Disconnecting the fan from an old agp card.

[ArisVer]

I have an old system to start and i want to remove the fan from a Diamond Multimedia Viper 770U. It will be used only for office applications (2D) and not frequently. I suppose there shouldn't be a problem removing the fan from the card. Anyone to confirm this?

 

[skipsneeky2]

Does it sound like a turbo jet on takeoff?

Maybe a 6200le or some other low end passive cooled card would be ideal?

 

[VirtualLarry]

Even older cards, if they came with a fan, probably need a fan. That's how they were engineered.

If you want a passive card, go out and buy one that was engineered that way.

If it's an AGP system, then get an AGP 6200A/6200LE card with a passive heatsink. Should set you back just shy of $50.

 

[Plimogz]

unplug the fan, try it with just the passive heatsink. It'll probably be fine; otherwise it'll artifact and crash before it burns. I would never think of spending close to 50$ for an AGP card as VirtualLarry suggests. Certainly not if it was my money, anyway.

Personally, I usually remove the old stock fan, leaving the heatsink in place (sometimes with a fresh application of thermal goop), and ziptie an 80mm case fan to the card and plug that fan into a motherboard header which, if BIOS allows, I configure to run at a low speed. Granted, it's an ugly, no non-sense fix, but it costs next to nothing (I have plenty of 80mm fans laying about), is good and quiet and most systems have the room to spare.

 

[SonicIce]

might be fine. unplugged fan on my northbridge its been fine for years

 

[VeryCharBroiled]

some of those cards came passive. as long as its 2D use only it should be fine. you can always do the finger test. it should barely be warm in 2D mode.

FWIW I ran an ATI HD3870 with a no fan (bearing went south) for about 6 month in a HTPC in 2D mode. HS barely got warm but it did have good airflow past the card.

 

[ArisVer]

Thanks for the tips guys.
With a closer inspection i found out that the heatsink is just a metal glued on the chip without any heatsink 'veins'. It has four posts on the corners for the fan attachments which are plastic clips with no way of removing them without breaking them. Since i removed the fan and broke the plastic clips, if it freezes i just have to modify another fan on it.