Replacement Graphics Card Fan?

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MrAl
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Replacement Graphics Card Fan?

Post by MrAl »

Hi there,


I am in need of a graphics card fan for an Nvidia GeForce 7900GS card.
The old one is getting a little shabbie, and may need replacing soon.
I think it is a 45mm fan, very thin though, not like case fans and the like.
I could use a case fan but it would take up two slots because it is so much
thicker, so i'd like to get the thinner fan.
It has to be a decent replacement though, which i think has 3 screws holding
it in place, not 4 like some cards have.

I checked the Nvidia site and couldnt find any replacement parts.
Anyone see these on the web anywhere?


Thanks much...
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reloadron
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Re: Replacement Graphics Card Fan?

Post by reloadron »

The following is an example:
After searching fruitlessly for a replacement fan, or entire chip cooling assembly, for a BFG NVIDIA GeForce 5600 256MB AGP card, I decided to rebuild the cooler. The OEM fan was a Sunon KD1204PFB1 12VDC/1.4W 40mm sleeve bearing unit that had been snipped out of its rectangular duct frame and glued to a clear plastic 3-tab mounting spider. I salvaged the spider and similarly cannibalized a Sunon KDE1204PFVX 12VDC/1.9W 9.5CFM, 40×40x10mm MagLev bearing fan by cutting the three motor support struts, mounting it on the spider with hot melt glue and connecting the wires to a Molex 4-pin disk drive connector tap, just like the OEM fan had been. Works great, and the MagLev bearings will never wear out! I happened to have the fan already in hand, but other than that, the total time to repair was less than two hours. The fan was ordered from Jameco Electronics, Belmont, California, about $7+S/H and sales tax. The advantage to this approach is that I never had to remove the aluminum heat sink from the chip and mess with thermal transfer grease at all.
Frequently GPU manufacturers use a fairly common fan but modify them. Computer enthusiast then get creative. :smile:

Can you see any markings on it at all MrAl?

Ron
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MrAl
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Re: Replacement Graphics Card Fan?

Post by MrAl »

Hi Ron,

All i can see is what looks like: "EV3A" written in strange lettering.
Is that the real manufacturer you think? That's on the card itself too.
LATER: Oh yeah, i think it says "EVGA".

Thanks for the idea about using a different fan and using the old mount somehow.
I think that is a possibility if i cant find a direct replacement fan.

Now that i think about it, i am not currently using the slot right next to the
card so maybe a hard drive fan is a possibility and that would probably cool
it even better, and the slot is a type PCI X1 slot, which i dont see any cards
for on the market anyway, but if i ever did need the slot i'd be up a creek :smile:
I'll have to really think about that kind of solution. A nice replacement fan would
be the best most likely, one way or another.
LEDs vs Bulbs, LEDs are winning.
reloadron
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Re: Replacement Graphics Card Fan?

Post by reloadron »

Hi Ya MrAl

The EVGA is who made the card. The Nvidia is the chipset maker or actually the graphics processor maker. Actually for everyday use there are only pretty much two GPU makers and they are Nvidia and ATI. Fan failures on graphics cards is pretty common. That is where users get creative.

Most of the better cards have a thermal sensor and control their own fan speed. Sometimes those go amuck. That may be the case with what you have.

Ron
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MrAl
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Re: Replacement Graphics Card Fan?

Post by MrAl »

Hi Ron,


Oh ok thanks. I guess that is why so many manufacturers can call their card a "GeForce" then?

I'm still kind of thinking this all over a bit before deciding what to do about it. The fan is running
right now off of a stand alone fan controller and seems to be running fine, but it runs for several
days before a problem shows up so i have to test it for at least two weeks anyway. In the mean
time, im looking for a new fan.

I guess i could try to find the thermal sensor. Not sure how hard that would be to do.
I dont think i want to get into taking the heat sink off unless absolutely necessary.
Do you know what kind of thermal sensor they use?
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reloadron
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Re: Replacement Graphics Card Fan?

Post by reloadron »

Hi Ya MrAl

Yep, that is why the term GeForce is so popular.

The way most of those cards work is they use a thermal diode (a transistor configured as a diode) and chips similar to the LM99 or MAX6659. The chip sends a constant current through the thermal diode and as the thermal diode heats up the voltage drop across it changes. The voltage is measured and converted to a temperature. Interesting as I have seen people use software to read their GPU (Graphics Processor Unit) temperatures and if the software doesn't communicate correctly a reading of 125 Degrees C. isn't unusual and that happens to be the full scale of most thermal sensor chips.

The actual thermal sensor is generally embedded or placed directly below (underneath) the GPU. As the GPU gets hot especially under more graphics intense applications the cards onboard controller should increase fan speed.

Now all of that is pretty generic but about how things work. I won't say it's dead accurate for the card you have. Sort of a generalization. Frequently the thermal diode is just about a 2N3904 or a 2N3906, again generic speaking.

Next, most of the fans used are basic sleeve bearing fans and not a better roller bearing fan. So you have a tiny brass bushing rather than a roller bearing. They tend to wear. Since your fan seems to be running I would do as you mention and wait and see.

Ron
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MrAl
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Re: Replacement Graphics Card Fan?

Post by MrAl »

Hi Ron,

Ok thanks for the info. I have it running and am monitoring the temperature constantly, so i'll keep an
eye on it. So far it looks good because the temp is roughly 3 degrees lower than it was before when
it was being controlled by the card (before the card control went out again that is). I can keep it
wired to the external controller indefinitely so that's not a problem, i'll still have two fan slots left
anyway with no fans connected to them.
I suppose i should keep looking for fans though just in case it goes within a week or two, or even
a year or two from now.

I saw a neat fan for the PC that is meant to replace graphic card fans without modifying anything.
It is mounted as a separate PC card but with no fingers. It simply bolts in as a card would and
has two rails that the fan can slide left or right so you can adjust the placement of the fan
to perfectly fit right over where the old fan normally sits. It plugs in to the 12v molex.
Only drawback is that it takes up another slot.

I see some new high end graphics cards take up two slots now anyway ha ha. They blow the
air OUT of the computer too which is a nice idea, rather than have it blow around inside
the case. I have two case fans now anyway though he he.
LEDs vs Bulbs, LEDs are winning.
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VernGraner
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Re: Replacement Graphics Card Fan?

Post by VernGraner »

MrAl wrote:<snip>I could use a case fan but it would take up two slots because it is so much
thicker
I know you are looking for a way of not consuming two slots, but if you decide you can live with consuming that second slot you might consider one of these:

PC Case Exhaust Fan

Pictured here:
Image

I place this type of fan in the adjacent slot and then remove the old proprietary fan from the video card. Cheap and easy fix. :)

Vern
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Vern Graner
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MrAl
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Re: Replacement Graphics Card Fan?

Post by MrAl »

Hi there Vern,

Have you tried this yet? It looks pretty nice really.
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VernGraner
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Re: Replacement Graphics Card Fan?

Post by VernGraner »

MrAl wrote:Have you tried this yet? It looks pretty nice really.
Yes I've tried it on a couple of different cards. It worked fine. :)

Vern
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MrAl
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Re: Replacement Graphics Card Fan?

Post by MrAl »

Hi Vern,

Oh ok great. I'll probably do that in the future then and that will be the final solution.
Right now i am running with the fan wire connected to a separate fan controller, and
the card is now functioning properly (about a month already) so i will probably use
that until the fan itself breaks down, then go with the new fan solution.
LEDs vs Bulbs, LEDs are winning.
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