So I fired up Far Cry 4 last night and noticed my temps rising above 80C.. and was like WTF... this shouldn't be happening (because normally it never gets above 70C). Popped off the side panel and looked at the GPU and noticed one of my fans had stopped working. Googled a bit and seems to be a common issue, figured I'd RMA it.. but reading turnaround time for Sapphires RMA figured it would be a waste of time, and their terms make it seem like I might not even get it fixed which is total BS. So Im looking for a new GPU, I was thinking the 970.. even with the whole 3.5GB debacle... it seems like a nice upgrade. But 340$ is a lot at the moment, and seeing as the 770 is practically the same price as a replacement 280x would be its not really an option. I also see that the R9 290 is around the same performance as a 970 (970 being faster still).. and its prices range around 40$ cheaper. So I'm torn which should I go for, are there any alternatives?
maybe fix / replace the fan?
Use zipties to attach a case fan to the card - bigger is better, so get a 200mm if you can. Should work just as good if not better./s
There should be replacement fans to be had, somewhere.
Also, there are aftermarket heatsinks for GPUs. It may cost $50-80, but they can carry over to different platforms.
Or....
http://www.ekwb.com/news/136/19/
:D
p.s... i think you are just making excuses to yourself to justify a gpu upgrade as a fan replacement is well within your technical capabilities
just be honest and admit you want to spend money on something new and shiny :P
SSSHHHHH hahaha
Well, I could give it a try. :P
I had the same thing happen to my Sapphire DualX 7970Ghz card. I replaced the fans with the same ones found on Amazon and replaced the thermal paste with Arctic Silver and the temps never get over 64C now. My card still kicks ass!! In fact you should find the thread I made about modding my gpu in the hardware section.
How is my main concern, is replacing an easy process? Guide you can recommend maybe?
I just realized the fans are coming from China... and their shipping is free.. but 16-23 days O.o... and if I want them in 6-13 days its 25$!? Maybe I'm just whining but thats a fuck ton of time to wait for overpriced OEM fans.
It is REALLY easy. You unscrew 4 screws on the back and the entire heatsink comes off. then, you unscrew 4 more screws to remove the shroud. Then there are 3 screws at each fan.
that is why you get them from Aamzon. Mine came from Colorado.
Link?
from the pic i posted it looks like you can just remove the fans without removing the heatsink and shroud.
nope. you actually have to remove the fans from the shroud and you have to remove the heatsink to remove the shroud to remove the fans. Not to mention, he should replace the TIM on the heatsink.
Yeah I searched and found those... wanted to make sure though. So the only thermal paste I got lying around is Tuniq TX-2 which is what I used for my CPU that alright? Also applying is similar to CPU (dot in the middle.. let heatsink spread paste).
yeah. it should be just fine. All I have is Arctic silver so that is what I used. I applied a dot and line like Linus Tech does.
Alright! Ordered :).
Total 35$ ... i guess that beats spending 350$ hehe although that foils my excuse for new card plan. :P