Through an on-going saga of dead 6200's and moving a video card around like a $5 whore I recently decided to purchase an 8500GT from a forum member here and I hadn't even received it(i don't think it'd even shipped for that matter) before the sickness took over. I had to find a way to modify it, atleast a little.
My situation is a bit odd though. My HTPC is built off a DFI NF4-DAGF board and I have three PCI card that more or less have to be there. I have a pair of tuner cards and my EMU-1010. That meant that anything taking up more than one slot below the card was out. I do however have nothing between my graphics car and my cpu. The HSF on the cpu is a cheap-o ASUS unit out of an HP that I've lapped and gets the job done and done quiet. So there is tons of room there.
After LOTS of research and a reality check from the fiance about budget, I decided on the Zalman VNF-100 for $30 plus shipping at SVC. When it arrived I was actually supprised by it's size. Not only is it a litter wider and thicker than I thought but, it's shorter. It takes up a maximum of one full slot above the card. Installation was a little easier than I had expected to be quite honest, considering the 4 layers of metal to be assembled. As I was constructing the puzzle for the front side it really struck me the quality of the parts and the thouroughness of the design.
For example, the screws that attach the bracket through the card are threaded both at the tip and the base, independantly and are the opposite thread from one another. The screws screw to the bracket counterclockwise so as the spring-loaded screws on the back tighter they will not loosen the screws or just let them freewheel.
Got it assembled, including removing the stock HSF and cleaninup all the factory goop, in about 20 minutes. Got it popped back in the case, expecting similar temps to the stock unit and to my suprise, my idle was 10C cooler. So I loaded up ATI tool, turned on EVERY setting in the nVidia control pannel from 16AA to 16AF, high quality textures and transparency AA. opened up the 3d view and let it run. to my AMAIZEMENT it peaked at 50C up from 39C idle whereas it was idling at 49C and peaking at 64. Did I really get a 10C idle and 15C load drop with a passive heatsink over the stock active heatsink. Nv Monitor and ATI tool agree on temps so yeah, I guess I did!
Now, go buy one!
My situation is a bit odd though. My HTPC is built off a DFI NF4-DAGF board and I have three PCI card that more or less have to be there. I have a pair of tuner cards and my EMU-1010. That meant that anything taking up more than one slot below the card was out. I do however have nothing between my graphics car and my cpu. The HSF on the cpu is a cheap-o ASUS unit out of an HP that I've lapped and gets the job done and done quiet. So there is tons of room there.
After LOTS of research and a reality check from the fiance about budget, I decided on the Zalman VNF-100 for $30 plus shipping at SVC. When it arrived I was actually supprised by it's size. Not only is it a litter wider and thicker than I thought but, it's shorter. It takes up a maximum of one full slot above the card. Installation was a little easier than I had expected to be quite honest, considering the 4 layers of metal to be assembled. As I was constructing the puzzle for the front side it really struck me the quality of the parts and the thouroughness of the design.
For example, the screws that attach the bracket through the card are threaded both at the tip and the base, independantly and are the opposite thread from one another. The screws screw to the bracket counterclockwise so as the spring-loaded screws on the back tighter they will not loosen the screws or just let them freewheel.
Got it assembled, including removing the stock HSF and cleaninup all the factory goop, in about 20 minutes. Got it popped back in the case, expecting similar temps to the stock unit and to my suprise, my idle was 10C cooler. So I loaded up ATI tool, turned on EVERY setting in the nVidia control pannel from 16AA to 16AF, high quality textures and transparency AA. opened up the 3d view and let it run. to my AMAIZEMENT it peaked at 50C up from 39C idle whereas it was idling at 49C and peaking at 64. Did I really get a 10C idle and 15C load drop with a passive heatsink over the stock active heatsink. Nv Monitor and ATI tool agree on temps so yeah, I guess I did!
Now, go buy one!
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