Video Card mod (X800gto2 in my case)

[aaqubit]

Thought I'd share this with people looking for lower GPU temps but don't really want to buy those third party solutions.

I have a X800 GTO2, factory set to 16 pipes, and I get 45C idle/82C full load when scanning for artifacts with ATI Tool (default clocks of 400/490 and default fan speeds).

Then, I unscrewed the 'lid' of the stock cooler, revealing the internal fins. Running ATI Tool gives me 44C idle and 70C full load scanning artifacts.

There are two reasons I came up with:
1. The lid has a sticker, which is a very poor heat conductor
2. I have a case fan blowing over the video card, so direct contact with the fins are better (the case fan is 120mm blowing only at 950rpm)

12C drop, anyone? :beer:

 

[Ayah]

I want a 12C drop.

 

[Lord Evermore]

The housing/cover isn't exactly meant to be absorbing heat and passing it on to the air, it's not making enough contact with the other parts of the heatsink to really do that well, so the sticker probably isn't an issue. A lot of coolers use a plastic cover anyway. The cover is just intended to direct the exhaust air away from the area that the fan is pulling air in, so that the fan doesn't end up just recycling so much hot air.

Most likely it's the extra case fan being able to completely flush out the hot air from the area, and removing the cover allows more of that cool air to make contact with the fins than the card's own fan can push through the shroud.

With the shroud installed but without the case fan, it'd probably be even hotter than the 82C load you got before. Try it without the case fan blowing, but with the cover removed, and it might even be warmer.