*Problem* Severed GTX 260 GPU fan cord

[Koroshima]

So in the process of being an idiot I accidentally ripped out 2 of the 4 gpu fan connectors.

Showing here:
http://img46.imageshack.us/img46/9536/img0207s.th.jpg (http://img46.imageshack.us/i/img0207s.jpg/)

http://img63.imageshack.us/img63/6765/img0214q.th.jpg (http://img63.imageshack.us/i/img0214q.jpg/)

I have absolutely no experience with soldering, moot point because I lack any soldering equipment anyway. I'm completely open to suggestions, advice, baked goods, etc...

[Zap]

You don't need to solder, because I think most of those tips are crimped on. You might be able to disassemble it, pull the pins out, spread them apart, strip wires and re-crimp. Of course if you accidentally reverse wires, then bad things might happen. (I've seen a blown out fan controller on a GTX 285)

Alternately you can go with aftermarket cooling. You had the card apart anyways, so my guess is that you were disassembling it in a misguided attempt to reduce temperatures.

[Roofles]

Can you get bigger pictures? Its hard to tell exactly what part is dislodged and/or damaged.

In general crimp connectors are pretty easy to fix as you might be able to just push it back in the plastic connector. This also assumes the little locking pins are still intact, you might be able to nudge them out a bit and it should lock again. Just make sure you don't wire it backwards!

[torin3]

Alternately you can go with aftermarket cooling. You had the card apart anyways, so my guess is that you were disassembling it in a misguided attempt to reduce temperatures.

If you don't mind a bit of a threadjack, why do you say misguided?

[Unclewho]

If you don't mind a bit of a threadjack, why do you say misguided?

i think he was referring to the fact that the 260 is very good at dispersing heat, and disassembling isnt going to make it any better.

Better yet modify your case so that the Card doesnt intake hot air.

[Zap]

If you don't mind a bit of a threadjack, why do you say misguided?

In various forums I've seen many threads where temperatures either did not decrease, or indeed increased after the re-application of thermal compound on GTX 200 level cards. There are two "problems" with trying to make temperatures lower through re-doing the TIM on these cards.

#1 The stock TIM is Shin Etsu MicroSI on most GTX 200 series cards (I know for BFG cards, but also should be for any reference card with reference cooler). This is already pretty decent stuff and most people would have a difficult time improving upon it.

#2 The stock fansink does NOT make very good contact with the GPU. The reason is that there may be slight variations on everything else it has to contact. Thus, it relies on a slightly thicker TIM, which Shin Etsu MicroSI works well as. The typical thin application of TIM that us enthusiasts are accustomed to on CPUs (where the heatsink just has to contact one thing) ends up not making full contact with the GPU.

This is not to say that no graphics card TIM can be improved upon. I'm just saying that in these cases (most GTX 200 series cards) it often is an excercise in futility with more drawbacks than benefits.

[torin3]

Thanks Zap, that makes a lot of sense. Especially about needing thicker TIM. I've changed the cooling on a few video cards, either aftermarket air cooling, or water cooling, and it usually takes me a couple of tries to get good coverage on the GPU.

And I also agree that it isn't a good idea to mess with a video card's stock cooling for just a few degrees. I did try it once on a video card for a friend, when he wasn't planning on changing to aftermarket cooling, but that was because it was idling at about 70°C. It turned out that there was almost no TIM on the GPU. He got it used, so I don't know if someone earlier tried to redo the TIM, or it was a production glitch.

Also, I've been really impressed with the stock cooling on all the 200 series cards I've seen, except the dual PCB 295s, (and the 9800 GX2s for that matter). But I think the dual PCB stock cooling is probably the best that can be done short of water cooling, given the nature of the product. But the co-op 295 I have performs excellently with the stock cooler.

The only way I'm changing that stock cooling is if I try to fit more than 4 of them on a motherboard. (Why yes, I AM a folding junkie...)

Thanks for the response!

[MarkS]

In various forums I've seen many threads where temperatures either did not decrease, or indeed increased after the re-application of thermal compound on GTX 200 level cards. There are two "problems" with trying to make temperatures lower through re-doing the TIM on these cards.

#1 The stock TIM is Shin Etsu MicroSI on most GTX 200 series cards (I know for BFG cards, but also should be for any reference card with reference cooler). This is already pretty decent stuff and most people would have a difficult time improving upon it.

#2 The stock fansink does NOT make very good contact with the GPU. The reason is that there may be slight variations on everything else it has to contact. Thus, it relies on a slightly thicker TIM, which Shin Etsu MicroSI works well as. The typical thin application of TIM that us enthusiasts are accustomed to on CPUs (where the heatsink just has to contact one thing) ends up not making full contact with the GPU.

This is not to say that no graphics card TIM can be improved upon. I'm just saying that in these cases (most GTX 200 series cards) it often is an excercise in futility with more drawbacks than benefits.

I have to fully agree here. I removed the heat sink from my GTX 260, applied the "correct" amount of AS5 and the temps jumped so high I have to run the fan at 100%. Now I'm just waiting for money to do a water cooling loop.