How bad does my ATI Radeon 9100 need its fan?

new2theplace · 01-14-05, 01:19 AM

Cuz it's not attached right now.

My computer's been uber-loud for months. I got a new Dell that was supposed to be quiet, but it was still kind of noisy. Recently, it got to be too much for me to take. I thought it was the Dell fan but after poking around, I realized it's the fan on my Xtasy 9100 card.

The fan is struggling, it'll run and then 'buzz as it almost comes to a halt... then start running again. THe noise is driving me batty.

I have some fans of the same size, but (of course) the ATI branded fan is "special" so I can't swap it out.

So I disconnected it.

The heatsink itself wasn't even warm and my system has been on for about 16 hours now. But the question is, am I about to screw up my video card?

Anyone?

wmansir · 01-14-05, 04:43 AM

The VPU doesn't really start cooking unless you are playing games, so it should be fine for normal desktop work.

You'll notice any problems before you 'fry' it. If you notice a lot of graphical errors during games, or your games crash/lockup it's most likely a heat problem.

Those little fans are crap, they usually don't last too long. Although, my ATI8500's fan is still working after 2 years. If you need this card to work (ie can't afford a new one), and it doesn't because of heat problems, you can download some overclocker utilities to underclock your card. If it comes down to that check out the forum at Rage3d, it's the best place for ATI info. You can probably find out how to replace the fan there too.

kms_md · 01-14-05, 12:19 PM

if you cannot find a fan, you could always try passive cooling. take a look at newegg and search for vga heatsinks.

kms

crankyman · 01-14-05, 01:18 PM

that doesn't look like much heatsink there....

i would recommend you buy a video chipset heatsink like was posted above. if you have scrambling while playing video games, but a small cheap fan to help with cooling.

heatsink looks to be 'glued' to the chipset.....have fun with that.

new2theplace · 01-14-05, 01:29 PM

Thanks for all the replies.

Crankyman is right, it's not much of a heatsink (nor was it much of a fan. It's a little piece of crap.

I ran the card for a while and then figured out a way to attach my 'new' fan to it. Since the ATI fan has the heatsink 'molded' around it, I ended up attaching the 'new' fan to the OLD fan using bread-bag twist ties

The OLD fan is, in turn, simply attached to the heatsink as it usually would be.

So now the new fan is piggybacking the old one.

I'm not much of a gamer and when I do spend an occasional 15 minutes playing games on this PC, they're 80's arcade MAME games, so I really don't think it'll be a problem, but I'll keep my eye out for any video anomolies.

Thanks y'all

zuffy · 01-14-05, 01:46 PM

The fan in my ATI 9800 Pro is driving me nuts. It's louder than the PC. I might do something similar since I don't play games in my PC. Put a big fan and have it blow over the video card.

01-14-05, 01:19 AM	#1
new2theplace DVD Talk Special Edition Join Date: Jun 2001 Location: I'm right here... can't you see me? Posts: 1,316	How bad does my ATI Radeon 9100 need its fan? Cuz it's not attached right now. My computer's been uber-loud for months. I got a new Dell that was supposed to be quiet, but it was still kind of noisy. Recently, it got to be too much for me to take. I thought it was the Dell fan but after poking around, I realized it's the fan on my Xtasy 9100 card. The fan is struggling, it'll run and then 'buzz as it almost comes to a halt... then start running again. THe noise is driving me batty. I have some fans of the same size, but (of course) the ATI branded fan is "special" so I can't swap it out. So I disconnected it. The heatsink itself wasn't even warm and my system has been on for about 16 hours now. But the question is, am I about to screw up my video card? Anyone?

01-14-05, 04:43 AM	#2
wmansir DVD Talk Hall of Fame Join Date: Apr 2003 Location: Land of the Lobstrosities Posts: 8,592	The VPU doesn't really start cooking unless you are playing games, so it should be fine for normal desktop work. You'll notice any problems before you 'fry' it. If you notice a lot of graphical errors during games, or your games crash/lockup it's most likely a heat problem. Those little fans are crap, they usually don't last too long. Although, my ATI8500's fan is still working after 2 years. If you need this card to work (ie can't afford a new one), and it doesn't because of heat problems, you can download some overclocker utilities to underclock your card. If it comes down to that check out the forum at Rage3d, it's the best place for ATI info. You can probably find out how to replace the fan there too. __________________ wes

01-14-05, 12:19 PM	#3
kms_md DVD Talk Gold Edition Join Date: May 2002 Location: waiting for forum.dvdtalk.com ... Posts: 2,755	if you cannot find a fan, you could always try passive cooling. take a look at newegg and search for vga heatsinks. kms __________________ recursive - adj. see recursive

01-14-05, 01:18 PM	#4
crankyman DVD Talk Legend Join Date: Jul 2000 Location: chokin' you out in less than 30 seconds Posts: 10,633	that doesn't look like much heatsink there.... i would recommend you buy a video chipset heatsink like was posted above. if you have scrambling while playing video games, but a small cheap fan to help with cooling. heatsink looks to be 'glued' to the chipset.....have fun with that. __________________ always check my sig for evidence of how bad ass i am.

01-14-05, 01:29 PM	#5
new2theplace DVD Talk Special Edition Join Date: Jun 2001 Location: I'm right here... can't you see me? Posts: 1,316	Thanks for all the replies. Crankyman is right, it's not much of a heatsink (nor was it much of a fan. It's a little piece of crap. I ran the card for a while and then figured out a way to attach my 'new' fan to it. Since the ATI fan has the heatsink 'molded' around it, I ended up attaching the 'new' fan to the OLD fan using bread-bag twist ties The OLD fan is, in turn, simply attached to the heatsink as it usually would be. So now the new fan is piggybacking the old one. I'm not much of a gamer and when I do spend an occasional 15 minutes playing games on this PC, they're 80's arcade MAME games, so I really don't think it'll be a problem, but I'll keep my eye out for any video anomolies. Thanks y'all

01-14-05, 01:46 PM	#6
zuffy DVD Talk Legend Join Date: Jan 2000 Location: Region 1 Posts: 16,136	The fan in my ATI 9800 Pro is driving me nuts. It's louder than the PC. I might do something similar since I don't play games in my PC. Put a big fan and have it blow over the video card.