Hacking apart 7600GS Heat sink? Advice?

[Corbet]

I recently (finally) finished my shuttle PC computer.

This is the video card I got: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...N82E16814121008

Boy was I an idiot. I didn't notice the extended heatsink on the other side of the video card which is impossible to put into my case. It hits the PSU. My question is, would the thing run ok if I took off the heat sink and cuit off the over hanging part on the other side?

The reason I ask is because the same video card made by different people have similar heat sinks but not the hanging part.

 

[miahallen]

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[Corbet]

Yes, that would be it.

What kind of replacement do you recommend? It would have to be small form factor and able to bolt on using the existing HS's hardware.

This video card will be going into a Micro-ATX case.

 

[I]

Yes, that would be it.

What kind of replacement do you recommend? It would have to be small form factor and able to bolt on using the existing HS's hardware.

This video card will be going into a Micro-ATX case.

If you can keep the adjacent motherboard slot and case bracket empty, you can cool this card passively still. Take a thin piece of clear plastic sheeting (like you'd find making a larger product packaging if you don't have access to anything else), then cut and fold it to make a duct that forces all the passive airflow through that adjacent open slot bracket, over the heatsink.

One other issue is what you'll be using this card for and how good your case airflow is. It's a reasonably low heat card relative to many, but of course significantly hotter running in 3D mode, gaming. As for the case, the passive cooling through a rear slot depends on the case having unequal passive vs active intake and exhaust. IE- if you have equal amounts of fan forced airflow for intake and exhaust then it won't work very well, but if the case is as usually configured with exhaust being the predominant active force, there will be more significant intake flow past the card so the key is keeping that intake flowing across the card instead of taking the shorter path around it.

Remember that your card should have a temp monitor available in the driver panel, you can take off that rear 'sink and more, comparing the results as you go along. Even if you need to get another 'sink, there is plenty you can try until then. IMO, if you must add a fan I'd try one larger than 40mm, the larger the fan the lower the RPM you can get away with for lower noise and fan wear.

 

[dokk]

I recently (finally) finished my shuttle PC computer.

This is the video card I got: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...N82E16814121008

Boy was I an idiot. I didn't notice the extended heatsink on the other side of the video card which is impossible to put into my case. It hits the PSU. My question is, would the thing run ok if I took off the heat sink and cuit off the over hanging part on the other side?

The reason I ask is because the same video card made by different people have similar heat sinks but not the hanging part.

You know that in today's computer world that the hotest part inside of your box is the gpu and that even a passive system radiates its heat,usually inside your box,this usually results in the temp of everything else rising.
With that in mind I went looking for a different/better solution I first looked at Artic Cooling's offerings but , it turned out that they did not make a cooler for the 7600 series gpu's,so I stayed with the default..
Untill,,, I found the Vantec Iceberq 6 pro.It exhausts the heat from the gpu right out the back of the box thus lowering the overall temps inside my case to below 100F right across the board,I am now happier that the proverbial pig in the barnyard,and I highly recommend the iceberq to any and all that can get it into their cases.
And the big plus with this cooler is that it fits more than 50 different cards.
So if you can get it inside your case,,,,,,,,,,,,
Note,,It will take up 2 slots.....

 

[I]

7600 series is a fairly cool running card, there is no need at all to exhaust it out the back. Sure, you "could" do that, but it's not really of any benefit, in fact it will end up a higher noise:temp ratio than most other cooling methods. The key here is that not all parts need to be ultra cool, just cool enough, and by avoiding smaller fans you avoid the worst noise:flow ratios.