How do you replace a stock VGA Cooler?

[rwayne]

I have a very noisy Sapphire x1950GT.

I just bought a ZeroTherm VGA cooler.

How do you remove the stock heatsink from a Videocard?

Is it as easy as disconnecting the power cable to the fan, loosening the 4 screws in the center of the card, and lifting up?

I can see what looks like doublesided tape between the cooler and the ram chips. Is that what it is or is it something else?

Does caution need to be used when removing a stock cooler?

 

[Evilonigiri]

That's what I do, just remove the cooler with a screw driver and disconnect the fan. There may be concern with the thermal tape, since removing the heatsink probably degrades the efficiency of the tape. So I'd remove them and use thermal paste instead.

 

[rwayne]

Do you have to take care when lifting the cooler off? Can the thermal tape damage the ram modules if you lift up too fast? Or is the odds of that really remote?

Does any one have any good links on this?

Or is this just a super simple prodcure that I am over-complicating?

 

[Evilonigiri]

There shouldn't be much problems. The reviews I read that removed the vidcard covers does exactly what I do. Sometimes it requires force to remove the cooler off, so do it with caution.

 

[rwayne]

By the way...

Here is what I am going to replace my stock cooler with:

It has received very good reviews on newegg. Silent and cheap.

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

 

[rwayne]

That's what I do, just remove the cooler with a screw driver and disconnect the fan. There may be concern with the thermal tape, since removing the heatsink probably degrades the efficiency of the tape. So I'd remove them and use thermal paste instead.

When you say "remove it with a screwdriver" do you mean:

Using the screwdriver to take the screws out?

Or

Using a flat headed screwdriver to pry the cooler off the thermal tape?

 

[Evilonigiri]

By the way...

Here is what I am going to replace my stock cooler with:

http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f44/Rwayne/zerotherm.jpg

It has received very good reviews on newegg. Silent and cheap.

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

Looks promising to me. It's also quite cheap, so give it a go.

 

[Evilonigiri]

When you say "remove it with a screwdriver" do you mean:

Using the screwdriver to take the screws out?

Or

Using a flat headed screwdriver to pry the cooler off the thermal tape?

Using a screwdriver to take the screws out of course...

Why would you use it to pry it off? That's damaging lol.

 

[rwayne]

I mean of course after the screws have been removed.

I am probably making a fool of myself on this post. I have a feeling doing this is going to be much simplier than I thought.

BTW... I already have that ZeroTherm Cooler in my possession. So I may swap it out tonight.

 

[rwayne]

Well, I did it last night.

It was 10 x times easier than I thought.

What a difference!

My PC is a WHOLE lot quieter and I dropped by GPU temps by 8 degrees celius at the same time.
The RAM heatsinks are really good. No chance of them falling off. The adhesive is superb.

I am really impressed. Great deal for $14 after rebate.

Removing my stock cooler made me realize how crappy it actually is.

 

[Evilonigiri]

Nice, going to OC that beast?