Failing video card fan

  • Thread starter Thread starter Ed Coolidge
  • Start date Start date
E

Ed Coolidge

Is there anyway to fix or replace the heatsink fan on a Sapphire Radeon X800 XL
without replacing the whole heatsink? Ya, I know it's an older card, but I
can't afford to replace it with a decent card right now and just getting a cheap
card to replace it isn't much of an option either.
 
Is there anyway to fix or replace the heatsink fan on a Sapphire Radeon X800 XL
without replacing the whole heatsink? Ya, I know it's an older card, but I
can't afford to replace it with a decent card right now and just getting a cheap
card to replace it isn't much of an option either.
Click to expand...

Can you buy a replacement heat sink? Are they sold alone? What is
holding your heat sink onto the card? I have two here, GF6600GT &
Gigabyte GV-xxx both with heat sinks held down by "harpoon
studs" (press down & hold the underside "harpoon" closed for
extraction) but where to find just a heatsink??
Good luck, Ed.
 
spodosaurus said:
Post a link to the specific model you have so I can see the HSF unit.

Personally, I like (and use) a Zalman fanless heat sink for my video
card: no more fans!!
Click to expand...

Here's what mine looks like
http://www.pcstats.com/articleview.cfm?articleID=1808

This site has better pictures (just click on them), only mine doesn't have that
boomerang-shaped heatspreader on the bottom
http://www.wolfmanzbytes.com/news/viewnews.cgi?id=EEFpVElEAuaZTjedkz

It's not fans that I inherently have problems with, but the POS bushing fans
that companies love to use. I'd rather not replace whole heatsink if I can get
out of it.
 
sandy58 said:
Can you buy a replacement heat sink? Are they sold alone? What is
holding your heat sink onto the card? I have two here, GF6600GT &
Gigabyte GV-xxx both with heat sinks held down by "harpoon
studs" (press down & hold the underside "harpoon" closed for
extraction) but where to find just a heatsink??
Good luck, Ed.
Click to expand...

I know there are aftermarket fans and heatsinks sold, so I should be able to
find something. The problem is that the mounts for them aren't exactly
universal. The heatsink on my card is definitely screwed on.
 
Ed said:
Here's what mine looks like
http://www.pcstats.com/articleview.cfm?articleID=1808

This site has better pictures (just click on them), only mine doesn't
have that boomerang-shaped heatspreader on the bottom
http://www.wolfmanzbytes.com/news/viewnews.cgi?id=EEFpVElEAuaZTjedkz

It's not fans that I inherently have problems with, but the POS bushing
fans that companies love to use. I'd rather not replace whole heatsink
if I can get out of it.
Click to expand...

I've only seen a couple of postings, by people who have managed
to find replacement body-less fans for their video card. It isn't common
to find just the right fan for sale somewhere. There are lots of the
square fans, both with ball and sleeve bearings, but there may not
be room for one of those, due to the plastic body part.

There are some nice after-market coolers, like this VF900. But
the install can be a bit pesky - in this case, the memory heatsinks
might be the part that takes the most time and effort. Depending on
the layout of the card (airflow hitting memory chips), maybe the
heatsinks aren't needed. Since I've never looked up a video card
memory chip, I don't know how easy it is to get data on them, such
as how much power they use (and consequently, how hot they get).

http://www.zalman.co.kr/Eng/product/Product_Read.asp?idx=144

Paul
 
Paul said:
Ed Coolidge wrote:
I've only seen a couple of postings, by people who have managed
to find replacement body-less fans for their video card. It isn't common
to find just the right fan for sale somewhere. There are lots of the
square fans, both with ball and sleeve bearings, but there may not
be room for one of those, due to the plastic body part.

There are some nice after-market coolers, like this VF900. But
the install can be a bit pesky - in this case, the memory heatsinks
might be the part that takes the most time and effort. Depending on
the layout of the card (airflow hitting memory chips), maybe the
heatsinks aren't needed. Since I've never looked up a video card
memory chip, I don't know how easy it is to get data on them, such
as how much power they use (and consequently, how hot they get).

http://www.zalman.co.kr/Eng/product/Product_Read.asp?idx=144

Paul
Click to expand...

Well, that's why I'm not fond of the idea of replacing the whole heatsink. I
saw a couple of fans on newegg that might fit, but the problem is that the
housing for the fan I have now is molded for the heatsink and is going to
require modding to replace. Then again, I'd even consider taking the cover off
the heatsink and mount a low profile fan directly on it. It would block the
adjacent slot, but I'm not using it anyway.
 
Ed said:
Is there anyway to fix or replace the heatsink fan on a Sapphire Radeon
X800 XL without replacing the whole heatsink?
Click to expand...

Post a link to the specific model you have so I can see the HSF unit.

Personally, I like (and use) a Zalman fanless heat sink for my video
card: no more fans!!
Ya, I know it's an older
card, but I can't afford to replace it with a decent card right now and
just getting a cheap card to replace it isn't much of an option either.
Click to expand...


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Ed said:
Well, that's why I'm not fond of the idea of replacing the whole
heatsink. I saw a couple of fans on newegg that might fit, but the
problem is that the housing for the fan I have now is molded for the
heatsink and is going to require modding to replace. Then again, I'd
even consider taking the cover off the heatsink and mount a low profile
fan directly on it. It would block the adjacent slot, but I'm not using
it anyway.
Click to expand...

I took another look at the card to see if I could do anything with the fan.
Well, no such luck. I'd have to more or less remove the whole heatsink to get
it off and if I did that I'd might as well replace it. Also with the cover off,
I noticed that the fins on the heatsink are still covered by more metal plating,
so mounting a second fan on it would be useless. I guess I'm going to have to
get used to the buzzing for the time being.
 
Ed said:
Is there anyway to fix or replace the heatsink fan on a Sapphire Radeon
X800 XL without replacing the whole heatsink? Ya, I know it's an older
card, but I can't afford to replace it with a decent card right now and
just getting a cheap card to replace it isn't much of an option either.
Click to expand...
Those fans on video cards are not clip-ons like the ones on motherboards
so I don't see how you can replace it. There is not much you can do
maybe try cleaning it or see if it will start if you push the blades
which sometimes works but is not very practical.
 
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