Ghetto Mod

[-=Gib-McFragger=-]

Long story short, I was having some overheating problems with my 9800 Pro. I would game for a while and it would just blank out, and I would lose video signal until I rebooted. Did it overclocked, does it stock speeds. I noticed that the reading of my case temp probe stuck under the heatsink read 52c whenever it would lose signal. I took the side panel off and the heatsink was so hot I could barely touch it. Leaving the case cover off dropped the temp down to 35c.

I looked around and found some zap straps, an old PCI slot cover and the 80mm fan off my old Volcano 7.

Put them together and mount them UNDER the 9800, and you get not only ~48CFM of air blowing on the 9800, but an idle temp of 32c WITH THE CASE SIDE COVER ON.

It's fugly, but it works. heh. :afro:

http://www3.telus.net/gib_mcfragger/GhettoMod.jpg

[b00bie]

hehe, whatever works for ya :D

how many fans do you have in the case?

[-=Gib-McFragger=-]

Let's see...

1 Front Intake
1 Window Intake
2 Rear Exhaust
1 New Ghetto Mod 9800 Fan
1 Ghetto Mod Northbridge Fan
CPU Cooler Fan
2 PSU Fans
and a lot of noise lol :afro:

[GlowStick]

Nice mod!

Takeing old parts and makeing them usefull is the best kind!

[|JuiceZ|]

LOL! g-h-e-t-t-o indeed, but if it wrks who cares :p nice.

[saturnotaku]

Nice work, but they actually make fans that mount into PCI brackets that will draw air away from whatever device and blow it out of your case. They cost about $10. :p

But hey if it works for 'ya that's all that matters. :D

I do have a question, though - do you have the fan blowing air onto the video card or drawing air away from it?

[-=Gib-McFragger=-]

LOL I had a PCI slot fan, and it sucked. I hardly moved any air and it sucked air out of the case.

This one is an 80mm off a Volcano 7, so it moves like 48CFM, and I have it blowing ON to the card and card cooler. :afro:

It's ghetto I know, but it worked heh.

[GlowStick]

have you oc'ed it after this mod : P and what are the results!

[digitalwanderer]

Originally posted by saturnotaku
Nice work, but they actually make fans that mount into PCI brackets that will draw air away from whatever device and blow it out of your case. They cost about $10. :p
I've tried a couple of those and they're just awful! They don't move much air and they almost always start making a racket after about a month of use. :(

[-=Gib-McFragger=-]

Exactly man. They are absolutely useless. :mad:

[saturnotaku]

I think I have an extra 80 mm fan somewhere and I know I have extra PCI brackets. I may have to give this a try.

Which PCI slot do you have your attached to?

[-=Gib-McFragger=-]

I think I stuck it in PCI slot 2. There is lots of crap in the way. :afro:

[digitalwanderer]

Another similar mod is if you have a slot bracket that has a hole on the opposite end you can just bend the sucker straight and screw a fan onto the end of the bracket and hook the other end up right in the same slot as your viddy card, most screws will allow you to fit two bracket ends in. :)

Then you can have a card blowing air directly across the top & bottom of your card, it's what I did with me GF4 and it worked rather well. (Then again, I used an old 92mm fan for it... ;) )

(I think you can see a picture of it here (http://briefcase.yahoo.com/bc/hayho@sbcglobal.net/vwp?.dir=/digs_online_digs/interesting_bits&.dnm=Bubbles_open.jpg&.src=ph&.view=t&.hires=t), but I kind of hate SBCyahoo and their silly briefcases and sort of screw up occasionally with links so please let me know if you can't find it. :) )

[-=Gib-McFragger=-]

Hey, that is a great idea. Now I just need to punch a hole in the end of the PCI braket. :afro:

I don't know if that will be any more effective that what it is doing now. Gimme a min, I will get a pic of the setup. :)

[GlowStick]

maybe you can remove the backplates from the pci slots below the fan (if empty) and use some kind of duct to suck air in from outside of the case!

[digitalwanderer]

I fixed that old "air-flow" problem when I pulled me 10" boxfan mod off my case, I just covered that huge hole with some mesh screening and put it on the backside of me case. The air-flow has been MUCH better since, even better than when I had the boxfan on! :D

BTW-You DID splice your viddy card fans power-supply to an independant one so it ain't leeching valuable voltage from your memory for overclocking...didn't you? ;)

[-=Gib-McFragger=-]

Why yes, yes I didn't. :eek:

Here is the pic of the mod installed. The second pic is my OTHER ghetto mod from before, my NorthBridge fan. It's an old fan off a Cyrix I believe. :afro:

http://www3.telus.net/gib_mcfragger/GhettoInstalled.jpg

http://www3.telus.net/gib_mcfragger/GhettoNB.jpg

[saturnotaku]

Originally posted by digitalwanderer
I fixed that old "air-flow" problem when I pulled me 10" boxfan mod off my case, I just covered that huge hole with some mesh screening and put it on the backside of me case. The air-flow has been MUCH better since, even better than when I had the boxfan on!

Hrm...I'm not sure how that would work, especially if you already have an intake fan on the side of your case.

What I would suggest is doing something similar, but still have the fan mounted under the card...that way more of the GPU is being cooled. Bend one bracket out, mount the fan directly under the GPU, then have a second bracket to cover the vacant space. I think I'll try something like that.

[digitalwanderer]

That second mod cracked me up....I was looking in me parts drawer for a little fan to toss on my K7N2-L's northbridge and found my old Rage128 fan which fits perfectly & matches the color scheme....and I really like having an "ATi" logo on me Nforce2 mobo! :lol:

[saturnotaku]

I found two PCI brackets and my extra 80 mm fan. All I need are some cable ties and I'm set to try this out. :D

[-=Gib-McFragger=-]

Originally posted by digitalwanderer
That second mod cracked me up....I was looking in me parts drawer for a little fan to toss on my K7N2-L's northbridge and found my old Rage128 fan which fits perfectly & matches the color scheme....and I really like having an "ATi" logo on me Nforce2 mobo! :lol:

LOL Go Ghetto! :D

[digitalwanderer]

Originally posted by -=Gib-McFragger=-
LOL Go Ghetto! :D
Yup. Ghetto is me motto when it comes to mods. I ain't really picky about how it looks as long as it performs well.

I still have me tinsnips next to me shelf for when I feel the need for some better air-flow in me case... ;)

[-=Gib-McFragger=-]

Originally posted by digitalwanderer
Yup. Ghetto is me motto when it comes to mods. I ain't really picky about how it looks as long as it performs well.

I still have me tinsnips next to me shelf for when I feel the need for some better air-flow in me case... ;)

Tinsnips?? Real men keep a plasma cutter. :wtf:

:D

[5150 Joker]

Originally posted by -=Gib-McFragger=-
Why yes, yes I didn't. :eek:

Here is the pic of the mod installed. The second pic is my OTHER ghetto mod from before, my NorthBridge fan. It's an old fan off a Cyrix I believe. :afro:

http://www3.telus.net/gib_mcfragger/GhettoInstalled.jpg

http://www3.telus.net/gib_mcfragger/GhettoNB.jpg

Man your computer is a mess! I'd go nuts if I had wire like that hanging around inside my system.

[GlowStick]

ha, you should see mine, i have extra long power cables in a extra small case....

and my hard drives are right by my ide headers on the board, mine is a jungle, oviously i have no window, if i could only find 3 inch ide cables : (