Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: Replacement fans for ATI Radeon video cards

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Posted by David Stambaugh (Member # 1102) on 05-04-2006, 05:26 PM:

I have a stack of ATI Radeon 9800 and X800 video cards with bad fans. Seems like the fans always go bad right as the warranty expires. And I'll be goddammed if I'll send any money to ATI for a replacement that's probably no better than the original.

Anyone know a good source for this type of cooling fan? Do I have to go with a generic VGA cooler (fan/heatsink) and hope for the best? I'm not having much luck locating any fans that claim compatibility with the exact cards I have, and a google search on the model numbers off the fans themselves also comes up empty. I did find a few fans on ebay that sort of claim compatibility, but who knows for sure. [Confused]

Posted by Michael Gonzalez (Member # 593) on 05-04-2006, 06:21 PM:

Pricy but these might work...

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16835186136

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16835186128

Typically aftermarket coolers for overclockers but should work. [thumbsup]

Posted by Dennis Benjamin (Member # 1137) on 05-04-2006, 07:09 PM:

Why don't you use a different brand of video card?

Seriously, I would take all the video cards, put them in a box and ship them back to ATI. I would have a letter inside telling them about their faulty fans and tell them you found another brand to use. I would also tell them that you have told everyone you know about the defect. I bet they send you back all the cards with replacement fans.

Anyways - that's my two-cents.

Posted by Frank Dubrois (Member # 3042) on 05-04-2006, 07:12 PM:

Can't you just get a small radio shack special for $5? They have small fans that fit on the northbridge (or Southbridge, I forget) chipset. i have a 9800 pro myself, and never had a fan problem. When my old card got fried, the fan stopped, but then the video card didnt work either. I thought it was just the fan too. Are you sure its just the fan that went out and not the whole card? i know that in order for these cards to function, they need enough power from the power supply (usually a power cable NOT in use by another device or case fan) or nothing happens..no fan, no graphics. Just wondering if you tested the fans...

Posted by David Stambaugh (Member # 1102) on 05-04-2006, 07:39 PM:

The cards work fine, but the fans are EXTREMELY noisy. A couple of them seize up after a few minutes. You can spin them by hand and tell the bearing is bad. I have no choice over the brand of video cards we buy. I will say though that I've had WAY more ATI fans go bad than nVidia.

Those newegg.com fans look pretty good. And it's not my money. [Big Grin]

Edit: I just ordered 1 of each of those newegg fans. If they work out, I'll be buying more. Thanks for the tip.

Posted by Michael Gonzalez (Member # 593) on 05-04-2006, 11:31 PM:

quote: Dennis Benjamin
Seriously, I would take all the video cards, put them in a box and ship them back to ATI. I would have a letter inside telling them about their faulty fans and tell them you found another brand to use. I would also tell them that you have told everyone you know about the defect. I bet they send you back all the cards with replacement fans.

Well that would depend on what the person who works in the shipping/receiving earning $6.00 an hour does when he gets the package. I wouldnt be too optimistic.

"Hmmmm lets see, should I give the package to upper management or chuck into the nearest dumpster?" [Confused]

Your welcome Dave, glad I could help. Just from personal experance, Newegg is the best site for ordering computer parts.

Posted by Gordon McLeod (Member # 33) on 05-04-2006, 11:33 PM:

I have had no issues with any ATI product and most outperform the competition in cad application

Posted by Mark Gulbrandsen (Member # 72) on 05-05-2006, 07:06 AM:

Call Ra-Elco in Salt Lake city. They stock just about every type of computer fan ever made They have them for about 5 bucks.

Mark

Posted by Robert Burtcher (Member # 3227) on 05-05-2006, 11:22 AM:

The Artic Cooling ATI Silencer series (the ones linked on NewEgg) work well. I have the ATI Silencer Rev 1 on my Radeon 9700 Pro. They're nice and quiet, and do a decent job of cooling the GPU - even though they don't push a lot of air. They plug right into the card like the original fan, so you don't have to have an adaptor. However, they are HUGE! To use these suckers, you MUST have the slot directly next to the AGP slot free, because the fan takes up that space. Also, sometimes the metal shim glued to the GPU holds the heatsink too far away from the core. When that happens, the shim must be either removed (the easy way - you can crush the core if you're careless, but if you are careful, this can be considered "safe") or thinned by lapping.

With the power dissapation requirements of the R350/R430 GPU cores, a simple Northbridge chipset cooler is not reccomended, although one would probably fit with little problem.

Posted by Michael Gonzalez (Member # 593) on 05-05-2006, 01:53 PM:

Well its a moot point as he has already ordered the parts but (if you really want to get technical) the cheapest solution would have to be just installing a passive heatsink and underclock the card (assuming you are not going to be using the cards for heavy gaming).

Posted by David Stambaugh (Member # 1102) on 05-05-2006, 09:00 PM:

Actually I work for a game developer, and the cards do get a heavy workout. As far as cost, I'm supporting 50 users (mostly programmers and artists) and the most important issue is "get these fixed right the first time so there are no callbacks from the users". Even at $30 a pop, I'm not concerned about the cost. I appreciate all the suggestions though.

Posted by Jason M Miller (Member # 2597) on 05-12-2006, 12:30 AM:

quote: Frank Dubrois
Can't you just get a small radio shack special for $5?

You could but I would not because these cards run hot and with out proper cooling you could fry your card.

You can try Frozen CPU

Posted by Wayne Keyser (Member # 2420) on 05-14-2006, 08:58 PM:

Talk about timing - my kid's Radeon card was suddenly making "bad fan noise" (though the fan seemed still to be going) and I replaced it - twice the memory for $70 after rebate - but looking under the fan at the spot it was cooling, there was a layer of white chalky stuff like what you see when a battery has leaked.

I don't expect a response, just, that's my story.

But seriously, whether it be computer systems or components, they're such a completely integral part of daily life, are we supposed to have complete redundant backup systems? Video cards or whole computers to use while we mail off a "it'll be back in 4 to 6 weeks" warranty claim, or while the minimum-wage tech at CompUSA says "It's gonna be 2 weeks to get it to the bench."

Posted by David Stambaugh (Member # 1102) on 05-14-2006, 09:27 PM:

If the white chalky stuff was on the main graphics processor chip, it's heat sink compound. It needs to be there, helps conduct heat off the chip to the heatsink. Once the heatsink has been removed, it's best to scrape off the old compound and apply fresh before reinstalling. (disregard this paragraph if you're talking about something else, or you already know this stuff. [Wink]

)

I installed one of the Arctic Coolers last week, works great. The only downside (other than costing $30) is it takes up a 2nd slot.