So, this modding gpu fans...

[letdown427]

I consider my 9800pro gpu fan to be evil. It is a nasty, nasty little POS, and comparitively, the 9600pro i briefly have replaced it with seems utterly, utterly silent.

My question is, if i was to remove that damn annoying 9800pro fan from the enclosed heatsink thing that ati glued onto this card, would funnel say an 80mm fan into the hole give adequate cooling? Obivously try it n see is the answer, but I was just curious? Basically, I would take the fan and probablythe top cover of te heatsink off, and have either just an 80mm (then prob a 120mm once i get another) blowing onto it, or funnel the air from a fan onto it. Don't worry about the logistics of where to put the fan, I'll sort that, I just want some input as to whether that should work?

Basically, will it matter if the air flow isn't quite as well channeled through my gpu heatsink as before, given that more air will be flowing?

Here's a pic of the monstrousity

http://microtron2000.com/MicroTron2000/images/itemslarge/radeon_9800_pro_256.jpg

 

[Bobthelost]

You have considered removing the cover and then enlarging the hole so the 80mm fan can be screwed onto the exterior of it?

There's no reason it won't work your way.

 

[letdown427]

I was planning on removing the flat aluminium cover that's screwed over te top of the HSF, removing the fan, and placing atm an 80mm over it. Lol, seems a stupid question to ask now, no reason it wouldn't work. :s

 

[Bull Dog]

it ought to work ok. Is your 9800Pro fan a 3 wire (as in the picture) or is it 2 wire?

 

[SickBeast]

I took the HSF off my X800Pro with no trouble at all. It was 2 small screws to undo, that's it.

Just make sure you have something that will line up with your existing screw holes. Either that or you can somehow epoxy a CPU HSF on there, but that will probably wind up making your card take up 3-4 slots.

 

[Bluestealth]

May I suggest this instead?

Arctic Cooling for 9800 Pro

Don't listen to the stupid reviews of those that killed their cards, it rocks... you?ll need to remove the metal shim surrounding the GPU before you install it (you have to do this to insure adequate thermal contact, even though it is only 1 mm thick). It was pretty easy to take off, remove the two retaining clips and use a razor blade to remove the metal shim, making sure not to cut off any resistors.

Its fairly silent and allows me to run my 9800pro above XT speeds, I might suggest ram shims if you plan to do some serious overclocking, but if your aim is to quiet the small annoying fan then they shouldn't be necessary. It isn?t too expensive and more elegant then what you describe ?

 

[letdown427]

________ <-Graphics card
======/ <- fan at that sort of angle
=====/


The == are just there to add the necessary space to the post, as typing multiple spaces doesn't work. That is the setup I have now, the card has the stock heatsink, except the aluminium cover is gone and the fan is gone. There is currently just an 80mm case fan blowing across it at that angle, I've also opened up the PCI slot covers so air is exhausted straight out of the case. It's a huge amount quieter, and I'll check if my OC has improved at all, but either way, i'm happy with how it turned out. The other PCI slots are empty at the moment anyway, so it isn't obstructing anything. I'm currently trying to get hold of a few of the Scythe S-Flex 120mm fans, as from what I've read and seen posted on other forums, they appear to be pretty damn good!

 

[dug777]

lol, i briefly had a 9800 pro with that hsf, and ya rly the little ****** was noisy, the original 9800 pro hsf was much better (although the fans always crapped out on me

 

[letdown427]

Nasty aren't they? Turned the PC from a reasonably quiet background whoosh to a humming moaning vacuum cleaner. Still, it lies in ruin now. I took the time to pwn it once i'd removed it and the new installation was working.