[UreiCollector]

I finally rigged up my XFX 7900GS with aftermarket cooling, and thought I would share with everyone.

For whatever silly reason, XFX decided to mount the HSI chip off center in relation to the heatsink holes, so aftermarket solutions were not useable for HSI cooling.

I purchased a Zalman ZM-32K NorthBridge cooler ($6), and tapped a #8 hole through it, to add a "pivot point" so that the cooler could be set square on top of the chip.

Once installed on the chip, make sure you place something between the board and the chip to protect the board....I used a small piece of plastic. Then adjust the screw so it is square to the HSI chip.

[UreiCollector]

For the Zalman 700CU cooler, you will need to enlarge the mounting hole. The clip to hold down the heatsink is very tough, and hard to drill, so a dremel tool with a small grinding wheel worked best. Just enlarge the hole in both the clip, and the rear brace.

[UreiCollector]

Then attach the heatsink......

[UreiCollector]

My idle GPU temps went from 115F with the stock cooler, to 99F with the Zalman cooler!

Load temps dropped from 128F to 104F (under a quick check anyway).

[The purple line is the GPU temps]

[Jas]

Sinks for the RAM?

[UreiCollector]

the Zalman ones wouldn't fit under the heatsink, so I'm going to come up with another solution.

[nd4spdbh2]

intresting but i think youre temps are off... only 13*F diff between stock idle and load its probably alot more, use something like rivatuner to monitor temps.

Btw that is a WEIRD layout on the card for sure.

[redrumy3]

Originally Posted by nd4spdbh2

Btw that is a WEIRD layout on the card for sure

i agree, one crazy layout for a video card

[Jas]

The GPU and ran are pushed bakc under the find of the cooler, while the coolers fan moves to the Center. It looks like this arangment might make for a less bulky cooler.

[Drinkyoghurt]

it looks nothing like my xfx 7900gs pci-e , that's for shure!

the only thing added is that PCI-E to AGP chip right?

[nd4spdbh2]

Originally Posted by Drinkyoghurt

it looks nothing like my xfx 7900gs pci-e , that's for shure!

the only thing added is that PCI-E to AGP chip right?

yup... the HSI chip found on every AGP card since the pcie became the standard (since 6 series)

[UreiCollector]

Some more realistic temperatures........now that I've had a whole free hour to mess around. I wish there were an upgrade for more free time in life

[UreiCollector]

Originally Posted by nd4spdbh2

intresting but i think youre temps are off... only 13*F diff between stock idle and load its probably alot more, use something like rivatuner to monitor temps.

Btw that is a WEIRD layout on the card for sure.

I blame the application I was running....I'd hardly say Wolfenstein Enemy Territory will push this card to full load. I was comparing the same game before and after, as I had the data handy.

I agree, the layout of this board is definately strange....but I'm glad I finally have it running cooler.

[bongolo]

Thanks for sharing your approach UreiCollector.
I recently pinched the same graphics card for my kitchen rig and after noticing appaulingly poor and loud stock cooling, I bumped into this inspiring post, ordered a VF900 and went ahead with the modification.

Bending and tearing a few fins off an old FX5200 heatsink with matching mounting holes and adding a bit of plastic/rubber under one corner of the HS to keep it from tilting like you did, I had a custom HSI bridge chip cooler in a matter of minutes.
The VF900 sits firmly with only 2 screws on one diagonal as the screw-holes on the other diagonal don't line up evenly with holes on this bizarre PCB.

With plenty of room under the VF900, I attached the Zalman memory hsinks and also added some VR coolers on the back of the card along with a 80mm Fan on a back-plate blowing onto them. One of these gets EXTREMELY hot under load!






Note: No temperature readings taken with stock cooler.
VF900 temps: idle - 39 C / max load - 60 C

How Far can you push your card in terms of overclocking and have you found any volt mod guides for this pcb?

[UreiCollector]

I havn't bothered overclocking at all, I just like my stuff to run nice and cool. I'm glad this was a help for you. =)

Mine is still humming along nicely, and a big step up from the old 6800GT.

[Damage Inc.]

Hay,

I got this thread linked from someone on another forum.
And I'm susprised to see people dealing with the same issue.
I mean, I only got the card shorter ago and I didn't immediately bother with alternate cooling.


At one point I heard a "shoving" stopping-sound and I went pale thinking it was a drive dying.
But I went to check things like the temperatures and found that the GPU was quickly heading for 80-100 degrees.
Afterward it turned out that the spinning part was pushed against the blower's (top-)cover, thus couldn't keep turning.
So I just shut down the system and put the thing on a room-fan with the case open for a while.
Which "helped" to put the temperature at... I don't remember, but too high, until I found a replacement fan.

As the owners of this card probably know, it's quite a pain to find a fitting one.
I first tried the newer VF1000, but I think I misread or something and found that it wouldn't fit this card.
Then I also tried a similar cooler from Arctic Cooling, while they noted it should fit the 7900-series (while NOT noting NOT the AGP-version),
it of course also did not fit.
Then on to the VF900 while being 99% sure that it would finally fit the card and also being NO sign on Zalman's website it might not fit,
it AGAIN didn't fit the card... at least not the normal way, luckily by turning and using only two attachments.

It's so great, it's firm and stable and cools a lot better and is nice and "quiet" too.
At least much better than the cheap stock blower-type of coolers they even offered as a replacement at XFX.
I contacted their support about this and was like "No thanks, I'll try something different...".
Plus, they also said they couldn't tell me anything about this chip I didn't know what it was and only halfassed cooled by the stock cooler.
Apparently because "it's nVidia's design".
Well, guess what, we found out it's the HSI-chip, you're in so much trouble now XFX!


Anyway, that's my story with it, but I have some questions:

- First, is it necessary to cool this chip?

- If so, is it possible to mount a heatsink without any drilling and mutilating other parts?
Like I was also told I could use like permanent thermal adhesive from Arctic Silver:
http://www.arcticsilver.com/arctic_s...l_adhesive.htm

- And, what size of heatsink would be recommended to cool this chip?

- Also, I see bongolo has added some heatsinks to some chips on the back.
What kind of chips are those exactly and is it needed to cool those or is that just extra?
I know, the cooler the better, but I rarely see it cooled like this.

- If needed, where do I get those or similar heatsinks?
Or rather, what are they called (type/model/brand) so I can find where to get them?

- And finally, would my card already have been damaged while being overclocked with only the VF900-set attached?
I don't think the overclock is thát much, but here you go: GPU: 450>500MHz / RAM: 660>709MHz
Also, I don't think the temperature, for at least the GPU since that's all I can read, reaches 60 degrees.
It's currently idling at around 37 degrees with the fan at about 1600rpm.
According to, again, bongolo's overclock I should be able to pump it up a lot more right?
But I'll wait a bit with that...


Oh, PS:
I think the weird design or layout of this card is to blame on XFX.
It seems like they want to stand our or something, or I don't know what...
But like the holes don't match with about any cooler, it seems quite intentional not to make them fit.
Indeed really weird...
Then again, I thought it might be the fact that it's one of the last AGP-cards.
But yeah, they could have still made it "normal" or more compatible or whatever.

[downer]

wow UreiCollector, you've really made that system last.

I started building computers during the Socket A days, and loved it. I had a bunch of different boards back then, Epox 8KHA+, Epox 8K3A+ Epox 8K3A, Epox 8RDA, Asus A7N8X Deluxe, Abit NF7-S 2.0. Wish I still had most of them.

And of course, nice mod!

[Damage Inc.]

Anyone please? (On my previous post.)

[Mahedi]

To Damage:-
1.Yes,it is.The ore cooler the more insane O.C and the more performance out of it!!!
2.Permanent thermal adhesive IS NOT RECOMMENDED BY NVIDIA.As it lacks the proper cooling ingredients and sometimes can make a mess itself!!!
3.Is your one an AGP version???

[Damage Inc.]

Originally Posted by Mahedi

To Damage:-
1.Yes,it is.The ore cooler the more insane O.C and the more performance out of it!!!
2.Permanent thermal adhesive IS NOT RECOMMENDED BY NVIDIA.As it lacks the proper cooling ingredients and sometimes can make a mess itself!!!
3.Is your one an AGP version???

Yes, it's the exact same one as shown on the photos, which this thread is about.
But it's trange you mention I shouldn't use permanent thermal-adhesive, because most overclockers do.
I don't think it would be too much of problem.
But since the stuff might get harder, I can understand why it wouldn't cool as well.

[Froggy]

Originally Posted by Drinkyoghurt

it looks nothing like my xfx 7900gs pci-e , that's for shure!

the only thing added is that PCI-E to AGP chip right?

You aren't kidding, look at this for comparison!