custom cooling for video card?

I just recently got an XFX 6800XTreme which is totally awesome but the fan is so freakin loud! I thought it was my radiator fan but i turned it all the way down as well as the case fans and there it was, humming away quite noisily. I would add a water block to it or an aftermarket hsf but there is this ridge that XFX put there with their logo on it that prevents me from doing so.

Here are some pics: http://www.newegg.com/Product/ShowI...0XT+256MB+GDDR3+AGP+4X/8X+Video+Card+-+Retail

Any ideas as to what i could to to quiet it down a little? Im up for doing my own mod if anyone has a good suggestion

 

are you talking about that metal thing going down the side of the card? if so it looks like it just has 2 screws holding it on. you could remove it and put what you like on the card, unless you would rather keep it there.

 

ah thanks id never noticed that before. well that makes things a little easier now, doesnt it....

 

lol glad i could help. ive never seen that piece on a vid card before it looks kinda cool. does it serve any purpose or is it just for looks?

 

just looks. its got 2 green LEDs behind it that light it up, its pretty nifty.

 

Its for removing the card without ripping any caps off my sparkle 6800gt has a brass one,I think your gonna struggle to cool a 6800gt extreme and a p4 3.0 @ 3.6 with the big water it only has a single 120mm radiator and a low flow pump,I think you'd need another 120mm radiator,but then of course 'especially due to the diameter of your tubing' ya gonna need a more powerfull pump

Under load now your cpu should be running around 45c and it needs to be for a 600mhz overclock on a P4,throw the 6800's heat into the mix and your gonna be up in the 60-70's

I'd go with an NV5 silencer I have one and its great doesnt let my 6800gt go over 50c and is silent,they work by sucking the air from the case and expelling it out of a pci port so as long as you have a little case airflow they work great

my two cents