Mounting Fans for G400 vanilla

[James]

Yes, I'm thinking of taking the next step in my G400 overclocking development.

So, what's a good fan to mount on the G400 vanilla's heatsink and what's a good way of mounting it?

I believe I've read that people use those plastic (vinyl) ties as well as screws. Is either of these good and safe long term solutions?

Also, I believe I've read someone talking about replacing the old heatsink with a heatsink/fan combo. Is this worth the hassle?

[rickn]

Just go to radioshack, grab a 486 fan and some screws and screw it to the heatsink.

[LAMFDTK]

Get "The Card Cooler", you will Thank me for the rest of your life

[James]

Well LAMFDTK, I hope I'll be thanking you for awhile then.

Anyway, are you talking about a specific card cooler called "The Card Cooler" or just card coolers in general?

I found a whole bunch on the web (e.g. A&P Tech SH005 graphics card cooler, FA3D1B Video Card Chip Cooler, TennMax Lasagna X for graphics cards, TennMax's Stealth Voodoo II Card Cooler fan/heatsink combo, etc.) Some of these have heatsinks, so would require removing the old heatsinks I suppose.

Do card coolers work better than a 486 fan with screws?

Rickn, what size screws did you use and at what length? #8s?

Thanks.

[Kruzin]

I have an old pentium "Chrystal Cooler" CPU fan, that has spiffy little plastic prongs that hold it on very well.

Before that, I was using a generic pentium fan, with the screws it came with. Had to bend the heatsink fins slightly to get the screws to thread, but thats no big thing...

[Walrus Bonzo]

Funny that there should be a topic like this.

Just yesterday I very crudely fixed a 4x4 cm fan to my heatsink.

I used snapped elastic bands and threaded them through the holes on the G400 card and the screw holes on the fan.

This probably won't last long and isn't the greatest of solutions, but it works and I can clock the System Pll to 300Mhz with no problems :-)

Will

[Maggi]

hehehe ...

let's see if I can find that pic again ...



both of 'em are glued ...


------------------
Cheerio,
Maggi

Home rig:
Celeron333A @ 500MHz
Asus P2B-S @ 100MHz FSB
2x 128MB CAS2 SDRAM
Matrox G400 @ 150/200MHz core/mem clock
... and some other goodies ...


[This message has been edited by Maggi@Home (edited 15 November 1999).]

[Green]

Dang! Where are you getting those nifty little heatsinks?!?

[Alfie]

In reference to the card cooler,it's a piece of hardware that mounts in front of your card and has two fans.
There used to be a link for it right here at murc,but I can't find it.
Anyone have a clue?
The 486 fan is the cheapest solution and quite efficient as to cooling the chip.
The advantage to the card cooler is,it cools the entire card.
The other option is to go with Maggi's setup,the only disadvantage to it is,you need a pilot's licsence!

[Brian R.]

Here's a reference:
http://www.thecardcooler.com/

also http://2cooltek.safeshopper.com/1/12.htm?24378

[This message has been edited by Brian R. (edited 16 November 1999).]

[Jorden]

Look at that, Maggi puts his valuable G400 on his PC without so much as something to support it, while Waynehu puts it on, what's that?? A pillow??

But Kruzin, that was a good idea, bending the fins of the heatsink. Now it sticks firmly.
Thanks

Jorden, looking outside and seeing it snow...

[James]

Thanks for all the great replies... with pictures and all... I guess this is a favourite topic for many people.

Well, I don't have a pilot's license yet so I'm not sure I should try taking off on Maggi's setup.

I'm teetering between the Crystal Cooler and "The Card Cooler".

From the responses here and the old messages on the board, it sounds to me that the simplest and cheapest effective solution would be the Crystal Cooler (~$10 CAD)... no hassles with rubber bands, screws, glue, etc.

"The Card Cooler" seems like the next step up... the Cadillac if you will, cooling hopefully memory as well as the video processor.

I suppose if I were to follow the "Cooling, Cooling, and more Cooling" principle, I should go with The Card Cooler for about $35-$40 CAD (plus delivery) and thank LAMFDTK for the rest of my life.

I take it from remarks like LAMFDTK's that it's definitely worth the 4x plus price over the Crystal Cooler.

--------------------------------

Windows 98SE
Run case-open with 5" fan blowing in, targeted primarily at CPU
Cel 366 (@550, 2.1v)
AOpen AX6BC Pro Gold (24k)
64 Megs PC100 (1 DIMM)
Matrox Mill G400 Dual 32 Meg w PD5.30 (@119%)
Sound Blaster Live!Value w Liveware 3.0
Quantum KA 13.6 Gig HD
Pioneer 103S DVD3 6x/32x
3DMark99 Max Results (@ 1024 x 768 x 32 x 32, triple)
3DMarks ~4200
CPU 3DMarks ~5250
No Overclocking (@ 1024 x 768 x 32 x 32, triple)
3DMarks ~3000
CPU 3DMarks ~3500

[LAMFDTK]

Why would I lie? The CC can be used for future systems and the sucker is QUIET ! I moves a lot of air. You don't have to modify a thing. Stock heat sink is perfect.

And if you don't smoke hash or pot for a day, ANYONE can afford one!

------------------
PIII-450@504, 128 HDSRAM, Asus P3BF, G400/32, SBLive!, Nokia 447Xi 17", oh yea, a nice floppy drive

[Brian R.]

Another way of accomplishing what the card cooler does is to tape a 80 mm x 80 mm fan to the top of a small box, like Children's Tylenol or Sudafed. Tape this assembly to the bottom of your case about halfway between the cards and the front of the case. Use this fan to blow cool air onto your cards. The ideal height is with the top of the fan even with the video card (midtower case) so that fan's output blows on all the cards, with the exception perhaps of the bottom one. This worked great for me (and it's cheap).

[James]

That's a good point LAMFDTK, the useful life of the Card Cooler should much longer than the Crystal Cooler.

Anyone happen to know a store in Ottawa, Canada that carries the Card Cooler or do I have to get one shipped?

Regarding smoking habits, what if I smoke G400 Max like space7? It's such an expensive habit, I think I'd have to quit for a month to get the change together for the Card Cooler.

Do they have "the Patch" for G400 Max smokers?

Funny how many smoking references there are on this site. It engenders that dark and cozy smokey-pub feeling when I read the messages.

Brian R, sounds like a good McGuyver (sp?) there, however, I'm not sure the payoff would be worth the hassle for me.

Thanks guys/gals.