8800GTS with Intel Fan - 13*C temp drop

[Timbosan]

I decided i needed better cooling after doing the vmods to my 8800GTS. The vgpu is set at 1.40v, and the core was reaching ~95*C under load, in ~26 - 28*C ambients.

I removed the stock shroud (4 screws) and then removed the stock fan (3 screws). I modded the shroud to allow 3 mounting retainers of the intel fan to slide through it, so it could be attached securely with screws. No zipties used here! :p: Secondly i cut out the fan intake hole so it was the perfect size for the new fan.
To cut the slots in the shroud i, sat the fan on top and carefully marked where i needed to cut. Then i used a power drill and cut a small line of holes, then joined them together. Sorta dodgey but it works :p: I cut one tab off the fan as 3 are enough to mount it with and it would have protruded through the shroud into the airflow.
After seating the fan onto the shroud, i marked the hole i would need to make for the new fan. I removed the fan and enlarged the hole with a hacksaw blade & drill, then filed the edges smooth(ish) - i will do it better with a dremel but didnt want to risk cracking the shroud at this stage. I remounted the fan, drilled a hole through the shroud & into each fan retainer tab. I then used ~ 2 x 10mm screws to mount the fan to the shroud.
A good thing about the intel fan is that it increases speed as the temp rises, so at idle it quieter than the card was with the original fan, but as the case warms up it speeds right up to 3000+ rpm, and at that speed theres a lot of air rushing out the back :)
The results arent amazing, but without removing the heatsink & remounting it with thermal paste, it is decent. I lost 13*C off my full load temp (now 82*C) which is not bad considering the voltage im running, and 8*C off my idle (now 63*C). Best bit is it cost me nothing and makes my card safe until i can get an HR-03 Plus.

Here are some pics:

Pic 1 - lower mount
Pic 2 - upper mount
Pic 3 - view from underside of shroud showing fan retainers protruding through & fan hole cut out
Pic 4 - Test to check if air flow was sufficient
Pic 5 - Installed in system. 4 slot design! :p:

[phelan1777]

interesting mod:up: :clap:

[Pub_Randy**]

haha what a perfect fit, interesting results ;)

[trans am]

very nice use of something useless!

[systemviper]

yea we all got tohose friggin intel fans laying around, good to see they can be used for something

[MorGo7h]

Nice :D

[gOtVoltage]

Nice :D


Double that....+2 Free mods rule......

[Timbosan]

Thanks for the comments :) It is nice to use that stupid fan for a purpose - it cooled my cpu for about 10 mins before i ditched it, and I like how neat it looks on there :p: At full speed (~3200 rpm) it is reasonably efficient and still quieter than the original fan. I think the stock heatsink is just not efficient enough to cool the gpu - you would need to move a huge amount of air through it to cool it sufficiently.

[Brian MP5T]

weird....

[velerephon]

does it work efficiently though?
the fans on such systems push the air to the horizontally while that intel fan pushes it vertically to the pcb.

[Timbosan]

does it work efficiently though?
the fans on such systems push the air to the horizontally while that intel fan pushes it vertically to the pcb.

i was thinking the same thing at first, and no i guess its not efficient strictly speaking, but theres a lot of air coming out from both the vents in the shroud and the rear vent. much more than the original fan. it cools the memory and power reg area better too.

[xt0m]

Haha, looks cool :D Might do it as well, but have H2O on the way for mine ^^

[itslogz]

Thats very very interesting and doesnt look bad at all. Nice :up:

[GripS]

i'm probably gonna do this with mine. Nice job. :up:

[Timbosan]

Thanks for the comments :) I altered it some more, and cut the hole in the shroud out to the full size of the ring of the fan. The ring of the fan previously sat about 3mm wider than the hole all the way around. Its a bit quieter now there must have been turbulence there before.
Its managing to keep the gpu at about 82*C gaming in 26*C ambients with a vgpu of 1.40v so im happy with it for now, but will still be getting the HR-03 Plus. This is only an interim measure.

[darsh999]

Nice mod ... gud results !!!

[xoqolatl]

very nice use of something useless!

I just noticed my Q6600's stock fan was a 0.8A Delta, and it's actually very good. The heatsink itself is not that good otoh.
E6600's stock fan was a 0.2A Nidec :(

Is yours a Delta, Nidec, or something else?

[D4rkn3ss]

weird....

indeed is weird but nevertheless very effective eheh

[Pudi]

nice man, and amazingly it works :up:

[fethi_dogan88]

really very good :) :up:

[Brian MP5T]

I have a question... there is a flaw IMO here.. The stock cooler uses a drum fan and because there is a hole on the opposite side of the main hole, it can draw air from both sides... Some of the air that you are pushing is leaking out...

[heanwi]

Love simple yet effective mods like that. Tried something simular (cut away half of the plastic cover and put a 80mm fan on the heatsink) on my GTX, but now it doesn't show any image when I boot :shrug:

[Brian MP5T]

Love simple yet effective mods like that. Tried something simular (cut away half of the plastic cover and put a 80mm fan on the heatsink) on my GTX, but now it doesn't show any image when I boot :shrug:


Remove the card and insert it again..

make sure the 6 Pin PCI power is inserted.

[Timbosan]

I just noticed my Q6600's stock fan was a 0.8A Delta, and it's actually very good. The heatsink itself is not that good otoh.
E6600's stock fan was a 0.2A Nidec :(

Is yours a Delta, Nidec, or something else?

its a sanyo denki i think.

I have a question... there is a flaw IMO here.. The stock cooler uses a drum fan and because there is a hole on the opposite side of the main hole, it can draw air from both sides... Some of the air that you are pushing is leaking out...

yeah it does push a bit out but its to cool the power supply components of the card. the air that was sucked past them by the old fan (to cool them) is now blown past them by this one. The new fan blows more air past them though. Even with that loss which is necessary, plenty of air goes out the back.

i will be adding a second fan to directly over the heatsink though as i ocp modded my card now i can run 1.5v + :)

[Brian MP5T]

Has anyone thought just about attaching a port tot he back and sucking air out...

You could literally use a HUGE fan and move some very high volumes of air.

[Timbosan]

Has anyone thought just about attaching a port tot he back and sucking air out...

You could literally use a HUGE fan and move some very high volumes of air.

lol no i hadnt thought of that that would be insanely cool. Like a 140mm delta or something.....but imagine the dust :P

i did cut out the back vent so its bigger it kind of helped.

[Aleki]

lol, i remember doing that to my 8600gt a while back. the temp drops were amazing, and no more buzzing stock fan :D

[Ajn]

Nice 'invention' to mod that intel fan to it! As fast as I saw that cooler and fan side by side I realized that those belong together :D

Before mods, I have changed thermal paste and tapes to AS5 both on core and mems. Now I fitted the intel fan (by 'old' I mean that model which had only 3 wires, still a C2D stock fan) and cut off the fangrill on the back. The mod itself should not be difficult, but it took some time because I didn't find all tool I wanted to use :shakes:

That pic contains a lot of information, but I think the main message is clear: nice boost. (consider that my temps were already low, I think)

[messerchmidt]

any way to put an intel fan on there without screwing it in? maybe zip ties? anyone?

[pH(x)]

any way to put an intel fan on there without screwing it in? maybe zip ties? anyone?

Double-sided tape may work, but also may peel off due to heat and vibrations.

[plato333]

great thinking

[p0tter]

He stated his temps with the stock config and with the intel temps lowered....

I have a question... there is a flaw IMO here.. The stock cooler uses a drum fan and because there is a hole on the opposite side of the main hole, it can draw air from both sides... Some of the air that you are pushing is leaking out...

[Kolapso]

Finally the intel stock fan can come in handy, nice work!

[Swatrecon_]

Finally the intel stock fan can come in handy, nice work!

lol, for once. :ROTF: Most people consider them worthless, but this is a good idea.

[BigKriss]

Great minds thinking alike and all that...Did this mod on my 8800GTX almost 2 years ago with the addition of a scavenging fan as well...Dropped my core temps by approx. 10 deg C..
I did not remove the original radial fan but simply Riva`d it 100% as well..

The biggest gain was the use of a scavenge fan though..

Oh,and I did not mod the original card whatsoever...The fans are attached with Loctite Grey Silicon.This way if I ever need to rma the card everything is removable and no one will be any the wiser..:up: