ATI X1600 Pro (fan or just heatsink?)

[zordex]

Hi,

My little ATI fan is now whistling... I am considering replacing it with the Zalman VF900 gpu, but am wondering if anyone recommends a fanless heat sink for this card.
I rarely play games, but want to make sure heat wise a heat sink would be sufficient.

Thx!

The card:

[quest_for_silence]

am wondering if anyone recommends a fanless heat sink for this card.

If you have enough room, the venerable Arctic Cooling S1 Rev. 2: I have one onto an AGP ATI X-1950Pro (fanless) and it's nothing less than literally amazing.

[thejamppa]

Yeah, Arctic cooling S1 is the answer. If you don't have space, you need to get passive heatsink that can be snadwitched. Thermalright HR-03 back at the day I had to use Thermalright 6-hole adapter but it worked wonderfully cooling silently my X1600 pro. Another option is Zalman VNF-100 which yours truly uses to cool HD 4670. Arctic Cooling however has best value and performance.

[Cryoburner]

It might make more sense to get a new video card than to spend $30 to $40 USD on a replacement cooler for a card that's been out for over four years. There are more recent cards in the same price range that draw significantly less power than an X1600 Pro while offering similar to slightly better performance. At least here in the US, you can currently find fanless HD 5450s at Newegg for around $40 shipped, with some for $25 to $30 after rebate.

Granted, you could likely reuse an S1 or other premium cooler on a future card, though an S1 might be overkill for a card primarily used for desktop purposes. You could also likely find a suitable lower-end cooler or replacement fan that would work with an X1600 Pro though. You might also check whether the existing heat sink and fan just need to be cleaned to make them reasonably quiet again.

[CA_Steve]

It might make more sense to get a new video card than to spend $30 to $40 USD on a replacement cooler for a card that's been out for over four years. There are more recent cards in the same price range that draw significantly less power than an X1600 Pro while offering similar to slightly better performance. At least here in the US, you can currently find fanless HD 5450s at Newegg for around $40 shipped, with some for $25 to $30 after rebate.

+1 on replacing the card.....unless you are stuck with the AGP version...

The x1600 Pro is a ~40W card. If you do opt to get a new fan/cooler, you won't need a monster. The Accelero L2 Pro would work fine, is compatible with your card, and costs ~$20.