite direction (so it likely spins in the opposite direction... and after installing the new one, I can tell you the old one was also much louder than the new one!).
I guess over time they have updated the fan to this newer design that is quieter and probably more efficient. I wouldn't be surprised if it spins at a lower rpm as well but I have no way to determine that.
http://users.adelphia.net/~jrockcls/9800Pros.jpg
