Major Upgrade time!

[dribblesnort]

w00t!

If you've seen the incredibly low scores my Integrated GeForce 6100 scored in the Windows Performance Index for Vista, you'd understand why I am happy to get this card, lol

http://www.thetrailingedge.com/images/products/ASUS%20EN7600GS%20Silent%20PCI-E.jpg

[splat]

i'd call that a slight upgrade.

[dribblesnort]

So I go to install the card last night and guess what?

It doesn't physically fit! hahaha...

The darned heatsink portion that hangs over the back of the card hits my HVR-1800 TV Tuner, lol.

I decided that I would remove that OEM Asus heatsink and install a custom heatsink in its place, so I broke out the Dremel.

One thing to note about the amount of heatsink compound that Asus used on this video card: The last time I saw that much white goo on something I was watching internet pr0n. Seriously, there was enough thermal paste on the GPU to cover 3 CPUs with integrated heatspreaders...totally unsat. The GPU was covered completely, not just the die portion but the whole chip package...lol

I took one of my old Retail heatsinks from one of the Core 2 Quads I bought and conducted a mount-ectomy with the Dremel to remove the legs that mount the heatsink to the motherboard.

I then laid down the card on the heatsink and poked the sharpie through the 4 holes around the GPU to mark the spots on the Intel Heatsink where I need to drill.

I then drilled and tapped the holes to accept some screws.

I created a backplate with the dremel and glued a rubber spacer into the center of it to ensure pressure was placed against the right portion of the card to hold the heatsink tightly to it.

I re-used some springs from one of my old watercooling setups to make sure there was always constant pressure on the screws.

Seems to work pretty good so far.

Will take some pics later

[EarthDog]

Lulz at anyone using the windows performance score for any type of measurement...

Congrats on the upgrade though!

[Zantal]

i already topped my win 7 score XD

it's a stupid score, when new hardware will come out everyone will top it.
sometimes i think i should be the leader of m$ :p

[nightelph]

I want pics of the C2Q HSF turned/ gpu cooler. :)