nVidia Riva TNT2 Model64 pro

[wolfy87]

I have this card on my old PC and every 6 months the 40mm fan goes dead or starts to be annoyingly loud. I changed it for a while, but can I remove the heatsink from this card and how?
I`m looking for some kind of a passive solution...

 

[xsilver]

try just removing the fan (not the heatsink). If you have some ventilation in your case - the thing should be alright. I would be assuming that you're not doing any heavy gaming on that thing?? (solitare doesnt count -- unless of course its 3D solitare )
Removing a PCI backplate from below the graphics card might also help get some fresh air in there, but you'll get some extra dust too.

 

[Denithor]

Wow. That's a truly ancient card you've got there.

*Scratches head*

I think I've got one of those in the closet o'parts myself, but not in use.

I would take off the fan (not the heatsink though) and aim an internal fan (maybe from the front of the case?) to blow across the heatsink. You might also take out one or two of the rear PCI covers to allow the air from that fan to blow right on out the back of the case.

You certainly shouldn't spend any more money on that card (even to fix cooling) as a new card costs very little.

MSI GeForce 6200 128MB AGP $34 after $5MIR

 

[wolfy87]

That card owns, it is old like greece and still my lil bro plays War3(dota) no problem with it....

I really haven`t replaced VGA's before, my dad uses the Pc for Word and similar, and he has lots of important things there so I wouldn like to screw up things for him and lose some files...
Can someone tell me how to do it and, can I expect some windows98 problems and how can I remove or update drives, in safe mode?
Just short list of actions to take please?

 

[spittledip]

lol, I have that card.. not that I am using it right now.. It was a decent card for its time.

 

[hans007]

there were a lot of fanless tnt2 m64s. they dont put out much heat, just disconnect the fan it should probably be ok.

 

[Relion]

Originally posted by: xsilver
try just removing the fan (not the heatsink). If you have some ventilation in your case - the thing should be alright. I would be assuming that you're not doing any heavy gaming on that thing?? (solitare doesnt count -- unless of course its 3D solitare )
Removing a PCI backplate from below the graphics card might also help get some fresh air in there, but you'll get some extra dust too.

No way...don't do that with THAT card...that cards are hot as hell...they do need the fan...I have one on my sister's computer...it's not a gaming card but it can do a decent Homeworld/NFS 3 and other old games...I think I saw a guide to remove the HS somewhere...I ll update if I find it...

 

[Zap]

This isn't passive, but should work great and is quiet.

 

[imported_Kiwi]

Funny thing about these VGAs. I still have that same video card, from Gainward, I believe, also in the storage area. The fan still works -- same fan (correction, much later -- it's passive, after all). If it was particularly hot, I don't recall that condition now. But there are various aftermarket heat sinks for MB chipsets that have a sizable passive radiator on them, and a very similar mounting pin dimension. One of those ought to work just fine !

Just as a comparison, I also had a PNY branded Ti-200 card that ate its fan in a few months, and at least one more after that, before I got a Thermaltake "Crystal Orb", I think, which did last as long as I wanted to use the card.

 

[wolfy87]

Thanks guys, but as I said, I can`t play with that hardware very much, cause of my dad`s job...
And nobody has explained me yet how to replace VGA or how to remove the heatsink?

 

[razor2025]

You probably don't have to replace the heatsink because of the dead fan. If I remember this correctly, TNT2 M64 can actually run on passive heatsink. It's one of those low-power chip back in the day that didn't require any cooling at all. (And look at the monstrosities we have lately). If the fan is dead and you're not experiencing corruption, I say don't bother it.

If you really want to replace it, google helps. Here's the first link I've found with quick search on "how to replace video card"
http://www.fonerbooks.com/r_video.htm

Also be careful when you're buying replacements. Since your computer is THAT old, it might be facing the old AGP 1x/2x/4x slot issue. Research about it before you buy the card and install it. Otherwise you may fry your replacement card AND the motherboard.

 

[Farmer]

AFAIK TNT2 was either AGP2x or AGP4x.

Like razor said, the TNT does not need to have active cooling (my old Geforce 256 had a passive heatsink, and worked fine); a nice aluminum NB heatsink and some thermal adhesive should do fine, if you even want to keep that card.

 

[hans007]

Originally posted by: Farmer
AFAIK TNT2 was either AGP2x or AGP4x.

Like razor said, the TNT does not need to have active cooling (my old Geforce 256 had a passive heatsink, and worked fine); a nice aluminum NB heatsink and some thermal adhesive should do fine, if you even want to keep that card.

i don tthink you should even bother wasting the money to get a northbridge heatsink. since it already has a fan and heatsink just unplug the fan from the card (i'd say 99% of these can be unplugged) or if you cant unplug it just cut the wires to the fan.

 

[taltamir]

buy a faster card on ebay for 10$?

 

[Slugbait]

A lot of overclocking TNT people added The Card Cooler. It could probably replace the dead fan, and still do a better job if you're not gonna o/c. The company apparently went out of business a little over a year ago, but it shouldn't be hard to build one.

I have one. Worked great to overclock my Ti200 Personal Cinema card. Sat in a drawer for three years, and I just added it to my new rig to help cool my 8600GTS. However, those Sunon fans were quite loud, so I replaced them with some very quiet Enermax fans.

 

[A554SS1N]

The TNT2 in my old PC is fanless I think. It has a very tiny heatsink too.