Its not my biggest fan, so why it screaming at me?

March 19, 2007 10:50 PM

My graphics card is too noisy! Can i just disconnect the fan? Will that make it catch fire?

I recently acquired a ATI Radeon 9600 pro AGP graphics card. And its noisy. The fan makes a hell of a racket.

So as I don't really use this particular computer for gaming. I was wondering If it would be ok if I disconnected the fan?

Or would I be better underclocking it so it doesn't run so hot.

Any ideas? If i was sure it wouldn't go pop I'd unplug it right now.

posted by gergtreble to computers & internet (21 comments total)

The smaller the fan, the faster it has to rotate, so the noisier it sounds. Plus, graphics cards tend to have cheap little stock fans. Replace it with a passive cooler (Zalman is the best-known brand) such as a heatpipe or a large heatsink.
posted by holgate at 11:01 PM on March 19, 2007

It probably won't catch on fire. It may, however, crash your system, continuously, and then die forever, depending on how hot it gets.

Underclocking would probably be a better option. That and buying a quieter fan.
posted by zabuni at 11:01 PM on March 19, 2007

Oh! Please don't unplug the fan, it will surely overheat. The 9600 is a gracefully aging DirectX9 graphics card that does require the fan to operate, failing to have the fan there will at best cause corruption on screen and random reboots, but is more likely to drastically reduce the lifespan of the card.

Underclocking wont help either.

It might be better to get a dedicated fanless graphics card - or alternatively bolt on a lower RPM fan.

YMMV, but I think running fanless or without an incredibly meaty heatsink is a pretty bad idea.
posted by rc55 at 11:05 PM on March 19, 2007

It won't catch fire but there's an excellent chance that it will release the Magic Smoke that makes the chip work.

Removing the fan or disconnecting its power is a Very Bad Idea. Definitely not recommended.
posted by Steven C. Den Beste at 11:07 PM on March 19, 2007

There are tools that let you tweak the fan speeds of some ATI cards. One example is ATI Tool: http://www.techpowerup.com/wiki/doku.php/atitool/fan_control

You might be able to get away with a lower resting fan speed without a significant difference in the operating temp when running 2D apps.
posted by Good Brain at 11:16 PM on March 19, 2007

Ok ok! I wont disconnect the fan!

To reiterate, I wont be running 3d apps at all on this comp. Although I might install ubuntu and beryl on it when feisty fawn comes out.

So underclocking it wouldnt make it run any cooler? Well not cool enough to pull the fan off it.
posted by gergtreble at 11:20 PM on March 19, 2007

If Good Brain's suggestion doesn't work, you may have to decide to uninstall the card.

Which is worse: the fan noise or the slow onboard graphics?

(also...is it dusty? dust can make these things hyperventilate)
posted by cowbellemoo at 11:55 PM on March 19, 2007

Your best bet is definitely to get a better fan.

And as an a-side, you should consider an nVidia card if you're intent on using Ubuntu/Beryl, as they're far better supported.
posted by sunimplodes at 12:04 AM on March 20, 2007

If you've got enough room in the case, then your best bet is indeed to do as holgate says and replace the fan with a passive cooling solution. Several manufacturers have even put out passively cooled Radeon 9600/9800 cards in the past. Basically you're looking for something like this heatsink/heatpipe combo (which can also take an additional "noiseless" fan for additional cooling, but you don't need it) or perhaps this ludicrously large and cumbersome one (included mostly for comparison's sake). One guy even suggests that it is, in fact, okay to disconnect the fan because the heatsink will be good enough, though I personally wouldn't try it unless I had a way to monitor the temperature so it didn't boil my card alive.

You'll probably find a bunch of other options if you search for HTPC forums, as HTPC enthusiasts are very gung-ho about reducing noise. If you're similarly gung-ho, you can do a lot to cut down on noise, including using larger case fans, using sound insulation in the case, and using entirely passive cooling/water cooling.
posted by chrominance at 1:23 AM on March 20, 2007

Oh, and duh, I forgot to link this: Silent PC Review.
posted by chrominance at 1:25 AM on March 20, 2007

You won't see flames, probably, but it will overheat and then die. Why not just get something that does not require a fan, especially since you are not using it for gaming? That is really the only reason for a fancy ass graphics card.
posted by caddis at 3:45 AM on March 20, 2007

If the video chip has a temperature sensor, get SpeedFan. Tell it what temperature the chip should be, and it will control the fan speed to maintain that temperature. It's free.
posted by Kirth Gerson at 4:25 AM on March 20, 2007

As a counterpoint, I unplugged the loud-ass, whiny fan on my media center pc's NVIDIA 5700LE a couple months ago with no ill effects (yet!). I don't use it that much, though, and never for anything other than watching TV. I do have the card underclocked, and decently powerful case fans, both of which seem to help a little bit. The heatsink gets hot, but is not burn-your-finger-hot. I figure if it blows I can replace the card with a fanless version off ebay for $25, so why not? YMMV, of course.
posted by jtfowl0 at 5:46 AM on March 20, 2007

If the software fan-control solutions fail, add a resistor ($0.1) to reduce the fan Voltage to about 8-9V (it should still start).
Add about 1/3 to the Resistance of the Fan. calculate R(Fan): Watt = 12V x Amp, 12V = R(Fan) x Amp. Normally xWatt or xAmp is mentioned on the fan. Add a 33 Ohm resistor to a 90 Ohm fan to reduce its voltage to 8.8V.

If you have a few free adjacent slots, you could replace the tiny fan with an old CPU heatsink using adhesive thermal compound (and have a case fan blow in its general direction).

Both suggestions may reduce the life span of your card, though you'll probably never notice.
You may see some image corruption while (accidentally) using the 3D capabilities of your VGA card. If you continue to load it, it may crash your computer and you'll have to restart.

Underclocking will reduce the problems.
Large passive coolers and a replacement graphics card are rather expensive solutions.

Swap your graphics card with your game-playing nephew.
posted by Akeem at 7:04 AM on March 20, 2007

I feel for you. These fans are incredibly loud and the graphics card people dont seem to care at all about noise, but its not hopeless.

I doubt its worth buying a 30+ dollar zalman fan for a card thats maybe worth 50 dollars on ebay. I'm also a bit skeptical that even if you severly underclock it using the ATItool you can go fanless, but you might luck out. See what your idle temp is. Underclock the GPU to half what its at, unplug the fan, and watch the temperature using the atitool. Make sure to set the atitool to check temperature every 2 seconds, it defaults to 10. If it goes more than, say, 15-20c than with the fan then youre probably going to fry it. If it only gets 10-15c higher you'll probably be okay. If it starts getting really hot really fast just power off the computer and plug the fan back in before you can damage the card.

If that doesnt work, a cheapo quiet video card can be had for the price of the zalman cooler and you can sell the 9600 or give it away.

Good luck!
posted by damn dirty ape at 7:38 AM on March 20, 2007

If I remember right I have a Radeon 9600 as well. (Not on that computer right now.) The fan started to fail in a horrendously noisy way and I just pulled it. The design of the board was such that the fan was pretty much unreplaceable. I've had absolutely no problems with non-3D use and perhaps 2-3 crashes during 3D use that may or may not be overheating. I don't stress the card out too much, though - I think the most demanding I get is a little Half-Life 2 and stuff of that level.
posted by TheOnlyCoolTim at 8:17 AM on March 20, 2007

The fan on my video card was making horrible noises. I pulled it, blew out as much dust as I could with a can of compressed air, gave the bearing a shot of WD-40 (as best as I could - couldn't see them), wiped off the excess then more compressed air to dry it off. Put it back on, made sure it was running and called it good. It's been quiet as a church mouse ever since.
posted by plinth at 10:29 AM on March 20, 2007

I removed a fan from a graphics card and replaced it with a passive Alpha heatsink. It died a year later. I don't recommend it. I do recommend replacing it with a higher quality fan/heatsink. I just purchased and installed this nice Zalman at home and it runs pretty quiet. The fan speed is adjustable so you can crank it up for games and back down for general computing.
posted by chairface at 2:24 PM on March 20, 2007

Thanks for all the suggestions. Its not really worth getting a 3rd party cooling solution for such a cheap card.

Plinth I'll try the WD40, cant believe I didn't think of oiling the bearings DOH!

If that doesnt work i think ill try and get hold of an old nvidia 6200. And just flog this Radeon on ebay or something.

Untill then I guess I'll just have to put up with the huey in my bedroom.
posted by gergtreble at 2:34 PM on March 20, 2007

I double-checked and found that my graphics card is Sapphire's Radeon 9600 (not Pro) and has a passive heatsink on the GPU. But I'd agree that you're better off spending your money on another card with passive cooling or a quieter fan than trying to mod a relatively old card.
posted by holgate at 8:22 PM on March 20, 2007

You can get an nvidia 6200 with no fan that will run Beryl fine and silently, and have far better linux driver support for about $35.
posted by markr at 12:55 AM on March 21, 2007