Quieting ATI Radeon 9600 Pro

jeg7732 · Post by **jeg7732** » Thu Dec 09, 2004 7:27 pm

Hello all, like others after stalking the boards and the website for so long, I finally decided to join. Lots of information to go through and can be overwhelming at times.

I've been reading about quieting the ATI Radeon 9600 Pro for awhile now, but I find myself still with a few questions. I want to replace the stock fan/heatsink with something passive. I don't overclock/ever plan to overclock so that's of no concern. I haven't played any games that would tax the video card as of late, might might start to again, and don't want to cause any problems. I'd like it to be somewhat simple too, although if need be, I'll do about anything.

I have seen posts some people have used zalman northbridge coolers, and they say it works well, and I was considering between ZALMAN ZM-NB47J and a Thermalright NB-1C. I'm not sure how they would be mounted to the core of the video card, do they have the holes to be screwed onto the card, or do I need to use a thermal epoxy to keep it in place on the video card? I was slightly leaning towards the NB-1C due to it being bigger, and copper, should be able to dissipate more heat, correct? If anyone has pictures of either of them on the card, and how it was done, it would be very helpful.

Thanks!

mathias · Post by **mathias** » Thu Dec 09, 2004 8:25 pm

I'd assume that the NB1 is not designed for passive cooling at all.

I remember a post about this recently with pictures, use the search function. That one was with a 9600XT(which is hotter), so you should check for that too.

jeg7732 · Post by **jeg7732** » Fri Dec 10, 2004 11:37 pm

Thanks that did help searching for the 9600XT, I found the post for the person that sucessfully put a NB47J on his video card with that card. Looks like it might come pretty close to going to 2 pci slots, and almost thought it wouldn't work, but I only have three pci cards so I'm fine. Don't know why I didn't see it before, but saw it this time at least.

Thanks again!

smoothness · Post by **smoothness** » Sat Jan 15, 2005 8:31 pm

I probably overdid it with a heatpipe VGA cooler on the 9600xt, but I'd still be wary of having a solution like that, and not having an airflow moving over it. Just my 2 cents/pesos/pence/whatever other denomination.

SebRad · Post by **SebRad** » Sun Jan 16, 2005 7:19 am

Hi, I think the Zalman ZM50 would be a good bet. As would the ZM80 or Aerocool VM-101, although these are rather overkill. Personally I use a VGA Silencer (original series not new ATI x) and its OK on low although I feed it 5V (instead of 12V) and have it on low which removes the faint clicking it produces, could probably count the fan revolutions too!.
The 9600 series are 15-20watts so they're not too difficult to cool quietly.
Seb

mr pink · Post by **mr pink** » Mon Jan 17, 2005 3:11 pm

how about one of these zm-17's?

http://www.zalman.co.kr/eng/product/vie ... 4&code=013