Now that I've discovered this site, I'm starting to think of components I can make quieter. I can see it'll become an addiction, but a good one.

I'm thinking of replacing the HSF (or just the fan) of my eVGA eGeForce 8600GT. Right now it's idling about 50C (SpeedFan) and in a "typical" day it goes up to 54C at most. I don't do much gaming anymore so I don't really stress it out. In reading through the forums and articles I've come up with several options:

1. leave the HS and replace the fan with a Zalman bracket + overhead Nexus fan
2. replace both the HS and the fan with a VGA cooler (VF1000 for $37.38CAN; Arctic Cooling Accelero S1 R2 $30CAN)
3. get a new video card with better passive cooling

Any thoughts?
Thanks,
0xtr

Options 3, otherwise 2 (it's just an economic issue, if you are already satisfied of the graphic performance).

Thanks, Luca.

So I'm thinking Arctic Cooling Accelero S1 R2 with a 120mm fan added on, as I don't really need a better video card. Or am I just asking for more work than necessary (ie. installation time vs. component cost)? How easy is it to clean the GPU from the old thermal compound? Any tips or tricks? I think I read about using alcohol to remove the old stuff.

Accelero S1, no fan necessary. I just ordered one from NCIX for $15.

Clean with alcohol and q-tips. 99% isopropanol from a drug store is best. Standard rubbing alcohol may have ingredients that will leave undesirable residues.

Hey thanks, Lawrence, I appreciate the advice.

I went and ordered the Accelero from NCIX also for $15. Plus shipping of course, but it gave me an opportunity to pick up a swack of Nexus silicon fan mounts which also happened to be on sale. Perfect timing!