GPU Air Cooler Help

[n00b_builder]

Hey, I built a PC a few months back, and overall I'm very happy with it. Only problem is, I opted for the XFX 7950, which can be pretty loud.

I'm looking for a VGA cooler to drop the noise and temps (around 70^o C while gaming) My build is in a Phantom 410, so clearance shouldn't be too much of an issue as I could remove the drive cage if needs be.

I'm in Ireland, and will most likely be buying off UK websites (Amazon or something like that) and I would like to keep the cost down where possible, but also get something decent.

One thing that have already caught my eye is the Arctic Cooling Accelero Xtreme 7970 (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Arctic-Cool...17?s=computers&ie=UTF8&qid=1362654937&sr=1-17), but the price is a bit on the high side. I've also seen this Arctic Cooling Accelero Xtreme GTX Pro (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Arctic-Cool...6?s=computers&ie=UTF8&qid=1362657133&sr=1-26]) which is half the price. I know it's not specifically for Radeon GPUs, but would it still fit/perform?

Any help or suggestions would be much appreciated, so thanks in advance!

 

[chesteracorgi]

I modded out a GTX 470 with a Zalman cooler, but it is not for the feint of heart. If you can buy an aftermarket GPU cooler, try to get one that is designed for your card. You have to make sure that the GPU and all of the RAM chips are properly cooled or risk the card. The problem with non-reference cards is that they generally cannot be modded. However, they do make target coolers for reference cards.

I would not use any cooler that does not provide for full cooling of the GPU & all RAM chips. I highly recommend that you chose one specific to your card.

 

[J_E_D_70]

Keep in mind too that if that card is still under warranty and you mod it, you're hosed if something goes wrong down the line. I was seriously looking at one for my GPU but ultimately decided it wasn't worth the risk on a card costing several hundred dollars.

 

[chesteracorgi]

+1 JED70

 

[n00b_builder]

Thanks for the insight, guys! Might leave it off, then, as it seems like it'd likely be more trouble than it's worth, especially seeing as my graphics card is only really noisy when I'm gaming and I generally game with headphones on.

My card came with a lifetime warranty, so I'll be voiding it at some point, but I'll wait until it gets to the point where I have to OC to get the performance I want out of it.