How I lost 16C on my GFX card without spending a cent.

[RSDXzec]

I have just sold off one of my 9800GTX's and theres a lot more room in my case in the PCI slots, I decided to use that room for cooling.

First I stress tested my XFX 9800GTX, I ran crysis, high res, lots of AA and explosions, so the game lagged a bit but it was only to get the Card real hot. Obviously I wouldnt run the card like this usually but it was good to get temps.

My stock temps were IDLE: 63C and LOAD: 78C
Last year I asked for stock heatsinks and I also received an ASUS 9800GTX cover. Now I used this cover because I thought my XFX cover looked better and I didnt want to ruin it, but you dont need a second cover to do this mod.

I took pics of each step, to show here on OCAU.

Here is the original cover with no mods.



Step 1. Here I had drilled 4 holes for the fans to screw onto.



Step 2. Because I dont have any expensive hardware I just had to improvise with what I had so to cut out the hole for the air to travel I marked the circle with a scribe and then drilled out within the edges of that circle.



Step 3. Then I used a pair of pliers to cut the thin parts keeping the plastic together.



Step 4. I used a hacksaw to remove the pointy parts.



Step 5. I used a File to smooth it down a bit. Now its not completely smooth but its smooth enough, I have a crappy file and to make a perfect circle would take me ages. But who cares, theres enough room for the air to travel, and the edges arent even visible in the finished product.



Step 6. Then I screwed 2 fans together and made sure they were blowing air towards the heatsink, and that the cords coming off the fans were in the correct position to be able to connect them to my PSU.

Front View


Side View


Bottom View


Step 7. Now that the cover was done I had to remove the original heatsink.



Step 8. And whilst I was at it I decided to add some thermalpaste I had lying around.



Step 9. Here is stock vs modded when both covers were off the heatsink.



Step 10. Then I put the heatsink back on the GFX card and put it in my PC.

Heres some pics to show off the final product.







Now I stressed it again and got IDLE: 50C and load 73C

Thats a crazy 13C IDLE and 5C load. I was going to buy aftermarket cooling and now I dont need to. Now Im Ocing and seeing what I can get out of it.

This is my first good mod so I hope you like it

Cheers.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ok, so I decided to mod an intake fan as well.

Drilled the holes



Mounted the fan





And put it in my case



I have added all the results to the bottom.

What I proved from doing this is I need more room between the intake fan and the stock fan, this was obvious from the beginning because the intake fan is much larger than the hole for the stock fan.

I had tried this before with cable ties and I achieved better results, so a wind tunnel would be the best way to go to reduce temps.

[RSDXzec]

Best OC
Core:815Mhz
Shader:1.84Ghz
Memory:1.245Ghz

And I just wanted to add that these load temps are not the highest temps my card can reach, simply the temperature that they reached after doing the same test on them.
I have been able to get the load temps a bit higher but only after playing crysis for about half an hour.

Reserved Test results post.

Original Test Results
Stock
IDLE: 63C
LOAD: 78C

Modded, twin intake fans piggy backed
IDLE: 50C
LOAD: 73C

New Test results:

One fan, no turbulence
IDLE:49C
LOAD:73C

One fan, exhaust
IDLE:48C
LOAD:67C

Two fans, one mounted on stock fan (Intake), one mounted at other end of card on modded slot (Exhaust).(Cable Tied)
IDLE:48C
LOAD:65C

Two fans, one mounted on stock fan (Intake), one mounted at other end of card on modded slot (Exhaust).(Cable Tied) + Stock Fan 100%
IDLE:47C
LOAD:63C

Two fans, one mounted on stock fan (Intake), one mounted at other end of card on modded slot (Exhaust).(Screwed On)
IDLE:48C
LOAD:66C

Two fans, one mounted on stock fan (Intake), one mounted at other end of card on modded slot (Exhaust).(Screwed On) + Stock Fan 100%
IDLE:47C
LOAD:65C

HR-03 GT
IDLE:46C
LOAD:61C

THE FINISHED PRODUCT



THE HR-03 GT

[Rezin]

Nice. The fans don't even look like they're warping the shell in any way either.

But won't having the two fans like that cause turbulence? Would it be better to have a single fan? Is it any noisier?

[RSDXzec]

Originally Posted by Rezin

Nice. The fans don't even look like they're warping the shell in any way either.

But won't having the two fans like that cause turbulence? Would it be better to have a single fan? Is it any noisier?

its is noisier if you open the case and put your head near the GPU but otherwise I cant tell the difference.

It might be better with one fan, will test that later and post pics and results.

Cheers.

[Thraxeh]

I don't think two fans piggy backed like that would be of benefit. In fact, it could have potential to reduce performance of the fans.

My suggestion would be to have one fan blowing air in and then another on the other hole blowing air out. Further mods could include ducting from outside the case.

[RSDXzec]

Originally Posted by Thraxeh

I don't think two fans piggy backed like that would be of benefit. In fact, it could have potential to reduce performance of the fans.

My suggestion would be to have one fan blowing air in and then another on the other hole blowing air out. Further mods could include ducting from outside the case.

yeah Il test with and without the 2nd fan, and Il also see about maybe putting some kind of fan or doing a mod to extract more air thru the back. See how low I can go with stock cooling

[qwertylesh]

you totally made the existing blower fan redundant.
I would have stuck to the same one way blower design and just increased the CFM by mounting a 6CM over the blower

the air direction used to go like this

^^^^^^^^^^ <Heatsink
<---- <---- <-----
-----------( ) <blower


now its like this
^^^^^^^^^^
<----> <----->
--( )------( )

[Spork!]

I saw a big temperature drop on my 9800 gt just by cleaning the crud off the HSF and applying a decent TIM.

[RSDXzec]

Originally Posted by qwertylesh

you totally made the existing blower fan redundant.
I would have stuck to the same one way blower design and just increased the CFM by mounting a 6CM over the blower

the air direction used to go like this

^^^^^^^^^^ <Heatsink
<---- <---- <-----
-----------( ) <blower


now its like this
^^^^^^^^^^
<----> <----->
--( )------( )

well its cooler, so im happy

[qwertylesh]

haha yeah, if you have heaps of cfm exhausting out of the case anyway, and don't care about turbulence then it doesn't matter.

[Dave2972]

Originally Posted by Thraxeh

I don't think two fans piggy backed like that would be of benefit. In fact, it could have potential to reduce performance of the fans.

Two fans have a higher air pressure than one fan but not a greater airflow. Higher pressure is better when the fins of a heatsink are close together. The assumption here is that both fans are of equal performance.

[ir0nhide]

You would have been much better off with replacing the existing radial fan, now you've got 2 (stacked) fans fighting each other as well as fighting the stock fan.

Now you're boned as you've already massacred the shroud.

[RSDXzec]

Originally Posted by ir0nhide

Now you're boned as you've already massacred the shroud.

what... I think you missed the part that I used another cover, my original one is still perfectly intact.

[ir0nhide]

Originally Posted by RSDXzec

what... I think you missed the part that I used another cover, my original one is still perfectly intact.

Ooops, my bad, sorry !

In that case, consider mounting the untouched shroud and boosting the stock fan (maybe mount another fan over the top using double sided tape or similar to avoid permanent damage).

[RSDXzec]

Originally Posted by ir0nhide

Ooops, my bad, sorry !

In that case, consider mounting the untouched shroud and boosting the stock fan (maybe mount another fan over the top using double sided tape or similar to avoid permanent damage).

I have already tried running the stock fan 100% but it wasnt as good as this.

What about mounting another fan ontop of the stock fan but keeping one where it is now, then I have two extra fans mounted on it. Its getting a little crazy but do you think that would work or just mess up the airflow even more?