nOOb question on GF4 cooling.

[TK421]

Search utility has produced no results in finding the info I need so I'll go out on a limb and post a new thread.

I also had trouble deciding wether to put the post here or in the video card forum but since I mainly need cooling info *shrug*

I'll be buying a Visiontek GeForce 4 MX 440 in the next couple of days. I however noticed that the card comes with just a heatsink and no fan. I hear that it doesn't really need one but since I want this card to last me as long as my Voodoo3 2k did, I'd like to add a fan to it. The only picture I could find of this card is a bit dark and I can't tell if the board has mounting holes near the gpu like my voodoo3 has. It looks like it MIGHT have the holes but like I said it is really too dark to tell.

In the event that it does have the said holes, what size fan should I need?

If no holes, how would I go about adding a small fan?

Sorry if these seem like total nOOb qestions but I thank you in advance for answering them for me.

[Malakai]

LOL its alright. there is no bad question;)

anyway, if there are holes a believe any 40mm fan should suffice. if no holes, u can either glue a fan onto the heatsink, replace the heatsink with a 1u cooler (heatsink and fan), or zip ties tend to work well in these situations.

if i may ask, why a gf4 MX?
no offense but they really suck, they lack all of the DX8 features that a lot of games nowadays use. i HIGHLY reccomend u get a gf4 Ti4200 or some flavor of a gf3. both have the dx8 pixel and verte shaders, and will serve u well for a while to come. u will need a new card very soon to play the newest games if u get an MX version of the gf4. its just a revamped geforce2.

post back, and heed my advise. u MIGHT end up spending a few more bucks, but its very much worth it in the long run to have a dx8 complient card

edit: hope the info helped, post back any questions u may have, and
WELCOME TO THE FORUMS!!!

[TK421]

Thanx, I appreciate the advice on the fan and the warm welcome. I guess now all I really have to do is _get_ the card ^_^.

I am aware of the lack of DX8 features, however I'm on an extremely limited budget and I most likely am going to be forced to buy in store, not online. (for reasons I'd rather not explain ^_-)

The GF4 Ti 4200 and above make me just plain drool but they really are out of the question as far as price goes. I am however giving serious consideration to the GF3 Ti 500, however it is a bit more pricey online, and that also means it's probably going to have another $30 added to the final price in stores.

You see, I have this dire need to get some gaming done. My Voodoo 3 2K has lasted me a long time but y'know it just doesn't cut it anymore, hell, 80% of the games I've bought recently don't even run on it due to lack of OpenGL 1.2+ support (and DX8 features as well I believe...but may be wrong).

Way I see it is, the GF4 runs almost incomparibly faster than a Voodoo3, supports OpenGL 1.2+, and from what my friends tell me, runs most games just fine, if not great. I'll try to heed everyones' advice and go with a high-end GF3, but if I can't afford it, I fear I can not hold out any longer with all these great games lying around. Maybe I'll buy a Ti 4600 in a few months and give the 440 to my sister ^__-

[Malakai]

if u can get online, a gainward geforce 3 Ti200 golden sample will almost always run faster than a Ti500 and costs like 100$ online now.
and it will be faster and better than any gf4mx is, an dhas all the dx8 stuffs...

oh btw DX8 amkes very pretty games;)

[TK421]

Could you point me to some benchmark comparisons of said cards?

[Maximus Nickus]

Not a great place but www.tomshardwareguide.com has reviews.

I agree with Malakai, get the Ti-200, most overclock to Ti-500 speeds anyway:)


Good Luck,
M_N

[TK421]

Wow thanx for the tip. I read the "PC Graphics Beyond XBOX -
NVIDIA Introduces GeForce4" article on Tom's hardware and I'm really glad I didn't just go out and blindly buy an mx440..... GF3 Ti 500 is at least going to end up running circles around my voodoo card and it should keep me _quite_ happy until I can afford the ti4600

well I guess this completely nulls my question about the fan for the 440, but y'know, I'm glad I asked it or events wouldn't have unfolded the way they did.

[Maximus Nickus]

Glad we could help.

[Malakai]

Originally posted by TK421
Wow thanx for the tip. I read the "PC Graphics Beyond XBOX -
NVIDIA Introduces GeForce4" article on Tom's hardware and I'm really glad I didn't just go out and blindly buy an mx440..... GF3 Ti 500 is at least going to end up running circles around my voodoo card and it should keep me _quite_ happy until I can afford the ti4600

well I guess this completely nulls my question about the fan for the 440, but y'know, I'm glad I asked it or events wouldn't have unfolded the way they did.


definately glad to help.