View Full Version : Will a 9800 Pro work with the fan unplugged...
surfhurleydude
08-10-03, 05:14 PM
and a large 92mm fan blowing directly in the slow below it on the heatsink? The pitch of the radeon 9800 fan is really annoying and I don't feel like messing with the Zalman heatsink, so I'm thinking that maybe this will work. Anyone tried it before? I just plan on pulling out the fan power cable, then positioning a 92mm fan to blow right over the heatsink. I'm just trying to figure out if any of you have done it before and your cards still work :) Yeah, I got a replacement Radeon 9800 Pro from CompUSA, going to return it there after I get my RMA from Sapphire back.
Headbust
08-10-03, 05:49 PM
yes it works
DivotMaker
08-10-03, 06:00 PM
What is wrong with running it with standard clock speeds and the standard fan? I have OC'd my Radeon 9800 Pro only once and it netted very little tangible frame rate gain....
surfhurleydude
08-10-03, 06:01 PM
What is wrong with running it with standard clock speeds and the standard fan? I have OC'd my Radeon 9800 Pro only once and it netted very little tangible frame rate gain....
Dude! Read my post! I didn't mention overclocking once. I did mention that I don't like how loud it is! I don't even care about overclocking, I learned my lesson the first time. I just want something quiet.
surfhurleydude
08-10-03, 06:28 PM
Alright, well I just did it and I could seriously feel ALOT of air coming from the fins of the radeon 9800 Pro, i.e. the gap between the 92mm fan and the PCB itself. I guess this is a GOOD thing. Also, when I stuck my finger in to touch the heatsink, it was only warm. The back fo the GPU was kind of hot though (not enough to burn, but i'd say it was definitely hotter than warm). So I'm not quite sure if that is normal or not. But tried a few games and no artifacting, so so far so good :) And my system is EXTREMELY quiet too. Let's hope it stays that way.
DivotMaker
08-10-03, 06:35 PM
Originally posted by surfhurleydude
Dude! Read my post! I didn't mention overclocking once. I did mention that I don't like how loud it is! I don't even care about overclocking, I learned my lesson the first time. I just want something quiet.
DUDE! I read your post. I am sorry that I inferred overclocking because you certainly were asking alot of questions about it when you first got your other 9800....s'cuse me for the assumption...
I have an ATI 9800 Pro and I don't know why you think the fan is loud...quiet as can be on my rig...
surfhurleydude
08-10-03, 06:42 PM
I have an ATI 9800 Pro and I don't know why you think the fan is loud...quiet as can be on my rig...
I don't know, do you have any other fans in your case? All of my fans in my case are <20 DB, including my CPU fan. Perhaps your case/CPU/power supply is just drowning out the Radeon fan?
DivotMaker
08-10-03, 08:05 PM
Originally posted by surfhurleydude
I don't know, do you have any other fans in your case? All of my fans in my case are <20 DB, including my CPU fan. Perhaps your case/CPU/power supply is just drowning out the Radeon fan?
Yes, 5 others....turn them off and hardly any sound out of the Radeon fan...
Headbust
08-10-03, 08:18 PM
fan is quiet on my 9800..i know what he means though. The pitch of the fan just seems alittle higher than all others, Although i dont notice it at all right now i did when i first bought it
5150 Joker
08-10-03, 08:22 PM
Originally posted by surfhurleydude
Dude! Read my post! I didn't mention overclocking once. I did mention that I don't like how loud it is! I don't even care about overclocking, I learned my lesson the first time. I just want something quiet.
When you were overclocking, was that with the zalman on with a fan blowing on it? Maybe you fitted the zalman incorrectly? Honestly it shouldn't have died on you unless you o/c'd to the point where you had artifacting and just left it there. The best test for artifacts when o/c'ing IMO is the nature test in 3dmark03. If you get any artifacts at all, then you should back down the clock even if you don't see it in games.
Headbust
08-10-03, 08:26 PM
I pretty much base it on nature also
surfhurleydude
08-10-03, 08:29 PM
When you were overclocking, was that with the zalman on with a fan blowing on it? Maybe you fitted the zalman incorrectly? Honestly it shouldn't have died on you unless you o/c'd to the point where you had artifacting and just left it there. The best test for artifacts when o/c'ing IMO is the nature test in 3dmark03. If you get any artifacts at all, then you should back down the clock even if you don't see it in games.
I had 2 fans going on the Zalman, one on the top and one on the front, and nope, oddly enough, artifacts turned up in Neverwinter Nights and a certain alpha title before they did in the nature test. I don't think it was the core that went bad though, it was probably the memory. But the weird thing is the artifacting and stuff just kinda happened "all of a sudden"... I left it at 400/360 and it just randomly started happening with NWN. Odd huh? I saw artifacts in NWN, then immediately went to test out Nature, and no artifacts. Then about a day later, artifacts started showing up in nature too. I think I might actually entirely unscrew the fan from the heatsink itself because I think it might actually be limiting some airflow...
The heatsink and the back of the GPU itself get very very hot when spectating in JK2 for 20 minutes. Apparently this isn't out of the ordinary, but I think it might be a tad bit too hot, so I think perhaps just removing the fan entirely will let air flow a little more freely (since all it is doing is just sitting there anyhow).
5150 Joker
08-10-03, 08:32 PM
Originally posted by surfhurleydude
I had 2 fans going on the Zalman, one on the top and one on the front, and nope, oddly enough, artifacts turned up in Neverwinter Nights and a certain alpha title before they did in the nature test. I don't think it was the core that went bad though, it was probably the memory. But the weird thing is the artifacting and stuff just kinda happened "all of a sudden"... I left it at 400/360 and it just randomly started happening with NWN. Odd huh?
Yeah that is odd, could've just been a bad card. :confused: I wouldn't give up on overclocking though, there's some nice gains when you are using AA/AF. Just do some thorough testing next time around to make sure there's no artifacts in any game/application and then set it around 5 mhz lower for mem/core as a permanent setting. I'd also highly recommend using Chris W's Radlinker program (http://www28.brinkster.com/chrisww1942/) , that way you can set custom overclocks for each game and have it at default speeds when just browsing the web. For example, I keep my card at default speeds when playing games like WarCraft 3 but clock it to 450/370 when playing Desert Combat.
surfhurleydude
08-10-03, 08:39 PM
Eh, yeah, I don't really care too much though as I'm just going to trade this in once the R360 comes out anyhow. So what do you think of my unscrew the fan and just let a 92mm fan sit next to it?
5150 Joker
08-10-03, 08:54 PM
Originally posted by surfhurleydude
Eh, yeah, I don't really care too much though as I'm just going to trade this in once the R360 comes out anyhow. So what do you think of my unscrew the fan and just let a 92mm fan sit next to it?
Should work if you're using one of those zalman bracket devices with a 92mm fan attached.
Just FYI about heat pipes.
The back heat sink is the heat sink you want to cool. The front heat sink depends on being hot in order for the heat pipe to work correctly.
If you cool the component side of the heat pipe (Zalman in this case) it will cut its efficiency dramatically. You actually want that heat sink to be hot. If it is not hot, then the heat pipe will not work correctly.
Cooling the back side heat sink will increase the efficiency of the heat pipe dramatically.
Heat pipes work using temperature differential. Without this, they are completely ineffective. I can go on if need be,
5150 Joker
08-11-03, 07:35 AM
Originally posted by Skuzzy
Just FYI about heat pipes.
The back heat sink is the heat sink you want to cool. The front heat sink depends on being hot in order for the heat pipe to work correctly.
If you cool the component side of the heat pipe (Zalman in this case) it will cut its efficiency dramatically. You actually want that heat sink to be hot. If it is not hot, then the heat pipe will not work correctly.
Cooling the back side heat sink will increase the efficiency of the heat pipe dramatically.
Heat pipes work using temperature differential. Without this, they are completely ineffective. I can go on if need be,
That's not entirely true and I've confirmed this by placing the fan on the back of the sink and front. Guess which side had drastically better results? Even though the fluid is heated and condenses at the back, using a fan to lower it's temperature before it reaches it's bp does not hinder it's effeciency at all. Also keep in mind that due to the large size of this unit, once an 80 mm or greater sized fan is placed on the back side of the sink, it will likely draw hot air from the CPU hsf and end up heating the fluid that you want to condense. If you have evidence/experience to the contrary, I'd like to hear about it.
I could write a technical white paper about how they work and why yours may work better with front sink cooling, but instead, let's just say that if the temperature differential between the front and rear sink, near the actual pipe are too close together, then the heat pipe will cease working properly.
The wider the temperature differential, the more efficient the heat pipe is. That does not neccessarily equate to making things cooler, it just goes to efficiency.
There are a lot of variables, like the ambient temperatures on both sides of the heat pipe, or whether or not there is dead air space enveloping the heat pipe.
For proper operation the front pipe must be hotter than the rear pipe.
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