Video card with no cooling fan?

[robisc]

I have an ATI Radeon 9200, the fan is loud and I need to replace it, so what I really want is quiet, I don?t game much or have this card overclocked, my question is can I run this with just a heat sink and no fan with no issues? If so what heat sink is recommended?

 

[suszterpatt]

I'm not sure if there's much longevity in passive cooling, but if you're planning to keep this card for a while then you may want to look around for some passive coolers. Zalman, Arctic Cooling and Thermaltake have some promising models.

 

[mrkun]

Zalman VF700, Arctic Cooling ATI Silencer (make sure it's the correct version), and the Thermalright V-1 are the most recommended.

 

[cryptonomicon]

unless you dont mind dropping $30-40 or so for the specialized coolers, instead take a standard 80mm case fan and zip tie it to your video card. problem solved.. not to mention 80mm fans will have great airflow and are usually quieter as well.

 

[robisc]

thanks for the replies, but the Zalman and Artic seem a little too much $$ for this budget low end card, especially considering that it has a stock fan (I'm guessing 38 mm which is probably worth about $.50), so with that said I guess I was looking for a replacement type decent quiet fan or to go passive. And the 80mm case fans idea is out, I have no room for such.

 

[klah]

Many people at SPCR use the passivley cooled version of that card. The HS on the ATI branded card is extremely small.

http://www.ati.com/designpartners/media/images/R9200_BOARD_lg.jpg

That's even smaller than the Zalman northbridge coolers.

There are some heatsinks from Alpha about that size for around $6.

 

[mezrah]

I possess the pci version of this card (in case my main vid card crashes) and it has the same hs in the picture. i've never had a problem with it.

 

[Techno Pride]

sounds like a Zalman NB47-J will cool it.

 

[Operandi]

Originally posted by: Techno Pride
sounds like a Zalman NB47-J will cool it.

It will, I've cooled a 9600 Pro this way, the heatsink barely gets warm.