HD 6950 aftermarket cooling

AtusSephin

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Oct 15, 2010
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I will be buying a hd 6950 for my new build, i have read that the fan on the card is quite loud, so the question is :
What is the best alternative for it ? Also how hard is it to change the stock fan to the aftermarket one ?

Thanks in advance !!
 

rubix_1011

Contributing Writer
Moderator
I'd wait to see if you think it is loud; this definition is highly debated by most people...and is personal preference. Loud to some is barely audible to others.

That being said, if you wanted to help temps on it a bit, get some decent thermal paste, pull the stock cooler...clean off the stock paste. Apply the new stuff in correct proportions and reapply the stock cooler. This almost always will give you ~5C cooler temps which is great...and can help keep the fan from spinning up. I'd go that route before looking into other options.

Also, assess your case airflow- the reason the fan spins up is due to the need to pull in more cool air to lower the temps. If you have great airflow, you are giving your components cool air for the coolers to work as intended. You can have the best coolers in the world, but without the airflow, they still will run hot.

To test- pull the side of your case, blow a house/desk fan on high into the case. Run your benchmarks, monitor temps, etc. Compare to temps you've been seeing in the past. If the temps go down; you have an airflow problem and should address getting more air running through your case. If temps stay the same, you might consider better coolers...or you are just fine as-is.
 

Chieftexas

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Mar 2, 2011
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I have the 6950 as well, its a great card - the fan does run incredibly loud though during load. Cleaning and changing out the thermal paste/pads can help you a few degrees, or you can go with the Arctic Xtreme Plus from Arctic Cooling, seems to be the only cooler compatible with the 6950 so far. Stock fan removal is pretty simple too, just remove all screws from the GPU's underside as well as the 3 on the backplate then gently lift the casing until it separates (will experience a little resistance from the existing thermal pads).