Video card fan/cooler....

So I got a new case for Christmas :celebrate and in the process of moving my hardware in to the new case, I noticed my video card fan was stiff as I cleaned it (I cleaned all the fans, heatsink, etc with canned air out in the garage). When I flicked it with my finger it barely spun a full turn and it just feels stiff. So when I powered up after moving all the hardware over, I left the side off the case so I could get a good look at the video card fan.... yup... it didn't start spinning right away; I had to give a nudge or two or three to get it going. NOT COOL!!!!! No pun intended (OK, maybe just a little pun rolleyes). I'm surfing around now looking for a replacement cooler, but I haven't been real happy with what I'm finding. The card is an Asus NVidia 9600GT "TOP". The Asus model number is EN9600GT TOP/HTDI/512M and it uses what Asus calls "The Glaciator" fan/heatsink. Even with the fan in it's current sad state, my vid temps are pretty low, at idle it never gets over 45c, but I'm a bit reluctant to play any games (I just got the new S.T.A.L.K.E.R. and CoD5) until I get the fan fixed or replaced. So, who can recommend a good cooler that's GUARANTEED to work on this video card? Knowing my luck with ordering, I'll order a coller that doesn't fit :-o

Thanks! And Happy Holidaze!! :drink :wine :foolish

[dlb]

 

this one should be
http://www.xoxide.com/zalman-vf900-cu-vga-cooler.html
Let me know if it does

P.S. You could always do this
http://icrontic.com/articles/vga_cooler

 

Thanks ib.... I read the "$5 cooler" article a while back, and it's not what I'm after, but it is interesting. And the Zalman cooler you linked to is for older cards, like Geforce 6800 and eariler. But speaking of Zalman, I did find this cooler at Egghead and I tried to go to the Zalman site but it appears to be down. :confused

 

OK.... here's the few I've found that I'm considering:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835106126 (manufacturer's product page; ThermalTake)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835186017 (manufacturer's product page; Arctic Cooling)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835118037 (manufacturer's product page is down at the moment; Zalman; more info about site being down)

[dlb]
:-D

 

The sorb (thermaltake) looks the best to me. Zalmans page is back up but 9600 series not listed for vf 1000 but is listed for vf 900 linked above . Hope that helps

 

The VF1000 is not listed as compatible for the 9600GT but I read tons of reviews on it and it IS compatible; Zalman hasn't updated their spec sheet on the web site. The VF900 is NOT compatible with the nVidia 9600; it is compatible with the Radeon 9600....

That quote is from the link you provided above. Just by looking at the older cards listed, it's pretty obvious that any card made in the past 2 years isn't going to work with this cooler. Even if it fit on the card, I'd be reluctant to use it 'cuz it probably wouldn't be able to cool a modern Geforce 9000 series PCIe video card.....

Yup, the Zalman page is back up (finally). For those interested, here's the manufacturer link for the VF1000 video cooler.

 

dlb that stated it's NOT compatible with ati 9600 because they used the word except before listing those as for how well it cools newer cards that I cant answer. Let me know how the 1000 does

 

:-o OOOOPS! I missed the word "except".... duh. Still, due to the fact that it only lists older cards, I don't think it'll be sufficient to cool a 'modern' PCIe card. I haven't decided on a cooler yet, I'm probably going to go with the Arctic Cooler; it's the least expensive, it's passive and has excellent reviews, and the way my case is set up, I'll have 2 x 80mm fans blowing directly at it so it should be perfect. :-D But we'll see... things change!

 

Zalman does list the nVidia 9600GT on the compatibility list for the VF900, and I saw a picture of it mounted on a video card, and it's MUCH bigger than I thought it was. I thought it was just a small fan, but it has 2 heat pipes in it, and is good size, and probably would do a great job of cooling, so I may go with the VF900 after all....

 

I use this: http://www.xoxide.com/arctic-cooling-accelero-vgacooler.html

Not sure if it will fit your card. I know it fits 8800GT's and 9800GT. One nice 120mm fan is sure nicer on the ears than a bunch of screaming GPU fans... Trust me, I know a little about fan noise.