eVGA 7600GT Temps- want new heatsink/fan

[SuprchargdMazda]

My eVGA 7600GT is idling at 66 degrees celcius so I figured something might not be right. Duh, I have my soundcard in the PCI slot right below the GPU so its fan is blowing air about 1/2 an inch before coming back on itself. I'm planning on moving the soundcard down a couple slots to give the 7600gt room to breathe, but I still want to get an aftermarket heatsink/fan so I can overclock it a bit.

I was looking around but I'm not sure which to go with. My top three random picks so far are these:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16835118125
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16835118001
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16835186132

Size isn't an issue since I'm not running in SLI and don't plan to on my cheap PC so the fan can take up all the space it wants. I do want something thats pretty quiet though.

Recommendations?

[TwoRails]

That's not all that bad. What is the temp under full load?

[SuprchargdMazda]

Originally Posted by TwoRails That's not all that bad. What is the temp under full load?

Sorry I turned off the comp before I saw your post and moved the sound card down and took out the 56k modem that wasn't being used also. New idle temp is 57-60, compared to the 67-69 I had before. What would you recommend I run to get the PC under full load? Oblivion only runs it at ~67%.

Playing Oblivion, walking around the forests the temp range is 70-76. I ran 3DMark06 on it and got a SM2.0 score of 1345 and HDR/SM3.0 got 1225. Now that its running cooler I'm gonna first do the auto-OC and see the score with that, and then try out manually pushing it a bit.

Do you think an aftermarket hs/fan will help? To be honest, I'm kind of leaning towards getting one just to quiet down the noise, the stock fan is way too loud; a higher OC capability as a result would be nice too.

[newbuilder14]

That is perfectly fine for your GPU. They natural run hot.

[Mr.Ferrari]

A typical 7600gt should be idling somewhere around 38-46c. And loading up at no more then 65-68c.

So my guess is that you need to work a bit on case airflow and or wire management.
Because that is the key point for overclocking with a nice cooler. Lower ambient temperatures do wonders for your card.

My favorite and the BEST after market cooler would be the Thermalright HR-03 .

Next up is the Zalman VF900 .

Use rivatuner or coolbits for overclocking. Do NOT auto oc.

[SuprchargdMazda]

Originally Posted by Mr.Ferrari A typical 7600gt should be idling somewhere around 38-46c. And loading up at no more then 65-68c. So my guess is that you need to work a bit on case airflow and or wire management. Because that is the key point for overclocking with a nice cooler. Lower ambient temperatures do wonders for your card. My favorite and the BEST after market cooler would be the Thermalright HR-03 . Next up is the Zalman VF900 . Use rivatuner or coolbits for overclocking. Do NOT auto oc.

Using coolbits right now. I've got it at 600/790 currently. I could push it more but I'm not really sure if I will, I'm gonna pick up a aftermarket cooler first just to be sure I don't overheat it. Once I get that in I'll pencil voltmod it and see how much I could push it.

I searched around on a couple sites and I'm seeing people posting between 40-55 for idle temps, I'm at 60 right now which is still a bit higher than the norm. I have wires taken care of already, they were wrapped up and tucked away from the first day the PC was put together. The only thing left that is affecting temps is the lack of airflow. The case I'm using only has a single 80mm rear fan and a vent for the cpu fan to push air out of on the side. No front fan possibilities. I do think the rear fan can be replaced for a 120, the holes are there, just gotta pick one out.

[Mr.Ferrari]

I highly suggest against the Pencil Mods. I know they are very popular, and some try to use tape and have had success. But overtime you will increase resistance and mess up your overclock and your card.

Trust me, if your gonna voltmod do it right, with some good ol' solder. Even some conductive ink is better then that.

The case is the weakest link. After a while you will probally notice the need for a decent, ventilated one.

[SuprchargdMazda]

Originally Posted by Mr.Ferrari I highly suggest against the Pencil Mods. I know they are very popular, and some try to use tape and have had success. But overtime you will increase resistance and mess up your overclock and your card. Trust me, if your gonna voltmod do it right, with some good ol' solder. Even some conductive ink is better then that. The case is the weakest link. After a while you will probally notice the need for a decent, ventilated one.

I think I may have some resistors downstairs, gotta go search for them tomorrow and see what I could find.

About the case, you're probably right. But its not worth it for me, this was just my budget build to hold me over until mid-next year, I'm just trying to make the most of the hardware I have right now. Spending $50 for a cooler and a case fan is worth it though, Oblivion is too fun at high settings, I easily kill a couple hours before I know it just exploring it. Thanks for the reply though, I'm pretty sure I'm gonna solder the resistor in, its not quite safe with the graphite sitting there and eventually degrading and increasing resistance.

[Mr.Ferrari]

Thats cool dude, has long as everything is working out for you its all good.

After all if it aint burnin', it needs more volts .