How to inexpensively quiet my VGA?

They make noise, too.

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flarkit
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How to inexpensively quiet my VGA?

Post by flarkit » Sun Jul 03, 2005 10:55 pm

Hi

I think my Radeon 9500 Pro's 60mm fan is adding a significant amount of noise to my case and I'd like to reduce that.

I could try to replace the fan with an 80mm fan (adding the complexity of finding a safe method to this). Or I could try an alternative HSF, like either:

- Zalman VF700-AlCu VGA Cooler (link)

- Vantec Iceberq4 CCB-A4C (link)

- The Zalman ZM80C-HP VGA Cooler (link) could be an option, but I'm nervous about its stability

An suggestions or experiences with these?

EvoFire
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Post by EvoFire » Mon Jul 04, 2005 12:58 am

If you do not mind the rather "ghetto" and unsightly appearance of applying a 80mm fan, it is very easily done.

I have don't it myself through the bending of a PCI cover from the case, drilling a hole at the tip and screwing a a fan on. I removed the original tiny fan on my 9600XT and aimed the 80mm at the heatsink. If you are to apply this method, be sure to not aim the fan dead spot at the heatsink. I think this is only one of the many methods to moun a fan on. Oh yeah, my way of doing it took up 2 PCI slots(I have 6, and none of them are in use, so it doesn't matter to me), it may or may not pose a problem if you have multiple PCI cards. If you do have PCI cards, it would be best to position them farthest slots away from the fan so you will not restrict the fan's intake.

flarkit
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Post by flarkit » Mon Jul 04, 2005 10:55 am

EvoFire wrote:If you do not mind the rather "ghetto" and unsightly appearance of applying a 80mm fan, it is very easily done.

I have don't it myself through the bending of a PCI cover from the case,
Actually, I do mind using a ghetto approach with my newish case (I got it 2 months ago). I've ordered a VF700 AlCu and will hopefully be able to test it within the next few days. I'm just holding thumbs that it fits! :wink:

badbadtz560
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Post by badbadtz560 » Mon Jul 04, 2005 12:00 pm

they still makin those old vga silencers? cuase i remember those gettin really cheap

EvoFire
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Post by EvoFire » Mon Jul 04, 2005 10:32 pm

flarkit wrote:
EvoFire wrote:If you do not mind the rather "ghetto" and unsightly appearance of applying a 80mm fan, it is very easily done.

I have don't it myself through the bending of a PCI cover from the case,
Actually, I do mind using a ghetto approach with my newish case (I got it 2 months ago). I've ordered a VF700 AlCu and will hopefully be able to test it within the next few days. I'm just holding thumbs that it fits! :wink:
Do you have a window on ur case?? if not... its not like anyone will see.

flarkit
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Post by flarkit » Tue Jul 05, 2005 1:00 am

EvoFire wrote: Do you have a window on ur case?? if not... its not like anyone will see.
The case does have a window, sadly. I got the last unit and the supplier didn't clarify that it has a window. It's mildly irritating, but will do for now, until I can afford to go for an AMD64 upgrade, possibly with something like an Antec SLK3000B (after 6-9 months of saving)

EvoFire
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Post by EvoFire » Tue Jul 05, 2005 12:41 pm

I guess that's too bad. There is no way you can mask that PCI cover without doing some more drastic changes such as spraying the internals of the case and matching the colors on whatever you are hanging the fan with.

For me, I just grabbed the cheapest quietest fan I can get my hands on. In this case it was a CoolerMaster LED fan, very very bright. now the space below my video card is glowing bright blue.

darthan
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Post by darthan » Tue Jul 05, 2005 6:23 pm

I absolutely must recommend the ZM80. I have a ZM80C on my 9800 Pro and it works perfectly. I've never had any trouble with it. (I should note that is in an Antec Sonata case with a front 120mm fan installed so even though the fan is undervolted there is some airflow through the heatsink so it isn't running truly passive). A 9500Pro should put out less than half the heat of a 9800 Pro so I don't see any reason you couldn't go with totally passive cooling unless your case airflow really stinks. Also, the current version is the ZM80D and it looks like it would be at least a little bit more effective than the ZM80C.

flarkit
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Post by flarkit » Wed Jul 06, 2005 7:53 am

Well, I installed the VF700 yesterday without major hassle. The only issue I had is that one of my gfx memory chips is so close to the card's power connector that attaching a RAM-sink would've blocked it seriously.

At any rate, my card was fine before, with just the stock HSF and no RAM-sinks.

Now it's cool, noticeably quieter and seems stable enough: I ran the PC for an hour burning CD's and playing MP3's, then played an hour of Painkiller with no issues at all.

The VF700's fan is just audible if I hold my ear about 15cm away with the sidepanel removed.

Aannnnnddd... now I think I've found another clear source of 'noise'. My AOpen 450W PSU seems to emit a whine from inside the unit. After snipping the fan grille on the PSU, its fan is a whisper, as are my 92mm Stealth fan below it and my CPU's Silentboost and my new gfx cooler too, along with the pretty quiet hardisk. The sound from the PSU is clearly coming from inside and not from the fan and seems to be mixing with the other sources of sound (as soft as they are!). Think I'll live with it, since I can't replace the PSU for at least 6 months and I'm not keen on fiddling further with the PSU.

Likif
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Post by Likif » Wed Jul 06, 2005 10:13 am

You have a noisy computer if you think your Stealth fan and an unmodded Silent Boost are quiet. :o

flarkit
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Post by flarkit » Wed Jul 06, 2005 10:09 pm

Likif wrote:You have a noisy computer if you think your Stealth fan and an unmodded Silent Boost are quiet. :o
Thanks for that. Now can you make any easy, constructive suggestions that a layman like myself could do?

If the only sound from my PC were the combined gentle whirring of the 4 fans and the hard-disk, I'd be very satisfied.

Pilot
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Post by Pilot » Wed Jul 06, 2005 11:08 pm

You have a noisy computer if you think your Stealth fan and an unmodded Silent Boost are quiet.
Don't you think it's a pretty harsh remark ? Maybe the smiley is there to sweeten the pill...

Sorry for OT, i didn't have my coffee yet.

Likif
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Post by Likif » Thu Jul 07, 2005 5:31 pm

flarkit wrote:
Thanks for that. Now can you make any easy, constructive suggestions that a layman like myself could do?
Sure! Get two 80mm Nexus fans and replace the Vantec and the fan on the Silent Boost. You'll have higher temperatures, but you won't look back.

This is SPCR....ripe with fanaticism. :mrgreen:

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