Video card cooling

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Mr Random

I just bought a dell xps. I know, Dell sucks. But when your dad says he will pay up to 1/2 of a $3000+ computer and you are in college, on a buget, and cheap to begin with, you re-think your values a little. ANYWAY. The system is dead quiet, except for one thing. The radeon 9800 has a fan that is louder when idling, or video editing, which is what i do, than the rest of the fans combined. I have seen a few replacement fans on some web sites, but am unsure what to get. It must be quiet and short. I have a card in the PCI slot right next to it, so it must be VERY short. I have no understanding of the decible scale, other than more is louder. What is considered a whisper quiet level? Also, since I would be buying it over the internet, I shun needing to return a product I find when it gets here isn't what I wanted because the shipping is almost as much as the fan. Is there a place with a WIDE variety of vid card fans, and/or an explination or graphic example of the difference in the dB levels?

Can anyone recomend a quiet and short fan to replace the noise hog on my radeon 9800?

Thanks again
 
I have a 9800 Pro and I don't find the fan noisy at all. My system probably isn't as quiet as yours, but you could try fitting sound deadening foam to the inside of your case (Akasa, and CoolerMaster make this type of thing).

One problem with buying complete PC systems is that opening the case will often void your warranty.

Personally, I don't think they can legally do this, so long as you don't make a warranty claim that could be proven as due to damage that you caused yourself. I wouldn't like to put this to the test though, as you'll spent an awful long time battling it out in the courts.

Your best bet is to just put up with things the way they are until your warranty expires, or you get permission from Dell that its OK to open up your case.
 
i wana put little neon stirps on the fan of my geforce fx 5200, ok it will void it but its a budget peice of junk anyway. I wanna imagine it to be a 9600 swirling away leaving a neon trail. All i wanna know is, can this be done safe? is it fiddley? is it cheap?
 
well i wasnt planning on puttting them on so my mobo could enjoy the swirling colours ;) only kidding.

P.S That site takes the mick when it comes to case prices, but fans and stuff its pretty good for.
 
Shock Shock Horror Horror, opend the side of my system to inspect possible fan loacions when i discovered my graphics card didnt have one. This has solved my problem as to why my system gets very warm when playing games. Its weird, it seems to have the mounting for a fan on it but no fan. Should i install antother fan at the back to bring the temp down a bit or get a fan for my g/c?
 
I doubt you'll be able to get a fan on the back due to other components on the board. Also, having a fan on your graphics card does not have any affect on system temperature, and only serves to cool your graphics chip.
 
well if my system gets very warm wen playing games, then having a fan on the g/c will cool the card and therefor decrease the amout of heat being pruduced, so it will help, also i do have a place for another fan in my case, so as long as theres room u can do it right?
 
If you put a fan in the gfx card you are not reducing the heat it disipates, you are "taking it out of the card" more efficiently. If your overall system temp is high, then your next step is to take air out of the case and/or blow air inside the case. You can do that by putting some case fans. Check out if you have any space to put them. Normally cases have a mounting spot under the power supply and one in front, under the hard drive bays. You just screw them there and connect them to a power line, which are normally molex connections (like the ones to plug the hard drives).
 
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