Custom fan modding on reference HD 7970 (or other cooling options)

[toneekay]

So I have a reference HD 7970 sitting around and it seems like it's not going to sell so I'm starting to get the itch to do a little modding. Since I don't want to spend another $80+ on a good air cooler, or go full on water cooling... I'm thinking about trying to rig a couple fans on the stock heatsink. It's got a copper base which touches the GPU itself and has a nice bed of aluminum fins. I've drawn up an example of what I'm thinking about doing...

Just seeing if anyone else has done this, or have some good feedback or opinions on how efficient and effective this may be.

The black things are fans exhausting the heat away from the sink itself, while (still tossing around the idea) keeping the stock fan mounted to blow air horizontally. I might have to make a custom shroud or something. Let me know what you think!

 

[toneekay]

After taking off the shroud on the card last night, I noticed that the sink's fins are closed flat (has a small bend) not allowing air to vent upwards. This may be a problem for my custom fan idea... Anyone have any thoughts?

 

[bluebob951]

You could try getting more airflowing through the heatsink by some how forcing more air through using the other fan. you can try modding the shroud by itself to allow a fan to blow air across the top of the heatsink, and modding the back of the card to allow more air to be forced out.