8800GT cooling

hi guys.

i'm a noob here, so sorry in advance.
but you all seem pretty helpful. so here it goes.

after 3 months of delays from Dell, the finally shipped me my 8800GT 512 from MSI. Its overclocked to 660mhz on the core.
i know msi isnt that great, but i got it for $225 after tax and shipping, so i dont mind.

the issue i have is that after about 10 minutes of gaming, my whole screen artifacts. even if i use rivatuner to pump up the fan to 100%, it artifacts in less than an hour.

so i want an aftermarket cooler.

i'm not really sure how to ensure compatibility with my card, nor do i really get how the ram chips are supposed to be cooled. i'm pretty sure the card is a reference design, if that helps.

so what do you suggest i get to cool this beast?
anything around $30 is about right.

thanks in advance!

Besides that you could add a case fan in the back of your case. Make sure it exhausts the hot air out. Also the pci fan.

What temps are you getting under load for your video card? If your temps are reasonable with the fan at 100%, then it could be a bad card. So I suggest you post a screen with your gpu temp under load before installing a new gpu cooler (voiding warranty and an RMA).

This may be more then you're willing to do but what I did was mod my case to add an 80mm adjustable speed fan to the side of my case which blows outside air directly onto my video card. it's fairly easy to do and looks pretty good IMHO. Cut an 80mm hole where you want to mount the fan (I used a drill mounted hole saw that is similar to the kind used for making holes for door handles and locks). Using the fan as a template, mark and drill out the four mounting holes. Lastly, mount it on the inside of the case and find a nice grill/trim piece to mount on the outside and it will both look like you bought it that way and cool 10x better then a PCI slot cooler could. Plus, it could easily be the cheapest option.

-MikeM

I'll second the Arctic Cooling products, I have the S2 w/turbo module fans (Only 2 heatpipes compared to the S1's 4 heatpipes.) I have my 8800GT now at 700/990 and the hottest I have ever saw it go was 53C during 15 minutes of ATItool Artifact scan. During gaming it never breaks 50C. It idle's at about 40C. Ambient is 20C +/-2C (usually hotter) Not bad, I think I picked the cooler for $17 and the fans for $8 + shipping.

HT03-GT works for me. More expensive than the others though.

This is what I am running on my 8800GT...

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6835118001

Has everythin' you need including Ram Heatsinks and a speed control unit.

Seems to get the job done. (it will take up 2 slots tho)

I use the Zalman VF1000 LED and a cheapo PCI blower. Installed it 2 days ago. With the stock Zalman thermal compound it idles at 37C and hits 52C load (20 minutes ATI Tool artifact test). This is in a closed case running clocks of 700/1750/1980. I am using the eVGA Superclock card which comes with clocks of 650/1625/1900. I always had the PCI blower so I don't know how much it helped, but with it my idle was at 44ish and under load it hit 67C, but that is also with an OC @ 680/1700/1940. Any higher and it would artifact in games even though it is ATI tool stable for 15 minutes. Opening the side of my case gave me 1C lower temps in any case, but did not help with stability.

My PCI blower helped a lot with my old 7800GT (dropped 4C idle and about 7C load with a closed case) so I assume it will help with your 8800GT since they have a similar fan setup.

They are both pretty quiet even with the case open. Links:
PCI Blower (single slot)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6835200019
~$10
Zalman VF1000LED
http://www.directron.com/vf1000led.html
~$50

good luck!

I use the Zalman vf900 and get 51c idle 58c load. I leave the fan on low as it almost perfectly silent. Turning it up full blast is still rather quiet but it only dropped my temps about 3 additional degrees.

i also have the same msi card and i am running cool enough i decided not to get 3rd party cooling. a safe bet is to run fan up to 50% or 60% b4 starting to play a game. although it was fine on stock fan speeds. I have an antec 900 so airflow is good.

i have this thing set up where rivatuner hardware monitor turns up the fan speed up to 50% if it reaches 60 C

I'm running an S1+turbo Module on my 8800GT. Temps went from 51/78 to 38/46 while remaining completly silent.

I'm running 2 of the ZalmanVF1000LED, but I do seem to remember in the applications compatability that it wasn't yet compatable to the 8800GT, He better check into that before committing.

They are great coolers I have mine cooling 2 7800GTX in SLI, dropped gaming temps about 12c!

Im maybe take the side off your case and run it for a while and see if that helps things before spending the money on a cooler. The stock cooler should honestly be enough, just run a little warm.

Might have a bad card or the stock cooler wasn't properly installed.

BTW there is nothing wrong with MSI cards.

My idle is 37c w an OC of 732/ 1834/1050, using the Zalman VF1000 GPU heatsink fan cooler.
There is no premade full size size Ram & VR heatsink for the 8800GT as is available for the 8800GTX but the Zalman does fit the 8800GT, and I custom made my Ramsinks
instead of using the Zalman Ramsinks, Zalman Ramsinks are square and the 8800GT memory chips are retangular.