Dual slot in BTX

[Apk07]

So I have a Dell E510 (which I'm told is BTX and not ATX) and I'm in need of a new videocard. I was looking at GTX460's but they're all dual-slot. I also noticed that I don't have much room to spare in my case for a dual-slot. Here is a picture of the inside (yes its dusty I'm getting to that), with my single-slot 7800 currently running:

Now I'm trying to figure out how I can fit this card in there http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130570

Theres obviously no open slot on the back of the case for the card's fan exhaust, so I would have to cut one out, which isn't a problem, but how should I get the fan hood to fit in there with the giant CPU enclosure?

Alternatively, is there any other mods, extenders, risers, etc... that I'd benefit from here? I don't care about looks, I just want to run a dual-slot card somehow. Its annoying that theres so much room below the card where the 1x slot is, but no room above it :[

 

[4745454b]

Won't support a dual slot card. Might if you can modify the cooling of either the card or the CPU. (smaller fan, water cooling the CPU, etc.) The fastest single slot AMD card I found was a 5770.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150501
$163 shipped, $143 if you get the rebate. Single slot like your 7800GT. If you insist on Nvidia, I found a 9800GT.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814500115
$122 shipped.

If you consider the performance difference, as long as you get the rebate the extra $20 is worth it. You might be able to get away with one of the "egg" cooler cards, something like this GTS450.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125342
$114 shipped, $104 after rebate.

You might need to do some shaving on either/both coolers to get it to fit. That card looks pretty barren on the back so there shouldn't be anything pressing against the CPU. Not sure if its worth the try. Perhaps find someone local with a card like that and see?

 

[Apk07]

Do you think cutting off the piece of the fan hood of the videocard where it would intersect the CPU heatsink enclosure would matter a lot? I picked that 460 because the fan was in the middle, as opposed to most other 460's where the fans on the end

 

[4745454b]

I don't think cutting the fan shroud will matter much, but most of the time there is metal heatsink underneath. You'll have to cut that to, and that will make a difference. That part of the sink is probably cooling the VRMs or memory. I can't tell form the pic what if anything is underneath.

 

[Apk07]

Looks like this

Appears to me that the only thing on the 2nd upper "slot" is the fan itself, and the hood/space

Here's the heatsink superimposed over the card:

I'm really thinking I can just cut a chunk out of that black plastic surrounding my CPU heatsink and be fine?

 

[4745454b]

Sorry, still can't tell. All you need is one tall capacitor in the wrong place and it won't work.

 

[Apk07]

Hmm, I guess I didn't think of it that way.

 

[4745454b]

Looking again, I don't see anything that's tall. All those caps are single slot height. The only thing to worry about is the fins/heat pipe. Fins you can bend/shave, but you can't break the heatpipe. With enough patience and cutting tools you could probably get it done. Up to you if you want to try. You might want to consider getting on eVGAs forums and see if anyone can tell you how much distance there is between the end of the card and the fins. If you can figure out how much space you need then you can at least measure.

 

[Apk07]

Best answer selected by Apk07.

 

[Maziar]

This topic has been closed by Maziar