[SOLVED] VGA Cooling Recommendation

[03GrandAmGT]

Went to a hole in the wall (SMALL) store surplus type place and picked up a CPU heatsink and fan. Also found a sprung stainless lockdown from another type of video card that would fit inside the CPU heatsink and screwed it down just fine on the dry run and used an ohmmeter to check for any possible shorting by moving the heatsink around. I will probably cut a corner off the heatsink though as it covers up one of the ram chips about a 1/4 of the way. For the ram chips I got some of the heatsinks that fit them perfectly. All this for under $9.00 USD.

And MANY THANKS to all who voiced ideas.

Thanks

John

HI ALL,

I have a MSI NX6600GT VTD 128 that the fan decided to go on permanent vacation. So I needs a replacement cooling solution. The problem is this card sits in a Ahanix D.Vine 5 HTPC case and whatever I wind up using CANNOT exceed the height of the card. There is only 1/8" between the top edge of the card and the bottom of the top cover. What would you recommend? I do not want to venture into liquid cooling at the moment. The warranty on this card ran out last month.

System Specs

MOBO: Abit AN7 CPU: AMD 3200XP

RAM: 512 Megs Ram Vid. Capture: PVR 250

VGA: MSI X6600GT ViVo Using Component Out

DVD Player: Sony DDU1615

OS:XP SP2 APP/SW: myHTPC/Meedio 1.38

DirectTV: RCA 486 Satellite Reciever

MITSUBISHI WS-A55

Thanks

John

Edited November 13, 2006 by 03GrandAmGT

[bonestonne]

at least to me, it looks like the fan/heatsink is removable.

you can remove it and put a PCI slot cooling fan under it for the time being, or you could hop onto ebay like the rest of us lazy people and see if anyone has the fan/heatsink for it...or you could contact a vendor and see if they have replacement fan/heatsink parts for it.

http://www.impactns.com/images/MSI%20NX6600GT-VTD128E.jpg

^thats what i'm looking at, i'm only assuming its what you have, or close to it.

i would not suggest leaving the fan on the heatsink, if you can get the fan off, you should put the heatsink back on, but the fin on the fan will trap heat, thus doing harm.

Edited November 12, 2006 by bonestonne

[jcarle]

Define height? And how much room in the other directions?

[bonestonne]

i think that he's got PCI slots maxed out, so he can't move any to sport a larger fan. hes got the room from the where the heatsink ends to the top of the next card down, which isn't much.

if theres a card you can remove, like a modem or something, i'd suggest removing it for the space, but its hard to say without knowing exactly whats in the PC

[LLXX]

Since when did fans mount on the top edge of the card?

[bonestonne]

what do you mean by mounted on the top edge? its pretty much where ever the heatsink is hottest, which is usually the processor, so where ever that is...

there are no real normal fan mounts...some cards dont even have fans on them...like my GeForce Fx5200...theres a plug for a fan, but i can't get one mounted or to use the power source on the card...

[jcarle]

Since when did fans mount on the top edge of the card?

They don't per se, but may his height limitations could extend in that direction. Some aftermarket fans can extend past the normal bounds of the card.

[Aegis]

He means something like this...

http://www.legionhardware.com/Pics/Thermal...03/Image_00.jpg

Which was exactly what I wanted to recommend to him too .

[03GrandAmGT]

bonestonne

at least to me, it looks like the fan/heatsink is removable.

Yes it is removable

you can remove it and put a PCI slot cooling fan under it for the time being, or you could hop onto ebay like the rest of us lazy people and see if anyone has the fan/heatsink for it...or you could contact a vendor and see if they have replacement fan/heatsink parts for it.

Will be doing that soon with the PCI Slot Fan.

i would not suggest leaving the fan on the heatsink, if you can get the fan off, you should put the heatsink back on, but the fin on the fan will trap heat, thus doing harm.

Ya, can FULLY understand that.

jcarle

Define height? And how much room in the other directions?

The VGA card is the standard height card. Distance from card to Northbridge is 1/2", Distance from card to first PCI Slot is 1"

bonestonne

i think that he's got PCI slots maxed out, so he can't move any to sport a larger fan. hes got the room from the where the heatsink ends to the top of the next card down, which isn't much.

I only have 2 PCI slots filled. Capture card in Slot 4 and Lan card in Slot 2. I have them spaced like this for cooling space.

if theres a card you can remove, like a modem or something, i'd suggest removing it for the space, but its hard to say without knowing exactly whats in the PC

Don't have any unneeded cards to remove

LLXX

Since when did fans mount on the top edge of the card?

I am referring to the TOP edge of the card.

The fan I looked at and tested in the case today was a Zalman 700. The fan and fins stuck up about an inch above the case.

http://www.zalman.co.kr/eng/product/view.a...49&code=013

jcarle

They don't per se, but may his height limitations could extend in that direction. Some aftermarket fans can extend past the normal bounds of the card.

Ya, like I only have about an 1/8" between the TOP edge of any full size card and the bottom side of the top cover.

Aegis

He means something like this...

http://www.legionhardware.com/Pics/Thermal...03/Image_00.jpg

Which was exactly what I wanted to recommend to him too

I looked at that today but the Heat pipes would be in the way of the top cover. Where the pipes are is where the Zalman fan and fins were.

If I could find an aftermarket replacement, that would be fine. I have looked on the web and I have found some but they are not compatible with the 6600 I have. Are there any passive coolers out there for this card? That would be great as long as they weren't too heavy.

Thanks for the replies

Here's a couple of pics.

Also this is what I was talking about in regards to the fan and fins being too high. And it's the same with the 700 model also.

http://www.zalman.co.kr/product/cooler/FS-V7_6600GT_eng.html

Thanks

John

Edited November 13, 2006 by 03GrandAmGT

[LLXX]

He means something like this...

http://www.legionhardware.com/Pics/Thermal...03/Image_00.jpg

Which was exactly what I wanted to recommend to him too .

isn't that a bit... excessive?

I've never seen something like that before except in a very high-end gaming machine. The 6600GT doesn't require that much cooling either. Considered using a low-profile CPU cooler instead?

[bledd]

arctic cooling nv6 rev 2, thats just what you need!

Edited November 13, 2006 by bledd

[Maleko]

I love my Zalman coolder on my 76GT

[03GrandAmGT]

Bledd, How much overhang of the actual fan. I have maybe 2" from the back edge of the card to my DVD. But yeah that is EXACTLY what I have been looking for. On the Arctic site last night I saw that and they did not have that listed as compatible with the AGP version. Only the PCIe, the FX 5700 AGP was listed only.

Thanks

John