Video Card Fans...

[Maxxarcade]

My computer has been acting up for a while. And today I tried playing a game, which I don't normally do, and everything started changing colors and glitching up.

So I decided to check the video card. The fan was working, but apparently not well enough, because it was sitting at 83 degrees celcius

I ended up replacing it with a fanless Asus Geforce 9600GT. This makes the third video card I've had die because of a cheap and/or underpowered fan. And this one was only a year old this month.

[bgavin]

Re: Video Card Fans...

I concur. I search long and hard for cards without fans for the same reason. The problem is, all the new cards run so damn hot.

I'm not having any luck find a main stream card for business (non-gaming) use. My needs are for 2D, fast, clear and stable. The old Matrox G450 dual-head filled this need perfectly, and the price was reasonable.

[willawake]

Re: Video Card Fans...

yes i am absolutely finished with gpu fans
i cant even seem to find any replacement fans that dont crap out early.

why do you need anything special for business. a slient 7200GS, 8400GS, EAH3450 would be just fine.

[kc8adu]

Re: Video Card Fans...

i just peel the label and feed it a drop of oil once a year.
i guess cheap caps bit mfrs in the ass hard enough that they stopped using them and started pinching pennies on fans.imho video card fans have been junk all along.
like a evga card at the shop.junk fan killed it to where game graphics were fuzzy.
but it had sanyo polymers for caps.to add insult to injury evga's warrenty is a real pain in the ass.
after several months of bullshit mike finally got a replacement.

[Paul S]

Re: Video Card Fans...

I feel your pain! I am now working on my nVidia 6600GT. I already oiled the fan once, so now I am thinking about a replacement. I already replaced the fan on my Radeon 9700 Pro. The aftermarket fan is so big that it takes up the PCI slot next to it. I don't want that for the 6600GT.



I found the original, made by Evercool.
http://www.evercool.com.tw/products/oemodm_pn21.htm


Here's some replacement fans by Evercool
http://www.buyextras.com/dc12vvgahef...FSK1IgodBB25Bw

Here's mine


And here's the replacement


I see that NewEgg.com also has them, so I'd rather get it from someone I have dealt with before.

I ended up getting $300 worth of stuff at NewEgg!

[kc8adu]

Re: Video Card Fans...

i bet that original "ball bearing" fan has a standard oilite sleeve bushing in it and only thing retaining the oil is the sticker!

[pentium]

Re: Video Card Fans...

If a fan fails on a card I own and the fan is some proprietary POS i just remove the fan and look for an alternative in my box-o-fans and attach it any way possible 9usually wire or hot glue). When the fan died on the card in my linux box I got lucky and the holes for the existing (and whimpy) heatsink were the same for a NB heatsink I had in my box-o-heatsinks.

[bgavin]

Re: Video Card Fans...

I ordered two MSI fanless cards from Newegg. These are the nVidia 7300LE cards that sell for $25, final at $15 after rebate.

The reader comments sound like the very large heat sink is not making proper contact with the chip. Perhaps the application of some AS5 paste and some better springs will make this a usable card for business applications.

[Paul S]

Re: Video Card Fans...

i bet that original "ball bearing" fan has a standard oilite sleeve bushing in it and only thing retaining the oil is the sticker!

I oiled it and put it back together already. Otherwise I would snap another picture.

You're correct about the fact the sticker is the only thing holding the oil in. It also looked to be a bronze bushing, not a ball bearing. Although I didn't take it apart that far to really get a good look.

I was worried that the replacement fan was of a lesser quality than the original (ball vs sleeve). But now I am not too worried.

[gdement]

Re: Video Card Fans...

I have a box of 40x20mm fans I use on chipsets, but I've never tried fitting one to a video card. They seem perfectly reliable so far. I'm not sure if the increased depth is the reason, but I feel more comfortable with a 20mm fan than those 10mm (or even shallower) fans that come preinstalled on everything.

[gonzo0815]

Re: Video Card Fans...

I haven`t had a problem with this on my systems. But probably due to the fact, that i never use stock cooling for anything.
I usually put an Zalman VF700 or something from Arctic cooling on my cards (e.g. this one : http://www.arctic-cooling.com/vga2.php?idx=147). Just for noise and long therm reliability.

I think if you spend some €€€ for an GFX, why bother spending a good fan for about 15€ to 20€?

[kikkoman]

Re: Video Card Fans...

the best stock fan i've seen so far was a Sunon with Maglev bearing on an OEM MSI card. it still works well after ~5 years.
@gonzo: +1 on the Zalman (although it's a bit pricey).
i've had one AC VGA Silencer whose circuitry burned out and melted the plastic casing.
but you probably can't go wrong with that Accelero thing.

[Paul S]

Re: Video Card Fans...

Reviews of the Artic Cooling Accelero, on NewEgg.com, say that it won't work on a 6600GT card.

The Zalman VF700 is so big that it covers the PCI slot next to it.

So, both of these solutions won't work for me.

[bgavin]

Re: Video Card Fans...

If I were considering a hot-rod card, I think I'd confine my search to those that fit the Accelero.

I've already had an expensive eVGA card die from fan failure. Don't want any more of that.

[gonzo0815]

Re: Video Card Fans...

Yea, some AC VGA cooler have had problems, but i would say it is not that common.
At least i have had no problems with anything from AC.
But sure, the Zalman cooler is from better build quality but always a little more expensive.
Officially, the 6600gt is supported by the Accelero, but there is always the risk, that a specific non reference design card does not fit.
And sure, there is always the possibility, that someone messed up the installation.
I think you have to be aware, that if your card is different from the mainstream, you have to make sure, that any silicon chips is well cooled (e.g. Rialto Bridge chip).
For those who want it all straight out of the box, there a many shops who offer GFX cards already equipped with AC coolers.

For a few days, my friends Radeon X700 went foo.bar due too an stuck fan. it even messed up the registry on his system, so i had to reinstall it.
Seems that the card has now some issues, but only some minor glitches when closing 3d apps.
He has used the card with the bad fan probably over several week w/o recognising it. Then he got some VPU recover messages during a wc3 session, and asked me about it.
The HS was one of the ultra light & cheap ones, so not much heat radiation w/o fan.