260GTX Cooling mod - Advice

[alexx]

I've got a BFG 260GTX I bought from OCUK a while back (probably a few years now) and it's been great - it does however idle around 75 now and get very loud whilst in BF3.

I don't play games much at all any more but when I do I'd like to keep it quieter..

I've seen a mod which removes the case and adds another 80cm fan onto the heatsink which is meant to lower temps.

Can someone suggest which 80mm fan would be worth buying for this and do I need thermal tape for the ram or can I use paste for it all?

 

[tommybhoy]

Give it a proper good clean:

Then get an antec spotcool or bungee mod a fan to push air onto the top of the gpu instead:

If you can't bungee a fan, then cable tie it onto a blank case pci blanking plate.

Any 80/120cm fan will do, you must have one kicking about somewhere.

 

[alexx]

so it'd be better leaving it sealed and throwing air onto the top of it with a large fan? any experience / information why this methods better please?

 

[tommybhoy]

It's sealed so that the existing fan pushes air through the cooler, if you remove the shroud, will the rest of the gpu cool adequately?

Did the gpu in the video have a problem free experience during use, or did it fail, nobody knows.

There is more to a gfx card than just the core, vrms and memory being the others, at a guess, I would say your vrm temps will go through the roof.

I have used this in the past and it works while costing nothing with zero risk of breaking anything while dropping your temps:

At best the video is a botch job imho.

 

[alexx]

Thanks mate - valid points and just the response I needed

 

[alexx]

PS do you think I should open up the Gcard to clean it or just clean as much as I can from the outside?

 

[tommybhoy]

If your confident enough, you'll clean it better if you open it, make sure you have TIM handy to replace the old one.

Take your time, don't rush it and before you open it, give BF3 a quick blast as the screws will come out easier, then wait a bit for the gpu etc to cool adequately before you prise the cooler apart, don't burn yourself.

The cleaner you get the heatsink, the cooler your card will be.

 

[alexx]

will do - do i need thermal tape for the little modules or can it all be replaced with tim?

 

[varkanoid]

Just watched that video and boy is that ugly. I don't really get how it would cool it more. The shroud as someone says allows air to pass over the heatsink. With the fan he has got strapped to it only air is hitting about 50% of the heatsink. You are relying on the airflow through your case.

Better off with the double fans above.

 

[alexx]

will do thanks - I'm tempted to upgrade the card now and leave this in my second system - what are gt640s like in comparison?