Fanless cooler for Radeon 9700Pro AIW

gevorg · Post by **gevorg** » Thu May 18, 2006 11:02 pm

Can ATI Radeon 9700Pro AIW be easily passively cooled? I'm considering ZALMAN ZM80D-HP, unless there is anything better.

The CPU is cooled by Scythe Ninja (fanless). My average MB temps is about 95F (reported by Asus Probe Utility). I won't do any overclocking or underclocking. I play GPU intensive games occasionally.

Thank you!

justblair · Post by **justblair** » Thu May 18, 2006 11:59 pm

I'm sure it can be. I have the passive 9800 and it doesn't get that hot. The only issue you will have is that the passive coolers available off the shelf generally are for the non AIW versions. I'm sure though that you could adapt one or alternatively manufacture your own heatsink to cool the card.

Do you have the mounting holes on your card (They will be used for your own heatsink)

A CPU heatsink can be mounted. To do this you drill a couple of holes on the base of the heatsink and use self tapping screws to attach it to the card. Its a good idea to use some rubber washers to prevent cracking the card. Alternatively some thermal glue can be used, however this isn't always easy to come by. Screws and paste is my favourite. Its at least reversable.

gevorg · Post by **gevorg** » Fri May 19, 2006 1:15 am

justblair wrote: The only issue you will have is that the passive coolers available off the shelf generally are for the non AIW versions...

Really? Zalman's specs don't say anything about not supporting AIW Radeons. From the pictures, the standard version is very similar to AIW except for the TV tuner box. The fan mounting is the same, but the heatsink is wider on AIW.

Here are pics for comparision,

Radeon 9700 Pro
http://www.firingsquad.com/hardware/rad ... ges/01.jpg

Radeon 9700 Pro AIW
http://pcextreme.net/reviews/9700ProAIW ... ics/14.jpg

justblair · Post by **justblair** » Fri May 19, 2006 4:08 am

Not sure specifically about the zalman. As I said I got one passively cooled out the box. (Saphire card I think) The difference that I can see in the pictures is that the tuner case is deeper than the caps on the standard card. Its not by much and it may be ok.

Looking at the pictures the Zalman looks like it gives the components on the graphics card pretty good clearance. I think it should be ok.

The TT products for instance have less clearance and I seem to remember the instructions for their passive coolers stating that they were incompatible. I'm sure I saw similar caveats for other similar products. I guess I should have looked more carefully at the Zalman before introducing doubt!

jhhoffma · Post by **jhhoffma** » Fri May 19, 2006 6:49 am

I use the ZM80C-HP for my 9700Pro, and it works great. Check my sig for the details, between the Tricool on low and the seasonic's exhaust I get plenty of airflow to keep things nice and cool. It gets a little warm, but nothing even close to dangerous.

gevorg · Post by **gevorg** » Fri May 19, 2006 11:34 am

Thanks for the feedback guys, its better be safe than sorry.

~El~Jefe~ · Post by **~El~Jefe~** » Fri May 19, 2006 7:14 pm

zalman makes the blue sandwich passive thing for the 9700 pro

9800pro requires a low level fan, but works fine with it.

i forget the name of it, but zalman has it, and some people might still carry it.

(dont think anyone buys 9800 besides a discount allinwonder nowadays)