Heatsink assembly customization

[saige45]

Hey All,

I need a wee bit of assistance/guidance.

I have a Dell Optiplex GX620 Mid-tower Case. I personally like this case because of the ease of entry and the semi open design that the internal configuration allows.

Recently, I purchased an NVidia GTX 260 and have come to a barrier so to speak. The internal heatsink assembly does not allow for the card to be installed. I am considering pulling out my dremel and making the necessary modifications but I want to do so without affecting the heat disipation on the processor [the assembly is enclosed in a rather large plastic shroud].

My questions are:

A. Could I make these modifications [could anyone provide guidance?]
B. Is there another option [I wouldn't completely disagree with changing my mobo and case but I would only consider that if it is a last resort].

Thank you all for your assistance.

-saige-

 

[orangegator]

What size power supply does that computer have? It's very likely that the power supply that come with that Dell is too small to handle the gtx260. Before cutting up the computer, I'd make sure it can run the new card first.

As for saying if a specific modification is a bad idea or not, you gotta explain and show (pictures would help) what you plan to do.

 

[saige45]

Well I have purchased and installed a SilverStone Strider 600W... Tis more than capable of handling the video card...

As for pictures... I'll have to post some...

Here is a general idea of case layout with heatsink...

http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/systems/opgx620/en/ug/A02/mtabout0.htm#wp1051997

http://www.dellcommunity.com/supportforums/board/message?board.id=pw_upgrade&thread.id=7263

-saige-

 

[saige45]

Does anyone else have any additional thoughts on this?

Much appreciated,

-saige-

 

[orangegator]

As for saying if a specific modification is a bad idea or not, you gotta explain and show (pictures would help) what you plan to do.

Again, if you want help, do this first.

 

[saige45]

This is the best I could come up with:

http://www.filebucket.net/public/view/full/787

The red is the current heat sheild (approximate)
The black is the current heat sink inside the sheild (approximate)
The blue represents the GTX 260 (approximate)

The more I think about this, the more it might inevitabely come down to purchasing a new motherboard and case... If noone came come up with a good idea, could someone guide me to a relatively inexpensive motherboard and case. I have been looking at using the NVidia 7xx series for a mobo and a case that preferably has liquid cooling but would give up a good quality case in leui and purchase a cooling solution later down the road...

Thanks,

-saige-

 

[orangegator]

If all you plan to do is cut just the plastic shroud, you should be ok. Is there a fan that pushes or pulls air through it? If so, I'd use tape to seal the part you cut so you maintain airflow. As for swapping the motherboard and case, that could be a pain. The reason is that the oem windows os installed on the dell computer will not work with a non-dell motherboard. You will have to buy a new copy of windows and reinstall it. But it really looks like you're trying to make a gaming rig out of a non-gaming computer. It might be cheaper and easier just to build a new computer and just reuse the gtx 260, ram, and hard drive. GL

 

[saige45]

I have sortof already made it into a gaming rig...

And as for the OS, I have a fully licensed copy of anything via my TechNet subscription so that is not so much of a pain... There is no fan save the one that it as the front of the pc which draws air in...

But overall you are on the right track... Just trying to see if anyone else had ran into this situation... I was thinking I might be able to shave enough of the heatsink shroud so that the card would fit, only major change would be cutting a hole in the shroud so that the fan for the GTX could breath... However, there is the possibility of it breathing warmer air which might make the card run hotter...

Another consideration is the fact that under the shroud on the front side of the CPU socket there is a plastic piece which acts as a pivot point for the shroud... i would have to extremely modify this and cut away more of the shroud...

Directly under the card would sit the floppy connector and the connector to for the intrusion switch... The floppy connector sits low enough on the motherboard that I do not think it would interfere, but with the cable introduced it might... The intrusion switch though will require some modification so tha the card can sit over the top of it (lengthening the the connector cables [not a major feat], shortening the pin shroud and cutting the pins to length)...

If I ever decided to upgrade the CPU (which is highly likely since the Q9450 is rapidly dropping in price) I would then need to remove the video card in order to remove the shroud... Perhaps I would be better off changing out the mobo and case...

Any recommendations per my previous post???

Thanks,

-saige-