EVGA Geforce 7600 GT running very hot, need some suggestion

[smalltalk]

My cpu runs at a constant 44 degrees, however; I have a EVGA GeForce 7600 GT 256MB PCIe video card and it runs at around 62-64 degrees if I'm not gaming. If i run city of heroes then the heat goes up to about 80 degrees. Now here is the kicker I have my cover off the pc and have a small desktop fan blowing directly on the video card. If I put my cover on then the video card over heats past 100 degrees and screws up. So I have to run with the pc cover off and a fan blowing directly on the video card. I'm running nvidia 93.71 drivers but it doesn't seem to me that adjusting the fan speed actually increases the fan speed at all, I don't hear any noise difference.

Even with the cover on my pc my cpu never goes over 46 degrees. So I know that I need to increase air flow near my video card but even with the cover off and a fan blowing directly on it it goes up to 80 + degrees. My normal air tempurature in my house is about 75 degrees.

need some suggestions, is there a different driver i can use to better control the fan speed? I'm not sure I understand the fan speed on the new Nvidia control panel. GPU fan speed I manually set it to max (now i can't recall the exact numbers but its maxed) at like 145% / 73 degrees and click apply and it saves but i don't hear any difference in my fan.

need some pointers.

my motherboard is: MSI K9N SLI Platinum Socket AM2 Motherboard
cpu: AMD Athlon 64 X2 3800+ Socket AM2 (Windsor)
Here is the link to the exact video card i'm using. ( i'm only using one and no sli)
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?Sku=E145-7908


forgot to add. I don't overclock.

 

[Gary_Busey]

That's pretty hot. I'd buy some thermal paste, remove the cooler, clean the cooler and the GPU, then reapply some thermal paste and make sure there's solid contact with the cooler. If it's still hot after that, I'd look into an aftermarket cooler.

 

[smalltalk]

k, I didn't know if it would be possible to remove the fan from the video card to do that.

 

[Gary_Busey]

Yup, it is. Here's a cheap cooling solution if that doesn't work, or if you just want to chuck the stock cooling.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835887007

 

[Anoobis]

Well GB's suggestion seems like a good one. However, here's one that may be just as good for a bit cheaper and without a MIR. Here's a little review by our very own Cleeve. Price was an issue when he reviewed it but that wouldn't be the case now for a decent VGA cooler like this.