Do I really need a fan for my RadeonVIVO?

[Armageddon415]

The fan on my card is starting to annoy me. Can I unplug the fan on it without it overheating? Right now I'm running at 200/200 but I'm willing to go lower if it'll allow me to pull the fan.

 

[Zim Hosein]

Armageddon415, the fan on my Radeon is the quietest fan in my rig. If it's under warranty, you might want to contact ATi and tell them about the noise from the GPU cooler. Just a thought.

 

[Operandi]

The chip doesn?t need active cooling but it dose produce enough heat where it would need a decent sized HS. The problem with unplugging the fan is the HS itself doesn?t have much surface area, without active cooling this might not be enough to keep it cool.

 

[The_Lurker]

Probably not... my Radeon LE can't be stable clocked at 190/190.. i have to lower it to 168/168, then it's alright. If i replace the retail sink (something like a TNT2 sink) with a large S370 designed for CEli's, then it's alright. If it's under warrantee, contact ATI, they'll probably replace the fan or card for u, (probably fan), if not, take the heatsink/fan off, and put on a large S370 sink (something that takes up somewhere around 1 - 2 PCI slots would probalby do alright. YOu do need good case circulation though, or it'll probably overheat after a while.

 

[Workin']

That card should still be under warranty - mine was. I just had a very positive RMA experience with ATI - with a credit card deposit they will send you a new card before you have to send the broken one back. I made all the arrangements via e-mail after initially contacting them through their web site. It only took 2 days to get the exchange set up and then another 4 or 5 days to send the replacement card. Then I sent the broken one back at my convenience. I was really surprised (and impressed) because 1 day after I submitted the RMA request through their website they sent me an e-mail (from a real person!) to work out the details and after that every e-mail was answered within hours. I had read horror stories about dealing with ATI but they were very friendly and helpful and fast.

 

[Armageddon415]

Thanx for the reponses. But I dont want to bother with a RMA, so I just pulled an old fan from my 486. Although, I'm having a small problem now, when I first turn on my computer, i need to give the fan a little push before it starts up. How many watts does the header on the card provide?

 

[Workin']

<< How many watts does the header on the card provide? >>

I don't know but voltage is what gets the fan turning - so either the 486 fan is old and tired or the Radeon fan header's voltage is lower than the starting voltage needed. Once a fan is turning it can stay running on less voltage than what it takes to start it, BTW. That's why it runs OK after you give it a little push.

 

[tenoc]

Replace with a Blorb from ThermalTake.