7600GT and loud fan

[qwazzy]

Can you guys suggest a better cooling solution than the stock fan and heatsink? It's for a 7600GT.

 

[Mousemonkey]

I intend to get a Zalman VF900 CU-LED for my 7900GT it will also fit the 7600's, my friend has one on his XFX7900GT and his temps are 10+ degree's celsius lower than mine. that would be my recomendation I'm sure you'll get others soon enough. HTH Peace 8)

 

[kater]

a zalman-clone called pentagram (semi flower design, available i alu an cu versions) is sold across europe, costs half the price of a zalman and delivers v nicely. it's been tested against a zalman and since it is identical (really) it has the same performance. when on min rpm it's inaudible, when on max - yes, quite loud but cooling is more than sufficient. mine is a gainward - love gainwards for quality and o/c, but they seem to have the gpu located slightly different from reference versions - be careful with that.

 

[qwazzy]

a zalman-clone called pentagram (semi flower design, available i alu an cu versions) is sold across europe, costs half the price of a zalman and delivers v nicely. it's been tested against a zalman and since it is identical (really) it has the same performance. when on min rpm it's inaudible, when on max - yes, quite loud but cooling is more than sufficient. mine is a gainward - love gainwards for quality and o/c, but they seem to have the gpu located slightly different from reference versions - be careful with that.

I don't live in Europe. 🙁 I doubt they have them in Bulgaria which is where I am from.

 

[metalhead004]

I am having the same problem as quazzy. I am also looking to replace the stock fan on my 7600GT because it is LOUD. Is it difficult to do? I am pretty new to building systems and such and I have never tried it before.

 

[kater]

metalhead - replacing the stock hfs was not difficult in my case (gainward has a neat system to decouple the old hsf - just a couple of springs) but securing the new one depends on the model. zalman/pentagram is a piece of cake, but i've read that installing those large sandwich-like heatpiped coolers can be a bit more difficult. maybe grab the card and ask the guys in the shop first to see if a particular model fits your card and then see if they could help you out?

qwazzy - then a real zalman for you - either the full-circle-like or the semi-flower (bit older)

why i wouldn't go for total passive? you will need a v v v good airflow in your case to dissipate all the heat - and there'll be plenty of it. so you may end up having to get another fan exclusively to blow over your "passive" hs

last but not least - guys, google for reviews - like, e.g. on tom's - i know there's a nice fresh one somewhere around

 

[metalhead004]

metalhead - replacing the stock hfs was not difficult in my case (gainward has a neat system to decouple the old hsf - just a couple of springs) but securing the new one depends on the model. zalman/pentagram is a piece of cake, but i've read that installing those large sandwich-like heatpiped coolers can be a bit more difficult. maybe grab the card and ask the guys in the shop first to see if a particular model fits your card and then see if they could help you out?

Well mine is the 3dFuzion which apparently is made by BFG so it's probably built similarly to the BFG ones but I don't know how difficult they are to replace. Since there are a bunch of local computer stores around here I was already thinking of seeing if they could do that kind of replacement for me. I just need to decide which fan I want now 8O

 

[kater]

yeah, go for it - i mean if them computer vendors understand their business they will gladly sell you the hsf of your choice and install it for you. better leave it to the pros - might be a good idea for you to watch how it's done - it's no big deal really, so next time you can just do it by yourself and see how much fun it is

have you searched for arctic cooling hsf? afaik there are plenty of various models for particular chipsets so maybe one of them fits a reference 7600gt - ppl say the arctic coolings are both efficient and quiet - might be worth a try. they're pretty big tho, so better see if your northbridge or hdd is not in the way (i had a little problem with that but i just repositioned yje nb cooler and it's ok now)

yeah, definitely make sure if your card and the new hsf are not too long - this could happen if you have a short or cramped case

my experience is - do the math (measure it) before you buy it, not the other way around 😉