CPU cooler on GPU?

[TheGermanEngie]

Hi all -

 

Little desperate here. I've had this 960 reference PCB sitting in my room for a good half year or so because I busted the shroud trying to get at the fan which bearings' were making a huge racket. So the shroud is gone as well as the screws, and I was wondering if I could jerry rig a CPU cooler (relatively small, a cooler master t2) onto the GPU and get it up and running again.

 

DIY Perks made a video about simply screwing a piece of sheet metal to hold down a much bigger cooler on a much hotter card (GTX 460 I think) so I don't think I would have much of a problem getting it into my mid size case.

 

Any drawbacks/concerns? The 960 barely slurps power so it shouldn't be too difficult...

 

[MegaGoatLord]

Well considering the size of the cooler vs the normal heat sync it came with. You should get better temps. But beware on doing this because you would need to cool down the ram. 

[Bcat00]

Why not just buy a aftermarket GPU cooler? The temps from modding a weak cpu cooler like that onto a gpu is barely worth the effort and you still gotta buy the thing anyways.

[thewipyk]

There are off the shelf solutions for your problem: https://www.nzxt.com/products/kraken-g12-black-x52

Corsair used to have one either, the HG10A1 but for some reason it was discontinued.
It is mainly for watercooler, but I think it could work with a low profile cooler. However, I'd recommend you buy a busted 960 as a donor for the cooler.

 

EDIT:

I can confirm that the Kraken G12 works on GTX 960 reference. IT might be a good idea to buy one now, and you might be able to upgrade your card one day and just buy a new mounter.

[BarackOBatman]

@TheGermanEngie

 

If you already have they hyper t2, i say give it a try.

As far as ram temps go (some other user cited as an issue), i know some OEM/reference card have no Ram cooling at all, so i think you'll be okay (Example: https://www.geforce.com/hardware/desktop-gpus/geforce-gtx-750-ti/product-images )

 

The CPU cooler (depending on the weight) might put a lot of stress on the PCB, possibly cause long term problems?

 

An aftermarket solution would be ideal, but its very hard to justify spending 100+ on an AIO...

Perhaps one of these would do https://www.newegg.com/VGA-Cooling/SubCategory/ID-576?Tid=17173 

[TheGermanEngie]

4 hours ago, BarackOBatman said:

@TheGermanEngie

 

If you already have they hyper t2, i say give it a try.

As far as ram temps go (some other user cited as an issue), i know some OEM/reference card have no Ram cooling at all, so i think you'll be okay (Example: https://www.geforce.com/hardware/desktop-gpus/geforce-gtx-750-ti/product-images )

 

The CPU cooler (depending on the weight) might put a lot of stress on the PCB, possibly cause long term problems?

 

An aftermarket solution would be ideal, but its very hard to justify spending 100+ on an AIO...

Perhaps one of these would do https://www.newegg.com/VGA-Cooling/SubCategory/ID-576?Tid=17173 

Yeah.. I don't have the budget for an AIO. And yes, when I cracked it open for the first time there was only a heatsink for the GPU, nothing else. The T2 is the way to go, I just gotta figure out how to mount the damn thing...

[TheGermanEngie]

Continuing on my last post, I have decided to mount a spare CPU cooler I have lying around to my reference GTX 960 PCB as it has been doing nothing but taking up space. (I have had the PCB tightly sealed in an anti static bag for about a year and a half) How would I go about mounting the cooler to the GPU? Screws? Velcro? I'm down for doing anything DIY that isn't too complicated. 

 

Has anyone else done something like this? I want to put my 960 back to work as it'll be a hell of a lot better than my current 750ti I got from my friend for free.

 

Materials planning to use: Reference MSI GTX 960 2GB

Cooler Master T2 CPU cooler

[Crunchy Dragon]

Any reason you can't just use the reference cooler?

[mad dudy]

use zip ties

 

15 minutes ago, Crunchy Dragon said:

Any reason you can't just use the reference cooler?

why not?

[Razor Blade]

32 minutes ago, TheGermanEngie said:

 

Has anyone else done something like this?

Not personally but it has been done.

 

 

 

The thing is the processor on the GPU isn't the only thing the stock heatsink cools. The VRAM and VRMs may also need to be cooled.... Especially if you're doing this because you're wanting to overclock.

[WoodenMarker]

26 minutes ago, Crunchy Dragon said:

Any reason you can't just use the reference cooler?

^ This is why you should keep the same discussion to one thread--merged threads.

Shroud is broken from trying to get at the fan.

10 minutes ago, mad dudy said:

use zip ties

It won't maintain performance for long due to stretching.

 

Velcro won't work. Use nuts, bolts, washers, and an 'H' shaped piece out of wood, metal, or any sturdy material with holes at the ends 4 corners of the 'H'. Make sure to put spacers between the metal bits and the graphics card to prevent shorts.

Make sure that the card will still fit in your case after the mod. It'll probably be easier to buy a cheap aftermarket gpu cooler though.

[Alcam]

It's easy to do with the right tools and execution, there's a lot of things you'll have to measure up and figure out but it most certainly can be done with nuts and washers, plastic or wood brackets. For the hassle and maybe even the cost it might make more sense just to buy an aftermarket GPU cooler like @WoodenMarker suggested.  

 

From experience I once tried to attach a CPU heatsink to a stock Nvidia 210 a fair few years ago when I was a kid. It didn't go well, but then again I was just a kid looking for an excuse to dissect a GPU. That's the only experience I have in this matter 

[TheGermanEngie]

On 4/19/2018 at 5:18 AM, Bcat00 said:

Why not just buy a aftermarket GPU cooler? The temps from modding a weak cpu cooler like that onto a gpu is barely worth the effort and you still gotta buy the thing anyways.

would there be different screw holes from different AIBs? PCBs can change varying from maker to maker, thus the screw holes change in position if I wanted to mount, say an ASUS cooler to an MSI PCB.

[WoodenMarker]

13 minutes ago, TheGermanEngie said:

would there be different screw holes from different AIBs? PCBs can change varying from maker to maker, thus the screw holes change in position if I wanted to mount, say an ASUS cooler to an MSI PCB.

There are both reference and custom pcb graphics cards coming from manufacturers. It's pretty easy to look up to see which one it is and if there are any major changes that would prevent an aftermarket cooler from fitting. 

The reason why you might not want to get an Asus cooler and put it on an Msi graphics card is because the coolers are often specifically made to take advantage of the layout and space constraints of that graphics card and won't fit most other cards. Most aftermarket coolers like the Arctic Accelero series are more generic for better compatibility with different cards. 

[TheGermanEngie]

UPDATE: 

 

I have purchased the Arctic Freezer LP 11 CPU cooler as it is a low profile design and won't be too bulky. Strangely, it fits like an absolute glove on the PCB. Doesn't touch any capacitors and looks pretty damn good too while covering a nice amount of die area.

 

Alas none of the holes on the PCB line up with any of the mounting holes on the cooler. Zip ties are a no-go (nowhere to come back up through the board to secure) and screws obviously can't flex. Plus it's a CPU fan header and won't fit into the proprietary fan header but I've got that covered. Ordering a small fan controller. I also have no desire or want to make some stupid bracket thing as I feel that's a total waste of time and money spent by me because unlike youtubers I don't have a fancy $1,000 3D printer nor the time to make a 3D model of the damn thing.

 

Please help, I really want to get far on this and I don't want to give up now where I have nearly all the parts already. 

 

Thanks!!

[W-L]

7 minutes ago, TheGermanEngie said:

-SNIP-

You can drill and tap new mounting points into the heatsink or make a mounting plate which would be ideal option to apply enough mounting pressure.

 

This goes over exactly what your looking to do. 

 

[WoodenMarker]

A vga fan adapter might be more convenient than a fan controller.

The Freezer LP 11 is a pretty small cooler so I'm not sure how well it'll cool the 960.

 

This is a continuation from your old thread --merging them.

[TheGermanEngie]

On 4/21/2018 at 4:05 PM, WoodenMarker said:

Most aftermarket coolers like the Arctic Accelero series are more generic for better compatibility with different cards. 

BINGO! Turns out Arctic, the same manufacturer that I bought the CPU cooler from makes GPU coolers for just a view dollars more...

 

Edit - their Accelero L2 PLUS (cheapest model for lowest wattage) doesn't fit the 960.. damn. Anyone know of other aftermarket cooler companies?

 

Edit II - there's a completely passive model called the S3 and it fits the 960, but it's $40. Keeping an eye on this one.