Geforce 4 cooling? (Leadtek specifically)

[oogabooga]

I have a WinFast A250 made by Leadtek and it has a really large heatsink surrounding the card with two fans builtinto the heatsink. (at the time of posting there was a picture on the Leadtek Website) I was wondering if anyone knows if the Thermaltake cooler for the Geforce4 is better than the one the leadtek comes with, and if so, is it completely compatible (i.e. memory heatsinks, cooler fitting etc) Thanks!

 

[eno]

I have the same card and I can tell you the cooling that comes on it is not bad. What you need to do is get some articsilver3 remove the heatsinks and apply AS3 to the core and memory then throw the cooling back on. I was able to overclock the memory 15mhz and the core 10mhz past where I was without it. No joke. I have my 4400 running at 314mhz/644mhz(275/552mhz). Don't bother with another cooling setup , save the money for like a fan / side case fan for to blow air directly on the card if you want additional cooling. Also if no side case fan, get one of those cheap PCI exhaust fans, they don't move alot of air but do suck away most the heat that gets built up underneath the card. Good Luck.


ALSO REMOVE THOSE DUST GUARDS!!!!!! GOOD INCREASE IN OVERCLOCK JUST RIGHT THERE!!!!!!!

 

[Lord Evermore]

The GF4 cooler from thermaltake will fit (using one now). Use the thinner heatsinks on the memory on the side with the fan, and the big heatsinks on the backside memory (which gets no airflow).

Don't know if it performs any better. The only reason I changed was because the Leadtek's noise was godawful compared to the rest of my system, and the same thing with a friend who got one at the same time. The GF4 isn't any quieter, but at least the fan doesn't sound like it's about to come to a grinding halt and spew parts across the inside of the case.

If you're not trying to get an overclock, then "better" is a useless term. It works just as well, and I was able to undervolt the fan to make it quiet without any problems.

 

[AgaBoogaBoo]

oogabooga, you aren't using that name because it resembles mine are you? I don't mind if you made it up on your own but I just hate it when people steal my name after seeing it a few times. 🙂

 

[oogabooga]

Actually as much as i hate to admit it, i've only used the AnandTech forums for a little while and have never seen your name 😱 This is the name i use in all my endeavors just cause it's a funny name. I'm not trying to bite off you, and thanks for the tips, I'll try Eno's advice first, and then if i'm not satisfied with the results I guess i'll purchase the GF4. As for better, I DO want to overclock the card and noise is of no concern to me (my computer has too many fans and no controller, and my roommate's computer is even LOUDER than mine). Thanks for the tips

 

[Elcs]

Originally posted by: eno
I have the same card and I can tell you the cooling that comes on it is not bad. What you need to do is get some articsilver3 remove the heatsinks and apply AS3 to the core and memory then throw the cooling back on. I was able to overclock the memory 15mhz and the core 10mhz past where I was without it. No joke. I have my 4400 running at 314mhz/644mhz(275/552mhz). Don't bother with another cooling setup , save the money for like a fan / side case fan for to blow air directly on the card if you want additional cooling. Also if no side case fan, get one of those cheap PCI exhaust fans, they don't move alot of air but do suck away most the heat that gets built up underneath the card. Good Luck.


ALSO REMOVE THOSE DUST GUARDS!!!!!! GOOD INCREASE IN OVERCLOCK JUST RIGHT THERE!!!!!!!

How the **** did you get that heatsink off? I popped the push pins and it didnt feel like budging. I too have a Leadtek 4400 but the heatsink completely refused to budge. I hope you didnt need to do the freezer trick.

 

[Lord Evermore]

The heatsink only uses plain old silicone grease on this card. Most any card that has push-pins is just using that rather than the epoxy used without push-pins. You need to twist it a little bit, but not too forcefully of course since you can bump capacitors and stuff, or slide it slightly. The grease creates a suction force when you try to pull straight up. Also of course the back plate is a separate piece, which hooks under the edge of the front piece.

 

[Elcs]

Originally posted by: Lord Evermore
The heatsink only uses plain old silicone grease on this card. Most any card that has push-pins is just using that rather than the epoxy used without push-pins. You need to twist it a little bit, but not too forcefully of course since you can bump capacitors and stuff, or slide it slightly. The grease creates a suction force when you try to pull straight up. Also of course the back plate is a separate piece, which hooks under the edge of the front piece.

So I take the front off then the back? When I can be bothered to try and take my card out, I'll try.

The little white tab on the AGP slot takes me a while to push since i cant fit my fingers around there.

 

[jaeger66]

Not only does my Leadtek 4400 overclock to over 4600 levels with the stock cooling, it does so with one of the fans not even running. So replacing it is probably a waste of time.

 

[oogabooga]

Hey guys, thanks for the good advice, here's an update of what's going on. I am using the gf4 cooler by Thermaltake now and it's doing wonders for me. I tried out the stock one and began pushing, but honestly, the results were dissapointing (310/630) as compared to a stock (300/600). I then tried the few lil tricks [replacing grease with arctic silver/dustguard removal] and it did imporve, but only every so slightly. With the GF4 Cooling system it's running much higher (324/700) and it raised my 3dmark2001SE score up to 10,000 from 9,569 so i guess it was worth it for me. Thanks.