how to make your NV5 cool better.

[Shafto]

after realizing how pathetic the airflow is on the NV5 I have on my 7900GT I decided to take off the plastic shroud and fan, and attach a regular 80mm fan overtop the heatsink.. I secured it in place with twist ties.

 

at 1.45V and the OC listed in my sig my temps went from

 

idle 46C to 43C

 

load 69C to 61C

 

needless to say, huge difference.. I thought my temps were only reaching 64C before my mod to the NV5, however what I didn't realize was that 3dmark06 wasn't running long enough to max out the sink.. I got NVtray so I could see my GPU temp in game.. after many minutes of 2142 I was seeing peaks to 69C.. yuk.. after doing this.. it's 61max..

 

I might bump it up to 1.5Volt now.

 

might aswell try it out if you have an 80mm sitting around.. it's 4 screws to take off the plastic and 4 twist ties to hold on the new fan... on the PCIE side of the card I used the 2 holes I took screws out of for the twist ties.. on the SLI connection side of the card I just used 2 holes that are in the board for the ties.. very easy.. very quick.. great results..

 

I can snap I pic I suppose if someone needs one.

[Thraxz]

I bet if you played with the fan placement over the HS you'd probably pull a few more degrees off.

[Sorrento]

Its funny how a plain huge fan over a simple heatsink sometimes has better results than a lot of fancy air ducts with very weak fans. If only the NV5's had a powerful fan like the ATI xXXX cards, now that would be totally diferent I guess.