XFX Radeon HD 6870 modification

They make noise, too.

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Daox
Posts: 46
Joined: Tue Nov 25, 2008 11:54 am
Location: Wisconsin

XFX Radeon HD 6870 modification

Post by Daox » Mon Oct 30, 2017 7:57 am

I got the itch to do some work on the computer this past weekend. The XFX Radeon HD 6870 has always been a noisy card. For years now I've mitigated that by running MSI's afterburner software. This allows me to adjust the fan speeds based off of the GPU temperature. This has made things acceptable. However, lately the fan has gotten unbalanced, or the bearings are worn or something. I've tried to lubricate them and it seems to work for a week or so. That simply won't do.

Here is the card as it is stock:

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So, I decided to replace the fan. I looked through my parts bin and found one that was the same diameter. It ended up being a no name fan, but it was quieter. I cut the old leads off the GPU fan, and soldered them on to the new fan. I reassembled it with some open cell stick on foam between the fan and the case, then attached the fan with some small zip ties. Its not pretty, but its definitely quieter.

Image

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I also found out that I was able to underclock the GPU with the MSI software, and it also automatically increased the clock speed as needed. Why is that not a default setting!?! Ah well, its nice to have it running cooler and quieter and using a bit less power.
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