I'll get straight to the point. The GPU I have atm, the XFX 9800GT, is a great card. Performance wise I can't find a fault. (Here's a link so you know exactly what I mean http://www.overclockersclub.com/reviews/xfx_9800gt/)
It's factory overclocked which I think is part of the problem. It's hot. Idle it's around 60c at load at 80c. I'm not overly worried about the temperatures as research suggest it's within acceptable limits for the chip. The problem is that once it gets to 80c the cooling fan spins faster to compensate and it's loud. Loud to distraction. And it doesn't seem to do a brilliant job either. For example I was playing Civ 4 a few days ago which isn't the most punishing game graphics wise, but the fan was at full pelt much of the time. Civ 4 isn't the noisest of games, no explosions or anything, so the game sound didn't do a good job of masking the fan noise.
I've been looking into solutions and aside from replacing the cooling unit I've not really found any. It's a lot more noticable as well since I moved the PC upstairs before Christmas, heat rising and all that. So it spins up more frequently and moving it back downstairs is not an option.
I've had a look at alternate coolers, such as the ones here http://www.overclockers.co.uk/productli ... &subid=787, but there's two things that bother me. Firstly I've never replaced a GPU's cooling and, while I'm keen to learn, the risks in doing it on my own card are not appealing. Also it's still got around 18 months warranty left on it and considering the temperatures it's been running at I'm loathe to void it. I'm also not convinced that adding a side fan to my PC's case will help significantly enough to stop the GPU hitting that magic 80c mark. A new GPU is not an option either, especially when I've got one that works fine, noise aside.
So the question is...do you guys have any thoughts on possible solutions?
It's factory overclocked which I think is part of the problem. It's hot. Idle it's around 60c at load at 80c. I'm not overly worried about the temperatures as research suggest it's within acceptable limits for the chip. The problem is that once it gets to 80c the cooling fan spins faster to compensate and it's loud. Loud to distraction. And it doesn't seem to do a brilliant job either. For example I was playing Civ 4 a few days ago which isn't the most punishing game graphics wise, but the fan was at full pelt much of the time. Civ 4 isn't the noisest of games, no explosions or anything, so the game sound didn't do a good job of masking the fan noise.
I've been looking into solutions and aside from replacing the cooling unit I've not really found any. It's a lot more noticable as well since I moved the PC upstairs before Christmas, heat rising and all that. So it spins up more frequently and moving it back downstairs is not an option.
I've had a look at alternate coolers, such as the ones here http://www.overclockers.co.uk/productli ... &subid=787, but there's two things that bother me. Firstly I've never replaced a GPU's cooling and, while I'm keen to learn, the risks in doing it on my own card are not appealing. Also it's still got around 18 months warranty left on it and considering the temperatures it's been running at I'm loathe to void it. I'm also not convinced that adding a side fan to my PC's case will help significantly enough to stop the GPU hitting that magic 80c mark. A new GPU is not an option either, especially when I've got one that works fine, noise aside.
So the question is...do you guys have any thoughts on possible solutions?
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