Flipping the cooler around?

[hat]

I was wondering if it was possible to "flip" the cooler around on this card: http://c1.neweggimages.com/NeweggImage/productimage/14-150-275-05.jpg

so that the cooler faces this way:
http://c1.neweggimages.com/NeweggImage/productimage/14-141-055-03.jpg

I want to do this (if I ever get the card) because I have a PCI slot fan that will efficently blow cool air into the fan of the heatsink on the GPU, and will suck out the hot air that comes out of the other side of the cooler (in the picture of the 8600gts). With my PCI slot fan, the top card (the one in question, and the one I plan on getting), if I use the PCI slot fan with it, the fan that sucks out air and blows outside the case will be directly below the fan on the GPU heatsink, doing more harm then good, and the part of the PCI slot fan that blows air around in the case won't be doing much good at all. If it was possible to flip the cooler around, the part of the PCI slot fan that blows air will be blowing into the GPU heatsink fan and the other part that sucks air out of the case will be getting rid of the hot air that comes out of the other side of the GPU heatsink.

One more thought... if I do this, will I need to replace thermalpaste (assuming it is done straigt out of the box)?

[lemonadesoda]

No you cant flip it... because the cooler is held on by screws that pass through the card. They are "oriented" so the holes dont line up if you rotate the card 180°.

Just buy an aftermarket 2 slot cooler if you want a different cooler. Then JUNK your PCI cooler... since your GPU aftermarket is doing that for you already!

[keakar]

short answer is no because in MOST cases the fans location is directly over a hotspot (gpu core) so maximum cooling airflow is used at the point its most needed.

the only way to be sure is to actually remove the cooler and see where it comes into contact with the ram chips and the gpu. some have raised areas that make the contact with them and this would not line up in any other way.

it would be better to just go with an aftermarket cooler or modify the slot fan to line up with the card rather than risk burning up your expensive card just to add a cheap slot cooler in the hopes of getting better air to it.

have you given any thought to just screwing a case fan onto the stock cooler and use it to force more air through the stock cooler? just remove the metal cover over the cooler and screw on a case fan (usually a 70mm fits the opening), then replace the cover and the mod is complete.

[hat]

aww damn...
I am inclined to try it though! At least take the cooler off and see if it's even feasable... I would do this before it was even used so the TIM would be fresh.

[keakar]

well my first thought would be that, i dont think nothing would line up to screw it onto? mine was solid aluminum plate with molded risers for standoffs and cooling contacts.

but it just take a minute to take it off.

i would say do it just to reapply some good thermal paste, they just plop some crap on at the factory so on mine it oozed out everywhere making mess.

dont try to reuse whats on it, i would not risk trusting it. no telling what they used on it.

[hat]

Well nobody's tried it yet, right?? I WILL!!
I am getting the rest of my money back (and more than I expected). I have $120 now but I spent $10 so it used to be $130, and my parents will be giving my another $100 to amount to $230... I always thought it was $200 they owed me.

So when I get the other half back, I will have $220... I will spend $10 on a tube of AS Ceramique. I'll run a test...

Test 1: Stock cooler position, stock goop. Will use ATiTool and record idle/load temperatures but with the PCI slot fan unplugged.
Test 2: Same as 1 but WITH the PCI slot fan.
Test 3: Reverse the cooler position so the fan on the GPU heatsink lines up properly with the PCI slot fan, but with the PCI slot fan unplugged. Will replace the stock goop with AS Ceramique for this one.
Test 4: Same as 4, but with the PCI fan plugged in... of course the same application of AS Ceramique.

Also when I clean the core off I will reveal wether it is G80 or G92, there seems to be confusion floating around about it...

I know I will be buying the Ceramique, but the card, I'm not so sure. We'll have to see about the price on my birthday.

[Cuzza]

It's probably doable, though you'd have to strap it down with cable ties or something, and yeah contact with the memory would probably go out the window. I don't think it's a good idea at all. But hey these things need trying, or we'd never find out!

[hat]

pssh, I bet the memory doesn't even make good contact in the first place. I bet all it has are those crappy thermal pads. besides more air moving through is good... and a cooler (hopefully) GPU means an overall cooler card.

My only worry is that the cable for the fan may not be long enough... if that's the case, I remember my uncle having some kind of fan controller with a 2-pin connector like that... woot!

[sneekypeet]

Hat I dont think it will work.

I did a crap mockup of what will happen. The caps to the right of the cooler in stock position will not allow the cooler to sit in the 180* position.

The dark red box is the cooler spun and reset. Two issues at this point is clearance of Everything on the right end of that PCB. The second is ....the light red line shows the fan position....Where will you plug in the fan. At minimum you would need to extend it.

http://img.techpowerup.org/080221/hatscard.jpg

[hat]

Simple, move the caps!! :D




























































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:(

[Cuzza]

come on, just splice in a bit of speaker cable or whatever you can find to extend it. I also think you'll find you won't be able to get any contact with the GPU without the fan hitting the capacitors

[hat]

naw, it's physically impossible.

[Grings]

I moved some caps to the back of a motherboard once so i could get a big heatsink on (thermalright sk800 on a 462 board), but most graphics cards use surface mount caps, so its probably nowhere near as easy

[Nitro-Max]

You've heard of a tv program called "when good times go bad" well that was my first thought when i saw what you was contemplating.:)

[hat]

In my mind I thought it would work out like this:
http://img.techpowerup.org/080221/88GS-5.jpg

Well, I'm still getting my AS Ceramique. Good TIM, hell, ANY TIM is handy to have around. I have none except what's in use right now...

[Wile E]

Are you spending your money on your computer hat? If so, just get an accelero S1 with whatever card you decide on. I suggest the newly released 9600GT. :D

[hat]

Can't afford it (the 9600gt) even if I spent all my money. I would rather just keep $200 in my pocket and spend the other $30 on computer stuff... I already bought RoE, and I'm gonna buy some AS Ceramique... if anyone will give me a 9600gt for $10 shipped I would be all over that though! Wanna buy me a video card Wile E?

Since the cooler is like this, I'll just have to see what happens. Maybe there will be some 8800GS's out with the cooler going the other way... or maybe the 8800GT will be knocked down (in price) enough... maybe I'll grab an 8600GTS, or maybe the 9600GT if it drops enough (seriously doubt this one).

[candle_86]

aww damn...
I am inclined to try it though! At least take the cooler off and see if it's even feasable... I would do this before it was even used so the TIM would be fresh.

i tried just for you and the anwser is no

[QuarterMain]

:D the cooler on the 8800gs appears to be oriented in the same manner as the one on my xfx7900gs holes in pcb and cooler aligned for a certain setup/direction, makes paste replacement easy for dummies like me, but na i BET you cant reverse it!:D:D

[hat]

i tried just for you and the anwser is no

:banghead::banghead:
it was a great idea with an even greater flaw.

[hat]

Can you flip the cooler on thos one?
I know the memory is kinda on it's own but I plan to get vram heatsinks with it.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150260

the heatsinks:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835116020

Is it compatible with the 8600gt vmod?

[sneekypeet]

I really dont think it will work here either....Why not just buy a quality card and put an aftermarket cooler on it?

[hat]

Cuase the 8600gt is a really good card once you vmod it. I can at the least do memory vmods on it with those heatsinks, the core not so much... but the core is already very high. Overclocking the memory is more important than overclocking the core anyway, although I'm sure with my mighty PCI slot fan I could vmod the core anyway.

As for why: finances. They suck. As I said I don't wanna spend any more that $30 outta my $200... and with my knowledge I can make the 8600gt faster than the average 8600gts.

[hat]

I looked for the vmod points on my card and phail.
Apparantly they are under the heatsink. And I don't have any TIM. When I get the rest of my money back though, I will have some...

[Titus]

IMO, this tweak isn't possible : the RAm chips rely on form under heatsink ( hard to explain ... sorry for my bad english ).
If you flip the cooler, form will not correspond with the chips and these will not touch it so :shadedshu

Prefer change your cooler by another one or add a fan neer heatsink to exhaust hot air.
You can use Zalman VF700 AL-Cu ( 24$ @ Newegg ) or the VF900-Cu for 6$ more :cool:
Security and silence choice.

[Wile E]

If you wanna vmod hat, I STRONGLY recommend aftermarket cooling. Single slot coolers are borderline as it is on most cards today.

EDIT: Oh, and don't commit to the 8600. Shop in a price range instead, and pick the best card. Don't search based on model numbers.

[ShadowFold]

http://img.techpowerup.org/080223/XFX88002.png

Do I win :laugh: