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[DIY] ~$5 Graphics Card Silence Mod Tutorial

The ~$5 Graphics Card Silence Mod

 

This is an extremely simple and dirt cheap mod to do to your graphics card, that will prevent the sound of vibrations from your graphics card that would typically cause the card to be audible mostly at lower RPM's. 

 

My Windforce 3 cooled 270x is already really quiet and cool but at lower speeds when I'm not really using it or at a lower intensity in cgminer it can still be noticeable, and I'm not talking about the whooshing noise that's going to stay there no matter what, but you can eliminate all of the harsher tone rumbling that the vibrations are causing. 

 

Premise:

 

I'm sure you're all aware of the rubber mounting grommets on case fans, well... this is pretty much the same thing. We're isolate the graphic card chassis from fan vibrations.

 

Tools & Supplies:

 

  • Screw driver (one with a head that will fit the screws attaching your fan)
  • tJgEv3t.jpg
  • Scissors (for the bulk of the removal) or... 
  • UKVAoIi.jpg
  • Scalpal/Exacto-knife (for the finger... I mean finer removal)
  • cMGyGyF.jpg
  • Double sided foam tape ((I use 2mm but anything thicker without being excessive will do just fine) Likely the only thing you won't have, hence ~$5)
  • MJI8jHS.jpg
  • Anti-static bag (to place your card on while working)
  • 7bwN3Ay.jpg

Stress level required:

 

Don't be silly, stress levels are always 0

 

Down to business!

 

Step 1: Take your card out of your rig and set up somewhere you're relatively free from static and place the card on it's anti-static bag to work on.

 

Step 2: Unscrew the fans and put the screws in a safe place, you won't be needing them anymore but just in case the card needs to be sent out for warranty you'll want to take the tape off and reattach the fans like stock (they will never know).

 

Step 3: Pull then fans up and twist them around so you can lay them back down upside down.

 

Step 4: Lay some pieces of tape side by side to cover the fans mounting surface.

 

Step 5: Either using the scalpel or a pair of scissors cut off the excess tape around the mounting surface leaving as little around the edges as possible.

At this point your card should look a little like this (or a bit neater):

TmuSNuj.jpg

 

Step 7: Peal off the backing and reattach the fan where the mounts lined up previously and stick.

 

Step 7: Spin the fan to make sure it doesn't scrape the edges or you'll need to reapply it but you shouldn't have to if you aligned correctly.

 

Rinse and repeat!

 

Tip: You can check through the side of the card to see if the double sided tape is properly attached, if not apply some more pressure to stick it down.

K8YH0Vt.jpg

 

Credits:

 

Big thanks to DIYperks for supplying me with the original concept! I however, wasn't comfortable using silicone glue on my card and this way you can remove the evidence in case your card needs to be replaced for unrelated reasons :)

You can watch his original video here:

export PS1='\[\033[1;30m\]┌╼ \[\033[1;32m\]\u@\h\[\033[1;30m\] ╾╼ \[\033[0;34m\]\w\[\033[0;36m\]\n\[\033[1;30m\]└╼ \[\033[1;37m\]'


"All your threads are belong to /dev/null"


| 80's Terminal Keyboard Conversion | $5 Graphics Card Silence Mod Tutorial | 485KH/s R9 270X | The Smallest Ethernet Cable | Ass Pennies | My Screenfetch |

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I am guessing this won't make a 290x silent

 

Probably not, the fan design is a little different. I'll preface that, just a tick.

export PS1='\[\033[1;30m\]┌╼ \[\033[1;32m\]\u@\h\[\033[1;30m\] ╾╼ \[\033[0;34m\]\w\[\033[0;36m\]\n\[\033[1;30m\]└╼ \[\033[1;37m\]'


"All your threads are belong to /dev/null"


| 80's Terminal Keyboard Conversion | $5 Graphics Card Silence Mod Tutorial | 485KH/s R9 270X | The Smallest Ethernet Cable | Ass Pennies | My Screenfetch |

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My 290 says, "Try me bitch, see what happens"

8320 @ 4.3ghz l Gigabyte 970a Ud3 l Hyper 212 Evo l R9 290 l 8gb RAM 1866 Vengeance l 1tb WD Black l 120gb Samsung Evo SSD l HX750 Gold PSU l 500d Arctic Case l Windows 8 OS l K65 and Blackwidow Keyboard l M65 and DeathAdder 2013 l Qck Steelseries l 24in Vizio Monitor 1080p

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  • 2 months later...

you recommend putting it ON the anti static bag?!?!?! the outside of that is heavily conductive... its what makes the inside non conductive.. please just use cardboard or something instead ...

Proud Member of the Glorious PC Master Race

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