Fan on HD6950 died in less than a year. Recommended replacement hsf?

[yacoub]

I'm not interested in overclocking, just a quiet fan that will last a long time, which apparently the OEM one did not on my Sapphire HD 6950 2GB card.

I see Arctic Cooling has some nice ones but even a best price place like Amazon wants around $85 for it ($99 MSRP), which is about a third of the price of the freaking card, lol.

Is there something more reasonably priced that's still quiet and durable? I don't need overclocking so much as just easy to install and reliable.

Thanks.

 

[VirtualLarry]

Sell it on ebay or here in FS/FT as "with bad fan", and use the money to buy a new 7000-series card, like a 7850 or so.

 

[d3fu5i0n]

I have a Sapphire 2GB model of the 6950 - mine's the original non-reference version: http://us.sapphiretech.com/mc/image..._2DVI_PCIE_C03_634414122339178512_600_600.jpg

How common is a fan issue?

But VirtualLarry's thoughts are agreeable; the middle high-end cards are just around the corner with some great enhancements. No doubt you'll be thinking you might like to upgrade soon, so rather than spending extra money patching things up, spend a little more now/soon and be done with it

Although in your case, you might want a slight speed boost. Therefore the 7870 is probably the minimum spec. card to look at.

 

[yacoub]

That's the model I have. No idea if it's common or not for the fan to fail.

Not sure why I'm getting GPU recommendations. Just looking for a hsf to replace the stock one so I can keep using this card a bit longer.

Thanks.

 

[ss284]

The fan on my card died, and I RMA'ed it to sapphire no problems. Took about 10 days.

 

[Creig]

I would definitely just RMA it if it's less than a year old.

 

[yacoub]

I've submitted a support ticket on Sapphire's website inquiring as to where to send the card for replacement of the fan, and whether they supply a return label, etc, since I didn't see any RMA service info on their website.

 

[d3fu5i0n]

I've submitted a support ticket on Sapphire's website inquiring as to where to send the card for replacement of the fan, and whether they supply a return label, etc, since I didn't see any RMA service info on their website.

Be prepared for the awful situation in which some of the replies indicate that some of them can't even speak English.

Hope all goes well...

Sapphire does carry a 2 year warranty though. I can't believe I didn't think about it before, but you should be able to RMA it.

 

[yacoub]

Well, I'm also open to getting an aftermarket hsf to replace the stock one, which in the end may be simpler than dealing with an RMA system that apparently may involve overseas?

edit: card sent in for RMA. They were prompt in their response, which is cool.
edit 2: Got the card back last week. In fact, it appears to be an entirely new GPU (different serial #).