Inexpensive solution for 7300LE?

jarros · Post by **jarros** » Tue Oct 24, 2006 5:27 pm

Hey everyone! I've been visiting SPCR for a few months now and have found a lot of useful information, but I need some help deciding on how to quietly cool my EVGA 7300LE 256mb.

Right now the video card has a small (40mm?) and noisy fan that I'd like to replace. The card usually runs in the mid 50's at idle temp. I've looked at a few options for cooling the card and I'm not sure if I need a heatsink with a fan or if I can get away with something passive. My airflow is pretty good. Right now I have a Scythe 120mm fan up front by the hard drive and another 120mm fan at the rear exhaust (take a look at the pic). I'll be modding the case to get that rear fan inside the case

.

I don't really want to spend a lot of money on a heatsink, maybe 20 or 30 bucks. I don't do a lot of gaming, so I don't need anything excessive. My main concern is that it's quiet and doesn't cost a lot.

I might also replace the stock CPU heatsink with a Scythe Katana or something similar.

Any suggestions would be appreciated!

Thanks,
Jared

sciberpunkt · Post by **sciberpunkt** » Wed Oct 25, 2006 8:50 am

I have a passively cooled Gigabyte 7300GS. The 7300 really doesn't need a fan since an idle temp of 60-70C is OK for the GPU. They are stable past 100C.

nici · Post by **nici** » Wed Oct 25, 2006 9:15 am

If you want really inexpensive, rip out the plug on the stock fan and hang a 80 or 120mm fan blowing on the stock heatsink. Even a very slow fan of that size will provide more airflow than the stock fan, and be much more quiet.