HSF On Radeon 8500

[ctk1981]

I know I read somewhere in one of the other topics that someone had mentioned how cheesy it was. Was wondering, how hard is it to remove and replace the heatsink/fan on the 8500? What ones are you guys replacing the fan with? I havent gotten mine from dell yet, so I have no clue as to how its held in place (epoxy or screws or those plastic things?). Wanted to take the stock HSF off, if it wasnt to much trouble, replace it with something in a chrome or tin plated HSF and slap some tin coated ram sinks on....more or less to dress it up and provide some extra cooling. Got that window and neon light in the new case, gotta show off the goods!!


Now if Dell would just hurry up and send me my graphics card the new computer would be totally complete! Right now im gimping by with a Rage Pro Fury.

 

[Soccerman]

I know I read somewhere in one of the other topics that someone had mentioned how cheesy it was.

yeah I lmao every time I see the heatsink/fan on the geforces and radeons.. they're not even heatsinks (on the main chip with the fan), they're just a 'holder' for the fan..

 

[anime]

just use your old credit card that you are not gonna use anymore and flip the heatsink open.
They put too thick of some sort of thermal glue on it..
I just buy a regular old pentium pro heatsink with the base lapped and stick it on with artic silver epoxy --run much better now..

 

[lifeguard1999]

Yes, the HSF on the 8500 is pretty wimpy. But on the good side, it is much quieter than the one on the original Radeon. It makes me wonder if it is even needed.

 

[ctk1981]

Okay, I think im gonna give it a shot when it finally gets here. Decided on going with a crystal orb and some tin coated ram sinks. Quite a chunk of change going into dressing up, stupid ati should have done this in the first place...I mean cmon, those geforces look so tuff with all those heatsinks!! Hehehe, anyways thanks for the help.


Btw, the pentium pro heatsink wouldnt be a bad idea...especially considering I seem them over at ubid for a 5 pack for like, 9 dollars usually. But I want something with a fan on it so I can raise the total number of fans in my computer to 10.

 

[AA0]

tin coated heatsinks? why.... tin sucks as a conductor of heat, plain alunimum is better, same with those BS nickel HSF combos.

 

[tazdevl]

They are tweakmonster copper heatsinks that are coated with tin. The tin just prevents the copper from oxidizing. It has no impact on the thermal properties of the heatsink.

 

[ctk1981]

Anyone got a good recommendation on how to remove this dumb thermal epoxy/glue they used from the core? Right now im practicing on a TNT2 M64 Card that I had laying around. Got the heatsink pried off, but around the edge of the core there is a heavy layer of this crap....tried a razor blade..not making much progress...afraid im scratching the core more than anything...and this of course, will not be acceptable when doing the R8500. Would a steady hand and low speed dremel with a sanding drum would take this off better? Course, not sure if the Radeon 8500 is gonna permit me the room to get my hand in there to do it.

Anyways, im gonna give it a quick try and see what I can produce for results. Just hope the new card doesnt have that much crap left over on the core to try and remove.


In response to why the tin coated heatsinks...like taz said, its just to prevent it from oxidizing. And to further that, I dont think the ramsinks are going to help that much anyways...its more or less a dress up than anything. Plus I always like trying out new and wild things...like the windows, neon/cold cathode tubes, blowholes in the top of the computers, etc. This way if anyone I know ever asks me I can say I done it at least once! Now I only have to wait for my graphics card and a place to stock the crystal orbs and Ill be up and running.

 

[ctk1981]

Ah nevermind the last post.....I just changed a blade on the exacto knife...needed a different shape to get a lil bit of flex and leverage, then that thick layered crap started coming off real nice. Hopefully the R8500 will be just as easy.

 

[tazdevl]

Helps if you put it in the antistatic bag, tape it shut and dump it in the freezer for 15 mins. Makes the glue brittle, much easier to pull off.

 

[The_Lurker]

<< I know I read somewhere in one of the other topics that someone had mentioned how cheesy it was.

yeah I lmao every time I see the heatsink/fan on the geforces and radeons.. they're not even heatsinks (on the main chip with the fan), they're just a 'holder' for the fan.. >>



Yano, speaking of cheesy heatsinks and fans, the original Katmai's had the worst designed heatsink and fan for a CPU. The Fan pumped out a whoping 8CFM and basiclaly they were relying on the heatsink which didn't do much good since the paste was crap. So be glad at least ur card has a somewhat good hs/fan