If it's one thing I'm a sucker for, it's a deal I know is going to be almost more hassle than it's worth. So when I saw that newegg had an XFX 7600GT for 190-something with a $30 rebate and a coupon for a copy of Ghost Recon: Advanced Warfighter, I HAD TO HAVE IT. Of course, having a XFX 6800GS and a single PCI-E x16 slot meant that something had to go, so the old video card went on the market as the new one arrived swathed in packing peanuts. A few PDFs and stamps later, the rebates were sent out and the card installed.
Then I realized that this XFX 7600GT followed in the fine tradition of the XFX 6600GT AGP (which I also owned, then sold, when the XFX 6800GS looked like a steal) of having a MY-TEETH-ARE-GRINDING-CONSTANTLY whiny fan. The 6600GT's fan was fairly easily tamed when I replaced it with a 70mm fan from the stock AMD heatsink/fan. You could just remove the fan shroud with a jeweller's screwdriver, pop out the fan, and use some self-tapping screws to bolt a 70mm low-profile fan onto it. It assuaged the geek in me to know that XFX had bolted a copper plate onto the aluminum 6600GT cooler; temperatures slightly improved and the noise went away.
So when the 7600GT's fan threatened to sterilize me with dastardly ultrasound magicks, I decided I'd have none of it. I prepared for a quick and easy victory, armed with a spare OMG LEDS fan that came with my Raidmax case. My confidence would be short-lived.
Like some devious demon-type demon-thing, the cooler lured me in with spring-loaded screws that were easy to remove... then the fan shroud came off with nary a whimper. But when I got to the screws binding the plastic banshee to its copper prison, they laughed at my feeble efforts as my suddenly-ineffectual screwdriver STRIPPED THE THREADS! At that point I knew the fear David felt, facing Goliath, the screaming throngs laughing at my efforts to remove this thrice-cursed fan.
Like Atlas, bearing the weight of the world, the fan refused to budge from the prison to which it was lashed.
So then I said screw it, and just bolted the 80mm fan on top of the old one. As it turns out, the screw-holes anchoring the fan shroud can be jerry-rigged to accept the exotic and highly technical toolparts known as "twisty ties." One corner was vanquished, then the other! Like that one dude who killed that hydra thing in that one movie, I looped the last twisty-tie through the fins of the heatsink and the beast cried uncle.
As I gazed upon my creation, I knew love, fear, and hate - all at the same time. I knew that the beast could only be tamed for a short time before its fiery wrath would try to consume me... but that is a tale for another time.
What was important now was that my land could know peace, as it was bathed in the orangey-reddish glow of the one called... "Light Emitting Diode."
and that's my story kthxbai
Then I realized that this XFX 7600GT followed in the fine tradition of the XFX 6600GT AGP (which I also owned, then sold, when the XFX 6800GS looked like a steal) of having a MY-TEETH-ARE-GRINDING-CONSTANTLY whiny fan. The 6600GT's fan was fairly easily tamed when I replaced it with a 70mm fan from the stock AMD heatsink/fan. You could just remove the fan shroud with a jeweller's screwdriver, pop out the fan, and use some self-tapping screws to bolt a 70mm low-profile fan onto it. It assuaged the geek in me to know that XFX had bolted a copper plate onto the aluminum 6600GT cooler; temperatures slightly improved and the noise went away.
So when the 7600GT's fan threatened to sterilize me with dastardly ultrasound magicks, I decided I'd have none of it. I prepared for a quick and easy victory, armed with a spare OMG LEDS fan that came with my Raidmax case. My confidence would be short-lived.
Like some devious demon-type demon-thing, the cooler lured me in with spring-loaded screws that were easy to remove... then the fan shroud came off with nary a whimper. But when I got to the screws binding the plastic banshee to its copper prison, they laughed at my feeble efforts as my suddenly-ineffectual screwdriver STRIPPED THE THREADS! At that point I knew the fear David felt, facing Goliath, the screaming throngs laughing at my efforts to remove this thrice-cursed fan.
Like Atlas, bearing the weight of the world, the fan refused to budge from the prison to which it was lashed.
So then I said screw it, and just bolted the 80mm fan on top of the old one. As it turns out, the screw-holes anchoring the fan shroud can be jerry-rigged to accept the exotic and highly technical toolparts known as "twisty ties." One corner was vanquished, then the other! Like that one dude who killed that hydra thing in that one movie, I looped the last twisty-tie through the fins of the heatsink and the beast cried uncle.
As I gazed upon my creation, I knew love, fear, and hate - all at the same time. I knew that the beast could only be tamed for a short time before its fiery wrath would try to consume me... but that is a tale for another time.
What was important now was that my land could know peace, as it was bathed in the orangey-reddish glow of the one called... "Light Emitting Diode."
and that's my story kthxbai