Is this enough cooling???

[Randomaxess]

Hey guys.
I'mt trying to o/c my geforce2 mX400 as seen on Tweak3d.net. My case is an Antec SX830 w/ two high-power cooling fans in back, one in front. Plus, I've got a PCI slot fan below AND above the video Card (the fan's are also by Antec. The Antec Cool Cyclone blower. It basically sucks the air out and...well, you know how it works). It claims to increase cooling 40% more than a regular fan, but i'm certain thats not true.

With all thse fans (5 in total), i think i have enough cooling to tweak up my card. What do you think?

As an extra, If you guys don't think that's enough, i'm willing to punch a hole in the case siding, and attach a 120mm (i think that's the right size...) fan to it right where the AGP/PCI slots are. However, i think that what i've got so far is more than enough.

Hope to hear some tips!

[mike breck]

Hi Randomaxess,

You've obviously been doing your homework and got your case nice and cool.
But I'm curious, why haven't you slapped a fan on the geoforce?
Anyway, I would say go for it. Take it nice and easy and monitor the results carefully. You'll soon know when you've gone that bit too far.

[Randomaxess]

Thanx for the compliment Mike. Now the answer to your question and a follow-up

The reason i haven't stuck a fan on the GPU is because it goes in with the chip facing down. I fear putting a fan on it might displace the weight, the glue/tape would give way, and the fan/heatsink would crash down on my sound card. Plus, o/ciing the Geforce involves o/cing the ram, too, and the ram is placed on the edges of the card, making it kinda hard and futile to try to stick fans on it. I therefore opted to use the slot fan

Anyway, a new thing has arisen, but i don't think it should be a prob. I had to remove the slot fan right above the video card, but i left the slot open to allow for ventilation. I don't think its that big a deal;this fan was precautionary measures anyway. Plus, the card is almost 90 degrees, just below the two fans, so the rising heat, i think, would get blown away from it. The Slot card right near the GPU i think should be fine, since it is /sucking/ air, causing a "vacuum" in the near vacinity of it.

However, if this is a prob, someone please tell me. I"m holding off on tweaking till i get some closure on this.

Right now, I'm thinking of putting 2 more fans on the case opposite the high-powered one, sucking air out. Again, i don't think this is needed, but if it is, its an option. OR, i was really considering putting a hole and yadda yadda yadda. However, i don't wanna go quite that far--a mess up could be ugly looking.

Thanx guys, hope to here something about this!

[Cricket]

Hi Randomaxess,

Most heatsinks that you see on video cards processors are epoxied on, so screwing on a small 40mm or 50mm fan on to the heatsink won't really be a problem. But since you have the slot fan below the video card, I think you won't have to worry about your video card overheating.

If you are trying to cool the video memory, you could epoxy on small heatsinks on them. I've seen Alpha Wing Fin heatsinks and video card cooling kits available from 2CoolTek.com. He also has heatsink epoxy available. http://2cooltek.safeshopper.com/51/cat51.htm?515

The Antec SX830 is actually a workstation/server case and was designed with good ventilation in mind. As long as you install 2 intake fans in the front and 2 exhaust fans in the back you shouldn't have to worry about heat build-up in the case. I think cutting a hole for a 120mm fan would really be overkill.

You say you want to overclock the video card...are you overclocking your whole system as well? If you are, please go slowly and in small increments.

You may want to check out this Forum as well: http://arstechnica.infopop.net/OpenT...562&f=77909585

Cricket

[Randomaxess]

Thanx Cricket.

I've decided that i /will/ put the two fans in front, and not put a 120mm fan on the case. I think with all the ventilation, i don't quite need heat-sinks on the mem, but i'll check to see if i can get any from local stores (not interested in buying online).

As for o/cing the whole system...currently i'm not O/cing the CPU, but i dunno...i might want to. I've tweaked windows, and gotten some boosts from it, but not much. I'm rather interested in tweaking my video card just becuase i can't afford a better one, and if i know that i can push it, then i'm gonna try.

Another thing: how do i know when the video card has been over tweaked?? I heard that
a)it freezes
b) Play Quake3 to see if there are any random polygon rendering errors.
if there are any more, let me know.

Also, i have an Asus KT133A mobo with VIA Apollo chipsets, so i was wondering if it was worth the trouble to go and get the 4in1 drivers.

[Cricket]

Hi Randomaxess,

I'm not into overclocking or gaming so I can't offer much to help you improve your video card performance. Are you using the latest video drivers? Are you using the latest version of DirectX? Have you gone through your BIOS and tried changing some of the video settings?

Which 4-in-1 driver are you using now)? I think 4.33 is the latest version available now. It might be a good idea to update your drivers if you haven't done it in awhile...it may help with system performance.

For more information regarding your motherboard, you may want to go here: http://www.amdmb.com/
They have a forum dedicated to just ASUS motherboards: http://www.amdmb.com/vb/forumdisplay...1158&forumid=8
The people there may be able to help you improve the performance of your system.

Cricket