GPU heatsink designs - time for the standard plastic shroud to change

[Deanodarlo]

One of my major gripes about some modern GPU's is the heatsink designs which are covered with plastic shrouds. In this design, dust can easily build up around the fan and the edge of the heatsink right next to it, massively compromising cooling after a period of time.

We all get dust build up, some more than others, but for some reason the plastic shrouds on some GPU's have the removal screws on the bottom under the PCB or hard to access places so........you have to remove the entire heatsink assembly to clean out a little bit of dust, and invalidate your warrenty and mess up the thermal paste.

Why don't the plastic covers have their screws or locks on the side, top or bottom so you can remove the plastic and clean out dust easily, with the heatsink still in place? Surely this is in the interests of manufacturers so cards don't overheat and get returned?

It's one of the reasons I buy third party cards and coolers - looking out for the ones that are easy to clean. I hope the 480 GTX has an easy to clean cooler - it's going to need it!

 

[crazylegs]

I'm sure more can be done in terms of cooler design - trouble is cooler / quieter doesn't trump cheaper as a marketing tool.

Personally i'd like to see GPX cards sold with no HSF i.e. intended only to be used with 3rd party air / water cooling.

However, i guess this does not happen as it'd probably turn into an RMA nightmare an 'average' person would more than likely manage to majorly fail somehow! lol

 

[cbn]

I think 480 GTX has a removable shroud.

 

[yh125d]

I think 480 GTX has a removable shroud.

Yes, pretty much all full shroud cards do but he's saying one removable without taking the entire cooler off, which usually breaks warranty and requires TIM reapplication.


He's wanting one that say has tabs on the side where you can leave everything intace but the shroud, but I doubt that will happen, as some guy could pull it off thinking it will run cooler but will actually make it overheat and possibly kill the card

 

[jtisgeek]

I agree I don't run the cover on my 4890 at all helps temps since my side case fans blow across the whole heat sink.

 

[Daedalus685]

Yes, pretty much all full shroud cards do but he's saying one removable without taking the entire cooler off, which usually breaks warranty and requires TIM reapplication.


He's wanting one that say has tabs on the side where you can leave everything intace but the shroud, but I doubt that will happen, as some guy could pull it off thinking it will run cooler but will actually make it overheat and possibly kill the card

What you describe is exactly how the gtx480 cooler works.

We will start to see this kind of thing eventually I imagine... As with anything the ability to clean something goes up and down. The stock 4800 series coolers are pains in the ass to the extreme.. but most after market coolers have exposed fins to some extent and are not too painful.

 

[cbn]

Yes, pretty much all full shroud cards do but he's saying one removable without taking the entire cooler off, which usually breaks warranty and requires TIM reapplication.


He's wanting one that say has tabs on the side where you can leave everything intace but the shroud, but I doubt that will happen, as some guy could pull it off thinking it will run cooler but will actually make it overheat and possibly kill the card

http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/graphics/2010/03/28/nvidia-geforce-gtx-470-1-1280mb-review/2

Yeah, I think this is how the Fermi coolers work. Here is a review of 470 GTX discussing the ability to remove just the shroud (while leaving the heatsink intact on the card).

 

[yh125d]

Well then disregard that, I suck


Nice thing to have though as an enthusiast, but I have a feeling a handful will pull it off to cool their card down, which isnt a viable strategy with those cards

Although I suppose putting a 120mm fan on top wouldn't hurt




But some shrouded cards have the top 1mm or so of the find bent over so that they're sort of box shaped where you can only blow in the two ends anyway, so that pulling the shroud off doesnt help as much for cleaning. I know my 4890 was like that

 

[Deanodarlo]

Yes, pretty much all full shroud cards do but he's saying one removable without taking the entire cooler off, which usually breaks warranty and requires TIM reapplication.

Yeah, that's what I mean. It's silly that the heatsink has to break contact with the GPU and RAM just to be cleaned.

If the Fermi has removable plastic shrouds and an in-place cleanable heatsink, that would be a great improvement over some previous standard designs.

As for how this should be done - yeah side tabs, or even just screws that are accessable without unmounting the main heatsink.

I think this all started in the 6800/x800 era and has continued. Can't believe they design complicated kick-ass cards, then neglect a simple thing as an easy-to-clean cooler that doesn't require you to invalidate your warrently to remove some crappy dust.