How might I add a more effective GPU fan on my new Galaxy GTS 250?

[soarwitheagles]

Hi all!

I just wanted to ask if anyone here could share some insights on how might I add a more effective GPU fan on my new Galaxy GTS 250. I recently purchased a couple of these cards at a really low price and I would like them to last a long time. I read somewhere that the stock GPU fan included on this model is not all that good.

The heat sink is a monster...as in huge!

So, my question is how might I upgrade the fan? Do I remove the existing fan or simply install another fan somewhere else?

Can anyone help me with this please?

I uploaded 3 photos of this card just in case that might help.

Thanks,

Soar

 

[wafflehammer]

Newegg.com - ARCTIC COOLING ACCELS1 Rev 2 VGA Cooler - VGA Cooling

whenever it's in stock


how much did you pay for these anyway?

 

[soarwitheagles]

Newegg.com - ARCTIC COOLING ACCELS1 Rev 2 VGA Cooler - VGA Cooling

whenever it's in stock


how much did you pay for these anyway?

Waffle,

Sweet cooler! But I think it will not work on the GTS 250's [not included in the compatibility list on New Egg's website/specs].

The Galaxy GTS 250's were going for $29 at Buy.com [after MIR] and $52 at Tiger Direct [after MIR]. Oh, I also used Bing cash back program to make the deal sweeter. I waited nearly an entire year for a great deal on some upper end cards and this was finally it. Now I am very happy, but wish I had asked my wife to purchase two of these also [they permitted two cards per person].

Do you know of any other GPU fans that might work? I was thinking for this Scythe SCVSG-1000 Setsugen Universal Ultra Thin VGA Cooler w/ Speed Control (Up to HD 5870 & GeForce 285 GTX) but it cost more than I paid for my cards!

Soar

 

[wafflehammer]

Well I done a quick google search and someone said their GTS 250 fan was noisy and someone pointed them towards this cooler. I DO think it'll work even though it's not on the list.


Oh yea, actually after looking:

The 8800gt is on the list. The GTS 250 is just a rebranded 9800gtx, which is just basically a rebrand of the 8800gt series.

So by all rights it's on the list, just under a different name

but uhmmm fans to use. I'm not to sure. I guess it's just your personal preference. Some fans are really noisy, but often cheaper. The real quiet + high performance ones are usually expensive too . And then on the other hand I'm pretty sure I read somewhere that just having that as a passive cooler and no fan works pretty decently too(you'll have to find confirmation of this though).

 

[soarwitheagles]

Well I done a quick google search and someone said their GTS 250 fan was noisy and someone pointed them towards this cooler. I DO think it'll work even though it's not on the list.


Oh yea, actually after looking:

The 8800gt is on the list. The GTS 250 is just a rebranded 9800gtx, which is just basically a rebrand of the 8800gt series.

So by all rights it's on the list, just under a different name

but uhmmm fans to use. I'm not to sure. I guess it's just your personal preference. Some fans are really noisy, but often cheaper. The real quiet + high performance ones are usually expensive too . And then on the other hand I'm pretty sure I read somewhere that just having that as a passive cooler and no fan works pretty decently too(you'll have to find confirmation of this though).

Waffle,

Ok, thanks for the heads up. I went to New Egg and read lots of reviews on that GPU cooler. It appears to be one of the best deals around. So I will wait for it to come back into stock. I will also check into the fan mod they recommend.

I have heard the term "rebranded" several times recently.

Can you help me to understand this term please?

Thanks,

Soar

 

[patonb]

Are you running sli? as unless you have a double wspaced slot, you won't get the cooler asnd fans in.

Instead of changing the gpu fan, whyh not ensure proper air feed into the gpu?

rebranded basically means the take a ford and switch some symbols and call it a Chevy.

 

[soarwitheagles]

Are you running sli? as unless you have a double wspaced slot, you won't get the cooler asnd fans in.

Instead of changing the gpu fan, whyh not ensure proper air feed into the gpu?

rebranded basically means the take a ford and switch some symbols and call it a Chevy.

Patonb,

Thanks for helping me to understand the rebranded term! Well, now my question is this:

What were the brand names/model numbers of my two Galaxy GTS 250's in their former life?

And now to answer your question... I do not plan upon running sli for three reasons:

1. I do not know how to set up sli
2. I am not sure what sli would be good for [I do suspect it helps people play games better on large monitors]
3. I do not do much gaming at all [my wife does not permit it and she is queen of the castle and computers].

[I let her be queen of the castle and the computers when one day she informed me that my love and devotion to my computers was obviously much deeper than my love and devotion to her in that she only saw my back everyday when I came home from work and sat at my computers....]

I do think I could place both cards on my Gigabyte EP45-UD3P. I uploaded a pic of it. I think there is room for both cards to fit. As I mentioned above, I am just not fully sure or aware of the benefits of doing so.

I like your suggestion: Instead of changing the gpu fan, why not ensure proper air feed into the gpu...

Ok, please help me to understand proper air feed into the GPU...can you elaborate a little on this for me please? Presently I have all the hardware in an M9 computer case with a front fan blowing in between two hard drives and then that same air flows across the underside [the fan side] of the GPU. I just looked at my plastic side case and it offers the possibility of installing a 120 mm fan that would blow directly upon the GPU unit, but I think this might disturb the flow of air within the computer case [I set up this M9 so that the air is sucked in through the front, passes over the HD's, flows through the CPU monster fan/heatsink, then all air is sucked out the back with another 120 mm fan. Wouldn't a fan installed in the side disturb this air flow?

Finally, the biggest reason I would like a better GPU fan/heatsink is simply because I like everything running as cool as possible and I am willing to fork out a little extra $$$ to achieve that goal, hoping to ensure the longevity of my hardware...

Who knows, maybe I am going overboard especially considering that I will not be doing any serious gaming with these babies?

What do you think?

It's me,

Soar

 

[bkolk]

What were the brand names/model numbers of my two Galaxy GTS 250's in their former life?


Who knows, maybe I am going overboard especially considering that I will not be doing any serious gaming with these babies?

You can read this article about the gts 250 if your interested in its design/origins. GeForce GTS 250: Nvidia's G92 Strikes Again : The State Of Graphics - Review Tom's Hardware
Its not actually an old card that was on the shelf, taken down, given a new name and sold again. Its just designed from an older generation of technology. Thats really where the rebranding comes from. Usually when a new graphics card comes out it should come out with new technology. e.g. the gtx 260, 280. When they first came out were brand new technology, better than the old generation. Well what nvidia did with the gts 250 was take its previous generations flagship card (9800 gtx) and now manufactures it under the name gts 250 with minimal changes to the old card. Because its called gts 250, you'd expect it to be quite different from the older generation, because it has the new name. This is what angers people about rebranding.

If your just worried about the card dieing on you if you dont replace that cooler, you need not worry. Graphics cards are surprisingly durable when it comes to heat. They arnt designed to breakdown after a year with their stock coolers. It will surely last you longer than you want to keep it. i.e. it will still be working when you want to replace it because something new came out that you might want.

 

[soarwitheagles]

You can read this article about the gts 250 if your interested in its design/origins. GeForce GTS 250: Nvidia's G92 Strikes Again : The State Of Graphics - Review Tom's Hardware
Its not actually an old card that was on the shelf, taken down, given a new name and sold again. Its just designed from an older generation of technology. Thats really where the rebranding comes from. Usually when a new graphics card comes out it should come out with new technology. e.g. the gtx 260, 280. When they first came out were brand new technology, better than the old generation. Well what nvidia did with the gts 250 was take its previous generations flagship card (9800 gtx) and now manufactures it under the name gts 250 with minimal changes to the old card. Because its called gts 250, you'd expect it to be quite different from the older generation, because it has the new name. This is what angers people about rebranding.

If your just worried about the card dieing on you if you dont replace that cooler, you need not worry. Graphics cards are surprisingly durable when it comes to heat. They arnt designed to breakdown after a year with their stock coolers. It will surely last you longer than you want to keep it. i.e. it will still be working when you want to replace it because something new came out that you might want.

bkolk,

Wow, what an education! Thanks for helping me to understand the true nature on rebranding as it specifically relates to the GTS 250. Now I can understand people getting angry when they understand the true nature of a rebranded item. It appears as if they initially believe they are getting cutting edge technology on a newly released GPU when in fact, they are merely getting a new name on old technology! Wow, now my ears feel a little red too!

Well bkolk, I am happy I was able to grab these at a low price. I hope it was a good deal. I was shocked when I was in Fry's and saw the new 295's going for over $500! Later, as I read more, I discovered a 295 has more than twice the ability of a GTS 250!

Thanks also for your encouragement on the stock GPU cooler...now that you mention it, perhaps I will just keep it that way...I just now thought about placing a temp probe and fan monitor from my Lian temp guage and fan monitor on the GPU card as an extra way to monitor it just in case the fan dies or the GPU temp goes off the charts...

Thanks again for your assistance in helping me to understand more about this strange and wonderful world of GPU's!

Have a good one!

Soar

 

[patonb]

Hmm, I'm not to sure if the rebrand is as Bkolk explain it is the right rebranded. Unless a company dumped there 9800gtx+s and These companys snapped them up and rebadged them as 250s. They did change them, they require a single pci-e plug now.

Either way, you should have no issues... what my 260s have is the fan mannual set at 50% and so under full load theyh never peak 65C. Remember, nvidia cards are good to 110C. I use evga precision to change my settings. Works for any nvidia based card.

RE the 295, its actually 2 260s in one package... wlrth it if you have something big and impressive... i'm talking bank account.

As for airflow, try to keep wiresout of the way and such is the best way.