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My friend's 6600GT's is the silent pipe version of the Gigabyte ...he's having temp problems and I suggested he try fitting an Arctic cooler - problem is in retrospect he doesn't think the heatpipe is removeable. Can anyone shed any light or help in anyway?
Make sure the card has a power connector or you won't be able to run the fan. I had an X800 card with a passive heatsink and it had no way to power the Arctic cooler I wanted to use. Also the hetasink is murder to re-attach in that it won't make 100% contact again: its sort of pressed into shape rather than assembled with screws or bolts. Also, the 2-pin connector will be murder to adapt (I don't know if you can) to a Molex though you may be able to run it from a mainboard header: maybe someone knows different and can correct me.
Its definitely removable - all you have to do is unscrew it.
You're friend is also a bit stupid - who cares if they run hot - they're supposed to run hot - they're passive ffs! I've cionsistently run a GPU at 70-80c without any problems.
Unless its causing critical heat problems to other componentsk which I doubt, why is he bothering?? Probably because he's caught up in the "ooooh, I need 45c because 50c is BAAAD" brigade and been brainwashed.
actually it's not that at all - it's running at 100C lol...causing random lockups and artifacts
good point about the fan connector though, cheers for the tip
I agree, an overhead fan would be ideal. These things are designed to run quite hot to the touch but they'll run just fine all the same. The only reason I needed to return mine was because the heatsink interfered with the RAM otherwise I'd have kept it it's a nice piece of engineering.
I built a system for a client earlier this year with a passive Gigabyte 6600. Temps were fine, but I did make sure I had a 120mm fan at the rear of the case, and a 120mm fan in the PSU, to help air flow. I also used an Abit A8N board, and set up the OTES fans to kick in at 40C. I ran it 24/7 for a week doing dnetc cracking, and the case never got up to the 40C for the OTES to kick in.
Long story short, make sure that your airflow through the case is enough to take away the heat from the GFX card.