Videocard fan disabled; problems?

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Ambush Commander
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Videocard fan disabled; problems?

Post by Ambush Commander »

I recently installed an nVidia GeForce 7300 LE graphics card in my computer. I'm not really a gamer or a hard-core graphics designer, but the card was cheap so we snatched it up. Almost immediately, I noticed something besides the crisper screen: the sound of the fan. My computer's fairly soft by itself, and the on-card fan must have quadrupled the noise. We took the liberty of disabling the fan, and things are quieter, but I am slightly concerned. Do you guys think disabling the fan will cause any problems?
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Re: Videocard fan disabled; problems?

Post by alex.barylski »

In my experience, overheating is obviously the end result. :P This can cause weird problems, from immediately burning out/haulting to progressively degrading performance until the thing just stops working...

Of course, if your not playing intense games, I'm not sure how much the GPU is used and over heating may not be an issue...personally...I'd replace the fan just to be safe.
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Ambush Commander
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Re: Videocard fan disabled; problems?

Post by Ambush Commander »

The most intensive processing the GPU will do is watching movies (and I don't do that very often). You can replace the fan?
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Re: Videocard fan disabled; problems?

Post by alex.barylski »

Ambush Commander wrote:The most intensive processing the GPU will do is watching movies (and I don't do that very often). You can replace the fan?
As long as the fan isn't physically connected to the board somehow (other than screws, etc) I don't see why you couldn't replace the fan. I've replaced fans a few times, although never on video cards... :?

Have you looked to see if the fan can be removed easily? If you have to re-solder a new fan onto the board, as long as the voltage is the same you should be good to go.
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Ambush Commander
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Re: Videocard fan disabled; problems?

Post by Ambush Commander »

What about the computer's built-in fan? Shouldn't that cool the video card too?

The reason I ask is because installing a new fan will likely be too much work; I'll just get rid of the video card... I don't really need it.
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Re: Videocard fan disabled; problems?

Post by alex.barylski »

Ambush Commander wrote:What about the computer's built-in fan? Shouldn't that cool the video card too?

The reason I ask is because installing a new fan will likely be too much work; I'll just get rid of the video card... I don't really need it.
If it's to much work, just use it as is - if your just going to get rid of the card anwyays. They have fans for a reason, so while your primary fan will circulate some air, the fan directly over the heat source is what makes the difference. Check your BIOS and see if there are some settings which sound a beep when temperature reaches a set point. If I remember correctly, anything between 45-60C is normal operating temperature.
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Re: Videocard fan disabled; problems?

Post by Weirdan »

Usually BIOS does not provide means to monitor GPU temperature.

AC, you might install an utility to monitor GPU temperature which would shut down the computer in case of overheat. I believe RivaTuner can do that for you.
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Re: Videocard fan disabled; problems?

Post by Benjamin »

You could always pull the fan off and cool it with liquid nitrogen. :drunk:
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Inkyskin
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Re: Videocard fan disabled; problems?

Post by Inkyskin »

You can get heatsinks for videocards - its really easy to fit, pop off the old fan with a couple of screws, apply some paste, and apply the new heatsink. cheap and super quiet. A7300 is never going to get that hot anyway, especially if your not a gamer.
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Re: Videocard fan disabled; problems?

Post by Maugrim_The_Reaper »

Considering it's an NVidia, losing the fan can be dangerous. The problem is that the NVidia 7 and 8 series are massive heat bombs. My own 8800GT runs at 65-70 degrees celcius at normal usage with the fan running. It hits 80 when doing something intensive like gaming.

I'll consider looking into alternative cooling if you wish. There might be a non-fan solution like liquid cooling or alternative silent-fan cooling. Since noisy Nvidia's are the bane of any number of people it's probably possible. Fan case cooling itself won't cut it unless it's remarkably good (remarkable equates to unreasonably expensive ;)).
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Inkyskin
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Re: Videocard fan disabled; problems?

Post by Inkyskin »

Maugrim_The_Reaper wrote:Considering it's an NVidia, losing the fan can be dangerous. The problem is that the NVidia 7 and 8 series are massive heat bombs. My own 8800GT runs at 65-70 degrees celcius at normal usage with the fan running. It hits 80 when doing something intensive like gaming.
It's only a 7300 - You can buy them with heatsinks on already. http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showprodu ... subcat=257
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Re: Videocard fan disabled; problems?

Post by Oren »

I put the 7300 on my sis' PC and the 8600GT on mine. There were no "noise problems" at all. Anyway, replacing the fan should take you no more than 5 minutes. I do that all the time when I want to clean and oil my fan since the GFX card fan make the most noise from my experience.
Note: No matter what you do, don't take the fan out or shut it down... never ever.
You can stop the fan with your finger for 1-3 seconds, I do it all the time to know if this is really the source of the noise - and 100% of the times it is :P
In general, it's not a good idea to do it, but if you do it for few seconds (the shorter the better), it won't make any harm.
But again, I have some background in electronics... If they put there a heatsink and a fan, there must be a good reason for that. Some electronics devices, even the smallest ones, can get to such a high temperature that will burn your finger in few seconds.
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Re: Videocard fan disabled; problems?

Post by alex.barylski »

This thread generated some interesting disscussion. :)

I had never heard of RivaTuner before...that sounds like a solid idea though...I would monitor the heat and if it reaches something unacceptable, shutdown and consider buying a new fan or a heat sink, etc. As a last resort I would replace the video card. Doesn't sound like a case fan would suffice - I didn't think so.

I also had no idea that you could oil a bushing - which is what most fans use I believe (as opposed to bearings?). I guess you could try and oil it, although Oren didn't mention anything about the kind of oil you would use. I imagine something a lower in viscosity than chainsaw oil. :P

Cheers :)
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Re: Videocard fan disabled; problems?

Post by Ambush Commander »

Weirdan: RivaTuner is quite interesting... I took a look at the hardware monitoring stats (with my fan off), core temperature appears to be at 71 degrees Celsius (higher than normal operating temperature, but about the same as Maugrim's stats, heh).

Inkyskin: Buying a card with a heatsink preloaded doesn't do me much good, since I already have the card! :-)

Installing one does seem cheap but I've never done anything with hardware before. Maybe this would be a good first project. I just don't want to destroy anything.

Oren: It's all relative. My computer is very quiet, and so the video card's fan was a nasty jolt for me.

Hockey: I don't know if oiling the fan will make it quieter. That sounds terribly risky (and short-term).
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Inkyskin
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Re: Videocard fan disabled; problems?

Post by Inkyskin »

Ambush Commander wrote:Inkyskin: Buying a card with a heatsink preloaded doesn't do me much good, since I already have the card! :-)
I meant aftermarket heatsink, such as this: http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showprodu ... subcat=787

That one in particular is compatible with the Nvidia 7300 :)
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