How bad is it for my ATI Radeon 9100 video card to run without its fan?

[HarryK]

Cuz it's not attached right now.

My computer's been uber-loud for months. I got a new Dell that was supposed to be quiet, but it was still kind of noisy. Recently, it got to be too much for me to take. I thought it was the Dell fan but after poking around, I realized it's the fan on my Xtasy 9100 card.

The fan is struggling, it'll run and then 'buzz as it almost comes to a halt... then start running again. THe noise is driving me batty.

I have some fans of the same size, but (of course) the ATI branded fan is "special" so I can't swap it out.

So I disconnected it.

The heatsink itself wasn't even warm and my system has been on for about 16 hours now. But the question is, am I about to screw up my video card?

Anyone?

Here's a pic of my card

 

[ts3433]

If you don't put the card under stress with a game or something, you should be fine. If your airflow is good enough, you may even be able to run the card passively while gaming, though you may have to get an Omega driver and underclock it a bit.

 

[Chaotic42]

I don't think it will be under warranty without the fan.

 

[nortexoid]

if the heatsink is adequate, it should be fine since that GPU runs cool, even passively. you've even touched it and it's ok.

the best test is to simply run a game demo (or 3d benchmark like 3dmark, looping it) and keep checking the temp of the heatsink with your finger. if it is too hot to touch comfortably for 5 seconds then you need a fan. if not, it's fine. my bet is that it's fine without a fan.

 

[HarryK]

Thanks for all the replies.

Since it's not really a high-end video card (and the heatsink itself is kind of wimpy) and I don't really do any gaming, I figure I'm probably okay.

That being said, I managed to jury-rig another fan to it. I couldn't replace the ATI branded fan because the 'frame' of the fan is pretty much cut away to fit right into the heatsink itself. So, with the help of some bread-bag twist-ties, I attached a working fan directly onto the ATI fan (which, in turn, it attached to the heatsink) I figure this will probably take care of me.

Thanks again y'all
HK

 

[fuzzynavel]

it's only a 9100 anyway.....jut monitor it and you will be fine......Sorry for sounding dumb....why can't you change the fan??

take the fan off completely and tinker with it there may just be something in with the bearings i.e dirt...dust etc

 

[JimPhelpsMI]

Hi, Most fan problems can be fixed with a drop of light oil. One side of the fan hub will have a round sticky label. There is a hole under the label. Punch through the label and put a small drop of 3 in 1 oil or eqivalent in it. Stick a patch over the hole. Always a temporary fix and sometimes permanent. Jim

 

[HarryK]

Originally posted by: fuzzynavel
it's only a 9100 anyway.....jut monitor it and you will be fine

Yeah, I figre it's probably not going to get real hot anyway, but monitoring it (Without a temp probe) is kind of tough. It's in a Dell with one of their clamshell cases, so it's not like my old PC where I could just leave the side off of the case. Opening it up is more of a pita.

......Sorry for sounding dumb....why can't you change the fan??

The heatsink/fan combination is made to work with each other by having the heatsink formed around the shape of the ATI fan. The fan's scre holes and the 'supports' round the fan blades themselves are unique and setup to fit inside of cutaways in the heatsink. I'm sure that with a series of extra long extra tiny screws and some tiny washers, I could make my new fan attach to it, but the twist ties work okay.

take the fan off completely and tinker with it there may just be something in with the bearings i.e dirt...dust etc

Yeah, I did that. It's at that state where you can spin the blades with your fingers, but they absolutely won't spin freely. IOW, I can turn the fan blades but they won't turn without my finger on them actually pushing them. They stop immediately after my finger comes off the blade no matter how hard I spin them.

 

[ponyo]

My wife's computer also has Xtasy 9100 and the fan was loud and noisy too. I just unplugged her fan too and downclocked the gpu and memory to around 150 each. It seems fine and the obnoxious noise is gone. She doesn't play any games on it so she should be fine. Later when I have the time or the desire I will replace the fan with something like old cpu heatsink I cut up. My old duron heatsink should be plenty for this. I just need to saw it off to the right size and superglue the thing on.