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Is cooling for a video card absolutely necessary?

M

mallik

Senior member
This guy gave me a video card to try out and he doesn't know if it works. It came with a fan originally, but the fan is missing. I was wondering if it's safe to try it out, even for 30 secs. without a fan, just to see if it works. If it's not safe, how long would it have to run without a fan for damage to occur? I know with a CPU it's not safe at all, and even if you try to run without a fan for 10 secs, the CPU could fry. Is it the same with video cards?
 
It really depends on the card. Some older cards did not need fans. Most newer cards will fry without good cooling. Do you know what the model is?
 
i wouldn't risk it....grab an old fan and fasten it to the heatsink in any way you can, use some tape or something, it should be enough to test the videocard without frying it

 
never nvidia's have a temp limit where they cards will speed down, but its still not good for it, although i have heard of a 6800 GT running w/o a fan for over 3 hours @ 120C O_O, talk about good heat tolerance.

Bottom line, dont
 
just open up your pc and get a house fan and point it straight into your pc. that should cool the video card and everything else. 😛
 
Well it's an older card (Asus v6600 deluxe). There is no heatsink or fan on the card. I don't see any mounting holes or anything around the chip, so I'm wondering how the heatsink and fan are attached to the chip.
 
I see...is there some kind of thin heatsink on there, or is it just the fan? Also I read that the board has some kind of temperature and smart fan control. That's all a function of the board right? I don't need a special fan for that do I?
 
The 3 wire plug indicates that it is probably a smart fan with an RPM sense wire. It is a one piece heatsink and fan, I believe.

They usually mounted using expanding locking pins, so you'd be looking for some small holes in the board. You would press the center part of the pin out from the backside to release the pin.

They could also have been epoxied on.
 
Not intending to be a problem here, but you do realize this video card is over 5 years old now?

It would probably be better to not even install it and get another card.

This was from the original Geforce series. Not a 2, 3 or 4.. But the original Geforce.

I mean, did they even throw in the Stereoscopic glasses that came with this?

If you have the glasses, sure, go find a fan, and get it attached.

The reviews I looked at stated that it did have thermal protection built in. *BUT* that might somehow be tied into the fan header there, and almost certainly a utility/driver feature.

An original driver disc for this video card would go a long way to helping you keep the card in running shape. The special features of the card would probably not be exploited if you used an Nvidia reference design.

Gentle

P.S. This card sold for almost $300 in late 1999.
 
Heh, I know it's an old card, but I figure maybe I can find a heatsink/fan for $5 or so and slap it on to get it working. It's still a decent card if you don't play any games, and plus it has VIVO functions.

Anyways, would THIS be sufficient for the card? It's got the three wires too. I don't need to apply a thermal pad or thermal paste or anything do I?
 
It should be okay. You will need some kind of thermal material if the fan doesn't come with it.

Hey, I have a GF2 Ultra that I still use and am fond of. 😀

It has ramsinks on it yet!
 
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