Question Can I install an AIB Cooler on a Reference GTX 980 TI?

[ThyGlitchTitan22]

Hey, guys. I have an Nvidia GTX 980 Ti Founders Edition that I have been using as my daily driver for the past few years. Even after all these years this card runs like a dream for me. I have been considering finding an aftermarket air cooler for it, as the reference blower design doesn't exactly keep up with cooling the card. At stock speeds in games it easily climbs up to its temp limit, I have mine set to 80C to prevent it from overheating. Even with the fan maxed it gets hot, and furthermore its LOUD! I was thinking of trying something else, such as finding an AIB card fan shroud that would fit on a reference/FE design. My thinking would be that I would find something like an old EVGA 980Ti shroud, an ACX 2.0 cooler design that in theory would fit onto a founders edition card, in hopes it would run cooler.

Has anyone ever tried this before?

 

[Lutfij]

Welcome to the forums, newcomer!

If you're looking at an aftermarket cooler, you can look into Thermalright, Raijintek or Arctic's offerings but in 2022 you might not be able to find them at a good price. To also answer your primary query, not all AIB's will have the same PCB design/layout meaning that a cooler that might seem to fit while having holes that correspond to the GPU chip, the placement of other components around the GPU chip can and will impeded installation. You could also look into watercooling the GPU with something akin to NZXT's G12 bracket.