I have a Creative Labs Geforce 2 Ultra. I am running it at default settings and will never overclock it. I was considering using a stock AMD 1.2 Tbird aluminum heatsink on it, or an old Pentium or PII heatsink which I have several of. I would have to use thermal epoxy so I did not want to give it a shot without seeing if someone else had successfully cooled the same chip before I glued something to the card. I also looked at the Zalman ZM17-CU, the non heatpipe one, and it looked like an option if it would be enough to cool the chip. I would consider the Zalman ZM80A-HP if I am forced, but don't want to waste the money unless absolutely necessary.
I am also planning on getting a new motherboard, a ABIT NF7 V2.0, would one of the old Pentium type heatsinks be enough to cool the chipset instead of the fan that comes with it.
Thank You
Opinions on passive cooling a Geforce 2 Ultra
Moderators: NeilBlanchard, Ralf Hutter, sthayashi, Lawrence Lee
Re: Opinions on passive cooling a Geforce 2 Ultra
i tried the zm17-cu without a fan on my geforce3 ti 200, and it was scorching hot just idling at the desktop. in the end, i had to rig an undervolted 80mm fan blowing directly on it. i'm guessing that a geforce2 ultra produces around the same amount of heat (maybe more?) so a passive zm17-cu probably wouldn't be safe. now, with decent case airflow, i have my geforce4 ti 4400 overclocked to 300/650 and passive cooled with a zm80a-hp.cgr1971 wrote:I also looked at the Zalman ZM17-CU, the non heatpipe one, and it looked like an option if it would be enough to cool the chip.
I modded my ASUS GF2GTS with a black old thinfinned CPU heatsink that was about 110 grams. Drilled holes in the HS, used ASII between and soft steel wire to wring it on there. It might sound ghetto but it is quite securely attached. Since the ASUS has 4 mounting holes the pressure gets even also. But it would probalby work with 2 holes as well. The cooling is about the same as with the stock fan with front airflow from a L1A. Without any airflow it gets a bit more hot than before. I lose 2/5 PCI slots though. 
.. but I never use more than 3 with this rig.
Before I used wire I experimented some with nylon straps (or whatever you call those cable bundling items). But it was much harder to adjust the pressure with those. And even if they are speced to handle much higher temps they got brittle over time. Wire takes much longer time to go old.
Preferably one could use those spring-mounted screws that I've seen used with some HSFs. I never could find any of those at any dealer place. Perhaps one can make ones own nuts .. but then you would find screws with those dimensions wich isnt easy either. You might have to do some tricky mods to the HS then too. Like removing part of a fin. Although not easy to do with normal tools.
I actually own some thermal glue also.. but I never dared use it on the GPU.
This way I can always put the stock fan back someday if I would need.
Anyhow, I think its safe for you to use the HS. If it dont cool enough you can always add some kind low cfm fan somehow that blows onto the HS and it will surely be cool enough.
.. but I never use more than 3 with this rig. Before I used wire I experimented some with nylon straps (or whatever you call those cable bundling items). But it was much harder to adjust the pressure with those. And even if they are speced to handle much higher temps they got brittle over time. Wire takes much longer time to go old.
Preferably one could use those spring-mounted screws that I've seen used with some HSFs. I never could find any of those at any dealer place. Perhaps one can make ones own nuts .. but then you would find screws with those dimensions wich isnt easy either. You might have to do some tricky mods to the HS then too. Like removing part of a fin. Although not easy to do with normal tools.
I actually own some thermal glue also.. but I never dared use it on the GPU.
This way I can always put the stock fan back someday if I would need. Anyhow, I think its safe for you to use the HS. If it dont cool enough you can always add some kind low cfm fan somehow that blows onto the HS and it will surely be cool enough.