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VGA Cooling (NVIDIA 6600GT) Help!

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andyisc00l

Member
Joined
Jan 30, 2006
Whats a good cooler (Im assuming swiftech or zalman copper heatsink for ram)...but whats a good VGA cooler for the 6600gt series, as I am looking to OC it a lil bit...500mhz core and 1000mhz ram...it'd be nice to be 550/1080 or so...and around $30-50
 
If you are only going to run 1080MHz on the memory, you don't need sinks at all. 1100 and down is fine with bare chips. Don't run memory sinks unless you have too, as you only have two choices for attaching them.

First is the thermal tape route, and this offers not only limited thermal conductivity but also a decent change of damaging your card in the act of pressing them on. The solder contacts on BGA ram are delicate, and essentially every failed card I've seen in the last 3 years was a simple case of failed memory solder joints. Most of these cards worked fine until people stuck memory sinks on them.

The other way (and right) way to go is to use a thermal epoxy and glue the memory sinks to the chips. This not only offers great thermal conductivity, but minimizes the chance of damaging the card (if you use a small amount of proper thermal adhesive like AC Alumina adhesive). The downside here is it voids the card's warranty in most cases.

As far as the core, 6600GTs do run pretty hot and better cooling is a fine idea even at stock clock. The Zalman will work well, but I would just keep the memory sinks for something that needs them, unless you are fine with epoxying them on. It simply isn't worth risking damaging the card in application (or removal) via the thermal tape route if 1080MHz is alright with you.

The AC VGA Silencer is not a bad option for the 6600GT. It will give you fairly effective memory cooling with miminal chances of damaging the card. And it will cool the core pretty darn well. VGA Silencers have trouble with the heat output of a 7800GT or GTX, but the 6600GT makes less heat and it pretty well within their limits.
 
I saw a thermalright V-1 for $27 shipped in the classifieds. It may have been sold because somebody pm'd the seller and got a reply. It doesn't confirm a sale though. Who knows? Maybe the buyer will flake. If not you can get it new for $25.50 at Jabtech. It should be far better than any other air cooler except the V-1 ultra which is much more expensive. The non-ultra is within 1 degree c of the ultra according to the review I read and almost as good as some water cooling.
 
Brando said:
I saw a thermalright V-1 for $27 shipped in the classifieds. It may have been sold because somebody pm'd the seller and got a reply. It doesn't confirm a sale though. Who knows? Maybe the buyer will flake. If not you can get it new for $25.50 at Jabtech. It should be far better than any other air cooler except the V-1 ultra which is much more expensive. The non-ultra is within 1 degree c of the ultra according to the review I read and almost as good as some water cooling.
At that price a V1 is attractive. Also consider the AeroCool VM-101, it will cool a 6600GT at 550MHz passively with ease if you have case exhaust fans behind the cpu area.
 
My msi is 1000 as well on the memory and its agp. I find that the stock coolers are often beefy enough on these cards that all you need is a larger fan blowing at them to get things chilly.
I really think the zalman is the best bet for this card. easy to install, cools well, quiet and compatible with your next card too. nvsilencer is great if you ahve the pci-e version, but there is a pretty good chance it wont fit your next card.
 
I've been using the NVSilencer for my 6600GT, and it works great to withdraw the heat and is a LOT quieter than the stock hsf!!!

imho, 550/1080, you shouldn't have any problem running at/around that speed at all!!
 
larva said:
If you are only going to run 1080MHz on the memory, you don't need sinks at all. 1100 and down is fine with bare chips. Don't run memory sinks unless you have too, as you only have two choices for attaching them.

First is the thermal tape route, and this offers not only limited thermal conductivity but also a decent change of damaging your card in the act of pressing them on. The solder contacts on BGA ram are delicate, and essentially every failed card I've seen in the last 3 years was a simple case of failed memory solder joints. Most of these cards worked fine until people stuck memory sinks on them.

The other way (and right) way to go is to use a thermal epoxy and glue the memory sinks to the chips. This not only offers great thermal conductivity, but minimizes the chance of damaging the card (if you use a small amount of proper thermal adhesive like AC Alumina adhesive). The downside here is it voids the card's warranty in most cases.

As far as the core, 6600GTs do run pretty hot and better cooling is a fine idea even at stock clock. The Zalman will work well, but I would just keep the memory sinks for something that needs them, unless you are fine with epoxying them on. It simply isn't worth risking damaging the card in application (or removal) via the thermal tape route if 1080MHz is alright with you.

The AC VGA Silencer is not a bad option for the 6600GT. It will give you fairly effective memory cooling with miminal chances of damaging the card. And it will cool the core pretty darn well. VGA Silencers have trouble with the heat output of a 7800GT or GTX, but the 6600GT makes less heat and it pretty well within their limits.
How long did those cards last after the memory sinks were installed?
 
AC Alumina adhesive??? works well?

and...max OC for zalman and included sinks...600/1200 ?? too high?
 
andyisc00l said:
AC Alumina adhesive??? works well? ... and ugh, where do I buy this stuff, whats best kind? how much better does it work, and can i use thermaltape heatsinks and then use ac alumina? do i sand off thermaltape or smeothing?

and...max OC for zalman and included sinks with ac alumina...600/1200 ?? too high?
 
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