8800 GTS Cooling Question

D

Docmhz

Limp Gawd
Joined
Feb 19, 2006
Messages
420
Is it worth it to take off the stock cooler on my Evga 8800GTS 320 and use Arctic Silver in place of what they use? I'm thinking of getting a Thermalright HR-03 Plus for it sometime down the road, but for right now would doing this be worth it your opinions?

If so, obviously the gpu and the HSI chip need it, but what about the ram? Looks like there are pads on them, what should I do with them?

Thanks!
 
well, u could replace the thermal pads with the paste
 
Docmhz said:
Is it worth it to take off the stock cooler on my Evga 8800GTS 320 and use Arctic Silver in place of what they use? I'm thinking of getting a Thermalright HR-03 Plus for it sometime down the road, but for right now would doing this be worth it your opinions?

If so, obviously the gpu and the HSI chip need it, but what about the ram? Looks like there are pads on them, what should I do with them?

Thanks!
Click to expand...

Not worth the trouble! I did this and no matter what I tried it didnt lower the temps at all.
 
The back grill behind the 8800 series blocks alot of air flow. I switched the back panel into a 1 slot panel and it reduced my temps not dramatically; but a small small.....amout.
 
I know this does not answer your question but if cooling is an issue run RivaTuner and crank up the fan speed. If it's like my eVga card it only runs at 60%, you can easily bump it up to 75% and have it still very quiet..
 
Thanks for the replies, if it doesn't drop temps significantly, then I'll just wait until I get the Thermalright cooler for it.

Rivatuner is an idea, but I didn't think it worked with Vista yet?
 
Yep, my GTS overclocked to 600/925 with the fan speed forced to 80%, stays typically at 75c or less, ambient temps in the ~27c range.
 
Damn, I was seeing how AC being on in my room effected my temps last night :).. about 3-4C for just light AC, anyway..

Without AC on in a moderately hot room my 8800GTS runs at 59C.. is that unusually cool?
 
Weenis said:
Damn, I was seeing how AC being on in my room effected my temps last night :).. about 3-4C for just light AC, anyway..

Without AC on in a moderately hot room my 8800GTS runs at 59C.. is that unusually cool?
Click to expand...

If that is idle temp then i'd say pretty average.
 
Well I am on Windows XP at the moment with (2) 8800GTS's in SLi.. So cooling is a major issue on my agenda. I tried all sorts of ways to keep the cards cool. Ultimately, It ended up costing about $60 bucks to keeping them cool (maybe cheaper for you if decide to do what I did). It will take a little imagination and minor modding skillz..

1. I removed the plastic shrouds off of both of my 8800GTS's
2. I purchased (4) aerocool standard sized 120mm fans (masscool fans shown in pics)
3. I purchased a right angle piece of aluminum (found at Lowes or Home Depot)
4. I purchased a small straight piece of alumimum (found at Lowes or Home Depot)
5. I purchased some misc screws and nuts

For me, since I am running SLi, I had to mod the bottom of my case.. I measured it off and used a dremel to cut out some 120mm holes for (2) 120mm fans..


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Next, I took the right angle piece of aluminum and measured it to fit the mounting points on the 120mm fan...


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I ended up mounting (2) 120mm fans in the bottom of my case to cool the bottom 8800GTS card..


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Then, I mounted the right angle piece of aluminum (with fan attached) to the back side of my case.. I used a narrow piece of aluminum for the final mounting points on each of the 120mm fans. I then bolted them all up which joined the (2) 120mm fans together.. I used an additional round piece of aluminum as a "leg" for stability (not really required but helps keep everything nice and sturdy).


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I unplugged the stock Nvidia fans on the cards as they were no longer necessary. I then took an SLi bridge and connected both cards together (for SLi purposes)..
 
My final results spoke for themselves.. My temps on the stock coolers reached as high as 84c! Completely unacceptable. With my new cooling setup in place, my cards have yet to reach any temp over 64c under full load and overclocked at 625/1000. If I ran my video cards at stock speeds, those temps would be even lower (roughly around 51c - 52c at full load).


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Ultimately, I ended up switching the Masscool 120mm fans out for aerocool fans for even better performance. Using the mounting points of my video card fans, I mounted an additional (2) aerocool fans to keep my NB/SB/PWM's/RAM cool... Works like a champ. Keeps everything NICE and COOL!

*Note - Same computer, but I removed my Vigor Gaming Monsoon II TEC and went with a CPU water cooling solution.. The video cards are STILL air cooled!


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Thats very inventive and a cool setup, but I doubt more than a couple people here are willing to go that far.
 
That is impressive indeed! I'll try ntune until I get the Thermalright cooler.

Thanks!
 
Very nice setup.. you are extremely thorough with your dremel work and it definately looks to have paid off, case looks nic and clean and performs well, good job :)

As soon as I put my 8800GTS in I noticed that they would be tight, I might try a similar setup if/when I decide to OC :)
 
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