Removing HSF from 9700pro

[kushtibari]

Trying to get the noise down and looking at the Zalman ZM80 cooler for my 9700pro. Don't have any worries about fitting the Zalman but never taken fan off a graphics card before and wondered if there were any pitfalls to avoid.
cheers

[DsW]

Trying to get the noise down and looking at the Zalman ZM80 cooler for my 9700pro. Don't have any worries about fitting the Zalman but never taken fan off a graphics card before and wondered if there were any pitfalls to avoid.
cheers

The plastic thingys that go through the heatsink and come out at the back of the card were the hardest bits I seem to remember. Pinching the ends at the back of the card with pliers allows them to be removed more easily. Also the heatsink might be quite well stuck onto the GPU due to the thermal paste so be patient when you're prising it off.

For VGA cooling you should also consider the Vantec Iceberq4 CCB-A4C and
Arctic Cooling VGA Silencer because they

+ are a lot less expensive
+ have better or equal cooling performance
+ are pretty much silent
+ are easier to fit

cheers,
dave

[Pita^Norf]

IME theres also another concern in that the shim on the 9700p may prevent contact of your new cooler to the GPU core.

I had a 3 of the 9700p and 2 out of the 3 required the removal of the shim after scraping off the stock TIM material.

[kushtibari]

Cheers for that Dave, I'd never looked at the alternatives - Vantec one looks great but fancy the Arctic one - only about fifteen quid and gives you the choice of silence or performance when you want it and gets good reviews.
I'll check out the shim as well.
cheers
mark

[SilentDeath]

dont get the zalman one! it works by storing heat and v slowley disapating it unlike nowmal h/s that just dissipate quickly. having had one on my 9700 i can tell you it gets very annoying, and will need a heatsink. it wont be that good for overclockgin either.

i wont recommend the vantec one, the ver4 might be good but the original (which is a less powerfull version) almost let my card overheat clocked at 230 core. the new one would be better but i odnt imagine it would cope at 380+ core speeds.

artic cooling one is one i would recommend though not used it, other ppl have said its good, and its resinably cheap (£9.99 at pcw). im sceptical of how it will perform with the main disipating part being aluminuim.

the best cooler you could get would be an 80mm fan based large copper fan heatsink, for example a slk800. these are CPU sinks, not gpu so require mods to mount it (just two holes through it and some bolts and nuts to hold it on). GPU's output almost the same power as cpu's do now so if you intend for silence or good overclocking look at cpu sinks.

the 9700 gpu shim is not really something to worry about, though you could file it a bit if you are worryed. imo its best to either leave it on, or take it off and after use several layers of insulation tape to build up a similar shim but slightly less high.

check the card doesnt overheat - best way is to ground your self first, then touch the back of the gpu, which should only be warm if its cooled properly....

[BEANFro Elite]

people i know who've replaced the cooler have removed the shim which voids your warrenty but you can find tutorials on how to remove the shim safely.

[SilentDeath]

ive left my shim on, it didnt get in the way atall...