video card fan

[MidNiteMysT]

i think the loud high pitched sound is coming from my graphic cards fan. i would like to replace it with a zalman, but how do i find out what zalman fans are compatable with my graphics card? or even better, do you think i should get the antec, super cool pci slot thing? only problem i have with that is, i only have one exhaust fan and i already have a intake fan which would cause positive pressure. ide rather have negative pressure. currently i have a antec pci slot fan exhausting air.

would it be ok for my graphics card if i were to unplug the fan to see if it gets any quieter, or will it cause the graphic cards temps to go really high?

Thanx.

 

[Varun]

depending on what kind of card it is, I would not recommend just unplugging the fan. On that note my GeForce 4 Ti4200 ran a long time with no fan, however I think it got pretty hot. When I noticed how quiet my computer had been lately I found out the fan wasn't working...

There are many good options to replacing that fan. The VF700-Cu or ALCu are great quiet GPU coolers.

There is also the ZM80D-HP which is a completely silent solution, however it should be used with a fan on some of the newer cards.

If you got either of these solutions I would recommend removing the PCI slot fan. They tend to be pretty noisey and clog up over time, and they don't do a lot of cooling for the noise they bring. If you have an intake and exhaust case fans you should have plenty of airflow depending on your case and components.

 

[MidNiteMysT]

oops, cant believe i forgot to say what video card i have. i have the geforce 6600.

i put the pci slot fan right under the video card to exhaust the hot air right away. and it has 3 setting so i usually put it on low and its very quiet. i currently have this but maybe this is better to use but like i said, it might cause positive pressure.

so your saying after putting on the zalman, i dont need to have a pci slot blower and can just rely on my yate loon exhaust fan. correct?

the vf700-cu looks pretty good. and ive heard zalman is very quiet. i just wanna make sure that the graphics card is the one adding that high pitched sound and adding enough noise to spend $25.

 

[rise]

whats that the 6600 vanilla? agp or pci-e?

you have to be careful with the zalman as the size can cause some problems depending on where the core is located.

http://www.zalman.co.kr/product/cooler/VF700_compatiblelist_eng.html

i think all those little slot coolers are pretty much the same. they help a little but kinda loud in there own right. iused one before, the 3.99 model from newegg, the dynatron i think. but they all look the same.

 

[Operandi]

If you spend about 5 mins on Zalman's site you'll be able to figure out what heatsinks work with your card.

The Zalman VF-700 is a good option and can handle just about anything. If you want to get creative and are comfortable with soldering iron you can wire the VF-700's fan directly into the card's fan header. I'm pretty sure the 6600s have dynamic fan control.

The 6600 doesn?t draw too much power the passive Zalman ZM80C and ZM80D should also work fine as well.

Oh, and get rid of the useless slot fan.

 

[Varun]

The AGP versions of the 6600GT and 6600 have an HSI bridge chip, and the core is moved compared to the PCI-E version. If you do have the AGP one, you can fit the VF700 however it will go off the side of the card. The ZM80D-HP works as well, but would work better with the optional fan. There are some threads about the AGP cards on SilentPCreview.com

If you have the PCI-E one you should be set, they are a standard card.

To find out which fan is the loud one, just carefully put your finger on the fan blades if possible, to stop them for a second.

 

[MidNiteMysT]

yea, i do have the pci-e version so i should be ok. ill try stopping the fan with my finger to see if thats the one causing the high pitched noise. and yea, ide like the fan to be operated by the fan header on the graphics card. i guess the zalman vf700 it is. im gonna stop the fan today to see if its worth spending the extra cash.

 

[MidNiteMysT]

i stopped the graphics card fan, and wow, what a difference. i didnt know it made that much freakin noise. thats the noise thats bothering me. im def gonna replace it. how quiet is this zalman fan? and is the vf700 cu the one i should get? thanx.

 

[Operandi]

Originally posted by: MidNiteMysT
i stopped the graphics card fan, and wow, what a difference. i didnt know it made that much freakin noise. thats the noise thats bothering me. im def gonna replace it. how quiet is this zalman fan? and is the vf700 cu the one i should get? thanx.

Very quiet, at 5v; almost inaudible in an already quiet system. At 12v I would classify it as fairly loud but my tolerance for noise is lower then most. On the systems I built with it I tied the VF-700 fan in with the CPU fan so the VF-700 increased it?s speed in relation to the CPU temp and load. It?s not a perfect solution but since it?s for all practical purposes impossible to load the GPU with the loading the CPU it works.

Either the ALCu or Cu will do fine; the Cu has a small performance edge for a small price increase.

 

[Varun]

I'm just going to warn you - as soon as you replace a noisey component you know imediately what the next loudest component is. This gets to be quite a nasty cycle that some of us can't break!

3 months ago I had a crap case with loud fans and I could hear my computer running in another room 30 feet away.

Now I can barely hear it, and the 120mm fans make such a deeper pitched noise, you'd think I would be happy, however I still want to replace my fans with quieter ones.

I run my CPU fan at 2% PWM with speedfan - you can't hear it.
I got the Gigabyte 6600GT Silentpipe - passive Heatsink = no noise
120GB Samsung SP - very very quiet but seeks are a bit loud so I want to suspend it with bungee cord or elastic bands
Antec Sonata - nice case, the fan only connectors sure make my 120mm fans a lot quieter, but I still want to replace them.

It's a vicious cycle. I can't believe how much noise I used to put up with.

 

[MidNiteMysT]

yea, i know what you mean. ive been using up a lot of money queiting this thing down. but i think this should be my last addition cuz i spent too much money already.

i got another idea tho, could i use some sort of bracket to attach a 92 or 80mm fan to be in place of the graphic cards fan and just unplug and remove the graphic cards fan? would that be a better, quieter solution?

they even have this one that doesnt even use a fan
http://www.bestbyteinc.com/prodinfo.asp?number=HSK-ZAL-80D

 

[Varun]

Your best solution is the VF700. The heatsink design is much much better than the reference HSF that most cards come with. It will lower your GPU temperatures and run quieter.

If you want pure silence, get the ZM80D-HP, however you would need some airflow over this to run it without a fan. My sonata case, for instance, has a 120mm fan that blows right on the video card.

 

[Operandi]

Originally posted by: MidNiteMysT
yea, i know what you mean. ive been using up a lot of money queiting this thing down. but i think this should be my last addition cuz i spent too much money already.

i got another idea tho, could i use some sort of bracket to attach a 92 or 80mm fan to be in place of the graphic cards fan and just unplug and remove the graphic cards fan? would that be a better, quieter solution?

That?s a far worse idea. The VF-700 is an investment as it works on just about every card made and can handle the hottest of them easily let alone your 6600.

 

[MidNiteMysT]

Originally posted by: Varun
Your best solution is the VF700. The heatsink design is much much better than the reference HSF that most cards come with. It will lower your GPU temperatures and run quieter.

If you want pure silence, get the ZM80D-HP, however you would need some airflow over this to run it without a fan. My sonata case, for instance, has a 120mm fan that blows right on the video card.

well, i have the p160 case that has a intake fan but it would kinda be far away from the graphics card so it may not blow enough air to cool the zm80d enough.


1)i think u guys convinced me, ill get the zalman vf700 thats the best choice right? getting a 80mm fan to blow over the graphics card wouldnt be better? even tho, the slot fan is almost inaudible on low setting. then i can take out my slot fan and quiet it even more. i could even get http://www.jab-tech.com/customer/product.php?productid=3044&cat=145&page=1 and use that instead. i could even rip out the fan on that slot blower and let it be sort of a vent for cool air to travel through. since this slot fan blower is longer, the fan vent would be under the gpu fan more exactly.

2)about the ram heatsinks that come with it, i could use my artic silver grease to attach those right? or do they require an adhesive?

3)and one more thing. do i need a fan on my ram sticks? they have a heat spreader already and i dont over clock them, so they should be fine right? no need to have a fan there?

Thanx guys

 

[MidNiteMysT]

bump
almost have a conclusion

 

[imported_Kensai]

1) Zalman vf-700Cu

2) Adhesive works better, it makes sure that the ramsinks stay on.

3) You don't need a fan on your ramsinks. They don't run *that* hot.

 

[MidNiteMysT]

when you say adhesive, your referring to the sticker backing that comes with the mini heatsinks, right?