The ATI Radeon Cooler Mod Guide

Adrian Wong · 3rd Jan 2004, 03:40 AM

Stock coolers suck and that’s true for most graphics cards. Overclockers looking to push the limits will have to replace the puny stock coolers. But what if you cannot afford expensive GPU coolers? Is that the end of your overclocking journey?

Not necessarily! You can always go the cheap route! Today, Chai will show you how to mod a CPU cooler onto an ATI Radeon graphics card to create the ultimate free cooler upgrade!

Link : The ATI Radeon Cooler Mod Guide

wildfrogman · 3rd Jan 2004, 03:14 PM

High performance videocards sure do put out alot of heat, hopefully they will put the gpu on the TOP of the videocard...unless its an emi interference issue with the ram/cpu,hmm. The mod may work out better better/less pci slots lost if a small blower was used and blew across the card lengthwise. It may not be an issue for alot of people to lose pci slots but eh, it may for some. Blowing the air along the card in a duct could lower temps and cool the whole card more. Nice job on drilling that heatsink though, I have to get a small drill press. It will be so much better than dremel stuff for drilling!

Chai · 3rd Jan 2004, 04:25 PM

Actually, even if I don't use a fan, it will still block 2 PCI slots, or 1 PCI slot on my board. So using a blower fan style is not really a good idea. I do have 2 blower type fans with me, but it's rather huge, and it virtually impossible to find it here. I have to order these fans from the US.

The AMD stock heatsink comes with a lower profile fan, if I didn't swap the fan, it will block the same amount of slots as without a fan on it.

And regarding the drilling, actually I made a very big mess. I drilled a few mm off the spot, and the heatsink wouldn't fit properly! So I ended up drilling a bigger hole, and slant both the bolts and forced the heatsink to fit! But fortunately, it still works!

deadken · 4th Jan 2004, 01:31 AM

I think it was a nice article, but wanted to make a few suggestions...

A picture or two of the actuall installation would have been nice. I assume that you 'Tapped' out the drilled holes and tightened the screws right into the heat sink with the use of any nuts. This is only an assumption though because of the lack of mounting description and/or pics.

I also would am REALLY interested in how well the new heat sink works with the STOCK fan! With such a huge HS, I doubt the need for such a HUGE fan. I think that the original AMD fan (that came with the AMD HS) would be more tehn adequate and would achieve the SAME amount of O/C'ing. At the same time it would most certainly be quieter, take up less room, and mabye even last longer.

Thanks again for a GREAT cooling idea and article. I am debating doing the same mod with the stock copper cored HS/F from a AMD 2400+ to my ATI 9800 Pro.

TungstenBoy · 4th Jan 2004, 03:27 AM

the cooler look heavy......ur card got bend after sometime????

Chai · 4th Jan 2004, 10:05 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by deadken

A picture or two of the actuall installation would have been nice. I assume that you 'Tapped' out the drilled holes and tightened the screws right into the heat sink with the use of any nuts. This is only an assumption though because of the lack of mounting description and/or pics.

I also would am REALLY interested in how well the new heat sink works with the STOCK fan! With such a huge HS, I doubt the need for such a HUGE fan. I think that the original AMD fan (that came with the AMD HS) would be more tehn adequate and would achieve the SAME amount of O/C'ing. At the same time it would most certainly be quieter, take up less room, and mabye even last longer.

Yup, I didn't use any nuts since I've made that 'thread'.

Er...Adrian asked me the same question before the article was posted. But I broke the fan in a totally different incident. But since most AMD stock cooler now comes with the same fan size as the one I'm using now, so I thought it's fine.

Yup, it's more than adequate with the stock AMD fan, but since I broke it, I have to use an alternative. But I don't run at 12V, I normally undervolt is to 7V or even 5V for quieter operation.

These ATI Radeon cards are extremely hot, no doubt about it. So even if you have a big heatsink like this, you will still need to make sure there's some decent amount of airflow across the heatsink. Even that, the AMD stock fan at 12V is more than sufficient for the cooling job though.

Mitz · 4th Jan 2004, 12:20 PM

chai : great experiment

looks like need volt mod to see the real effect

Chai · 4th Jan 2004, 12:51 PM

I thought of volt mod before, but I don't know whether I want to take the risk or not. This moddable R9500 is so rare, cannot find a replacement for it.

Slonik · 4th Jan 2004, 03:38 PM

In the review you mentioned hacked drivers to turn the card into a 9700, the only hacks I've seen are hacked BIOS flashes and not simply drivers.

Could you please elaborate on that? And maybe provide a link?

I have the exact same card (Powercolor 9500Pro) that I purchased about a year ago.

Thanks.

Mitz · 4th Jan 2004, 06:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chai

I thought of volt mod before, but I don't know whether I want to take the risk or not. This moddable R9500 is so rare, cannot find a replacement for it.

don't do it for sure.. hehehe because HM lose his very2 overclockerable Rad9500NP L shape

3rd Jan 2004, 03:40 AM	#1 (permalink)
Adrian Wong Da Boss Join Date: 10 Oct 2002 Location: In front of my ASUS F8V notebook! Posts: 30,124 Reputation: 3081 Rep Power: 67	The ATI Radeon Cooler Mod Guide Stock coolers suck and that’s true for most graphics cards. Overclockers looking to push the limits will have to replace the puny stock coolers. But what if you cannot afford expensive GPU coolers? Is that the end of your overclocking journey? Not necessarily! You can always go the cheap route! Today, Chai will show you how to mod a CPU cooler onto an ATI Radeon graphics card to create the ultimate *free* cooler upgrade! Link : The ATI Radeon Cooler Mod Guide __________________ Dr. Adrian Wong Tech ARP \| Blog @ Tech ARP \| The Free Trade Zone DYKT : The only offshore account I have is at the sand bank? Keep Tech ARP free! Visit our sponsors! We need PROGRAMMERS and TECHNICAL WRITERS! Contact us if you are a hot shot programmer or technical writer! My items for sale : 50x SD Card \| Memory Stick PRO \| Cyclone Energy Saver \| Seiko SS watch \| Tiger/Carlsberg beer jugs \| Travel Speakers \| Motorola V600 \| Nokia N90 SOLD! \| New Lowepro Mini Trekker AW Other items for sale @ the FTZ : Zalman CNPS9500 LED @ $20 \| Zalman CNPS7700 Cu @ $20 \| Zalman CNPS7000 Cu @ $20 \| Swarovski bracelet watches \| Dell 17" LCD \| Hi-Fi speakers \| English DIVX movies \| HP LaserJet toners! \| Office chairs

3rd Jan 2004, 04:25 PM	#3 (permalink)
Chai Administrator Join Date: 6 Oct 2002 Location: Maranello Posts: 26,757 Reputation: 3984 Rep Power: 72	Actually, even if I don't use a fan, it will still block 2 PCI slots, or 1 PCI slot on my board. So using a blower fan style is not really a good idea. I do have 2 blower type fans with me, but it's rather huge, and it virtually impossible to find it here. I have to order these fans from the US. The AMD stock heatsink comes with a lower profile fan, if I didn't swap the fan, it will block the same amount of slots as without a fan on it. And regarding the drilling, actually I made a very big mess. I drilled a few mm off the spot, and the heatsink wouldn't fit properly! So I ended up drilling a bigger hole, and slant both the bolts and forced the heatsink to fit! But fortunately, it still works! __________________ Chai (Contributor & Forum Admin) http://www.techarp.com/

4th Jan 2004, 03:27 AM	#5 (permalink)
TungstenBoy Hold me back! I can't stop posting!!! Join Date: 5 May 2003 Posts: 6,260 Reputation: 0 Rep Power: 12	the cooler look heavy......ur card got bend after sometime???? __________________ lowyat forum got a dictator god admin...... <^>(>.&lt<^> hieeeee se7en!!!!! .....come check check again?????

4th Jan 2004, 12:20 PM	#7 (permalink)
Mitz Getting there Join Date: 17 Sep 2003 Location: Indonesia Posts: 218 Reputation: 0 Rep Power: 6	chai : great experiment looks like need volt mod to see the real effect __________________

4th Jan 2004, 12:51 PM	#8 (permalink)
Chai Administrator Join Date: 6 Oct 2002 Location: Maranello Posts: 26,757 Reputation: 3984 Rep Power: 72	I thought of volt mod before, but I don't know whether I want to take the risk or not. This moddable R9500 is so rare, cannot find a replacement for it. __________________ Chai (Contributor & Forum Admin) http://www.techarp.com/

3rd Jan 2004, 03:14 PM	#2 (permalink)
wildfrogman Warming up Join Date: 2 Dec 2002 Location: USA Posts: 124 Reputation: 0 Rep Power: 7	High performance videocards sure do put out alot of heat, hopefully they will put the gpu on the TOP of the videocard...unless its an emi interference issue with the ram/cpu,hmm. The mod may work out better better/less pci slots lost if a small blower was used and blew across the card lengthwise. It may not be an issue for alot of people to lose pci slots but eh, it may for some. Blowing the air along the card in a duct could lower temps and cool the whole card more. Nice job on drilling that heatsink though, I have to get a small drill press. It will be so much better than dremel stuff for drilling!

4th Jan 2004, 01:31 AM	#4 (permalink)
deadken Newbie Join Date: 4 Jan 2004 Posts: 1 Reputation: 0 Rep Power: 0	I think it was a nice article, but wanted to make a few suggestions... A picture or two of the actuall installation would have been nice. I assume that you 'Tapped' out the drilled holes and tightened the screws right into the heat sink with the use of any nuts. This is only an assumption though because of the lack of mounting description and/or pics. I also would am REALLY interested in how well the new heat sink works with the STOCK fan! With such a huge HS, I doubt the need for such a HUGE fan. I think that the original AMD fan (that came with the AMD HS) would be more tehn adequate and would achieve the SAME amount of O/C'ing. At the same time it would most certainly be quieter, take up less room, and mabye even last longer. Thanks again for a GREAT cooling idea and article. I am debating doing the same mod with the stock copper cored HS/F from a AMD 2400+ to my ATI 9800 Pro.

4th Jan 2004, 03:38 PM	#9 (permalink)
Slonik Newbie Join Date: 4 Jan 2004 Location: Silicon Valley Posts: 1 Reputation: 0 Rep Power: 0	In the review you mentioned hacked drivers to turn the card into a 9700, the only hacks I've seen are hacked BIOS flashes and not simply drivers. Could you please elaborate on that? And maybe provide a link? I have the exact same card (Powercolor 9500Pro) that I purchased about a year ago. Thanks.