Quick question about 4870 cooling.

[Seero]

Okay, here is the story:
My workmate came to me, looked puzzled, with a Asus HD 4870 in his hand. He said : "do you know where I can replace the fan of this?"
I said : "Well it will be easier to buy a new heatsink altogether."

Mistake, it is a mistake. So in short I am pretty screwed as I really don't know what caused the shutdown on his son's PC, and that is why he looked funny.

Here is my problem. Yes, i can simply throw in 50 bucks for a heatsink, but isn't it a bit too expensive for an old 4870? So I said:
"get a new card."

MISTAKE MISTAKE MISTAKE!!!
Yes 5770 or 450 will be a good replacement, but they are around 160 plus tax plus shipment before rebate. So I said:
"You may as well get a 460 for that price."

MISTAKE MISTAKE MISTAKE!!!
He is a dad of multiple kids and cash isn't things that he have lot to spend on things that isn't for him. He is a good dad and is thinking of getting a new card for his son, but he is really short in cash. So I said:
"Give me a day and i'll see what I can do."


Okay now, what should i do? The following are my options:

a) 90mm fan + ziptie

b) 40-50 bucks aftermarket heatsink.

c) I looked around and found Accelero L2 pro that is around 20 bucks. It should fit, but it never stated that it supports 4870, it supports everything else but that.

Can anyone show me the light before tomorrow?

 

[Ghiedo27]

I really don't know what caused the shutdown on his son's PC

Wait, so it's not operating at all? Do you know if it's just the fan not working or the card not powered at all now? Why does he think it is the fan? Is the heatsink still on the card?

It sounds like you took his word that it was indeed just a fan problem and ran with it. For all you know the power supply popped. I wouldn't even consider a purchase without taking a look at the computer if I was in your position.

It's a tough spot to be in. Normally swapping in a spare part would simplify things a lot, but you don't want to give the false impression that they're keeping your card if it works. :\

 

[nardz84]

What does the case fan setup look like? I fixed my 4870x2 heat issues by just adding an extra 120mm in the case pointed straight at it. I wouldn't just flat out replace the fan on the card if the rest of the setup isn't doing a good job moving air to begin with.

 

[gorobei]

he needs to test to make sure it is the card fan. Throw the 90mm on and see if it works. if yes then either get $20 new cooler or stick with the jury rig. accellero s2 are cheap enough and came out during the 8800gt 4870 era so compatibility is more likely or easier to find out.

 

[Seero]

In short the system shuts down in 5 minutes. I don't think it is the vcard, but the fact that the fan isn't turning and the HS was hot like an iron. That was what I was told.

Anyways, it was an Asus EAH4870 768mb with a cyclone style fan. I brought the Accelero L2 as the size of the heatsink is bigger than the original, fits (I hate when one of the thread is loose, thread modded), and most importantly, i got it for cheap, under 20 bucks. Hey words of father are important to children, I can't let a father down. Or maybe it is a mistake, remind me not to next time please.

Will post the result if you guys are interested in it. I suspect the PSU gone bad too, meaning the system will die in several months if lucky.