Replacing my gpu fans for Noctua fans

[Osmane888]

Hey guys !

 

I know i've been posting a lot of (maybe dumb) questions lately but i'm trying to find answers to a problem which is not THAT problematic but would be nice to fix.

So basically, i bought an EVGA RTX 2060 Super SC Ultra years ago and it's running great, so great that i'm still not convinced to upgrade my gpu yet, but even then i noticed that the fans of that gpu are making some kind of high pitch noise when they starting ramping up (as soon as it hits 60% speed in fact), and i can hear them through my headset. I've been gaming with that sound for couple of years but i've seen some people replacing their gpu fans for noctua fans (mostly on 3090s and 4090s) and was wondering if it's worth doing that in my case and if that's even possible to do so without breaking anything.

 

So, has anyone did that mod with that exact gpu model ? If so, how was the process, couldn't find anyone just removing the shroud with the fans but keeping the heat dissipator on.

[Zando_]

Take a look at your fan curve first, you may not need to ramp the fans further than 60% to keep the card cool. Also dust it out if it hasn't been cleaned in years. 

[RONOTHAN##]

I've done it with a couple other GPUs that had their fans die (not that specific card, but the process is about the same with all of them), and it's not that bad. You take off the cooler, take off the fans and shroud, and zip tie as many either 80mm or 120mm fans as you have on to the heatsink and see if it works. You won't be able to put the shroud back on, the case fans are much thinker, but it performs a little better and as is pretty easy to do as long as you don't care about aesthetics. You can buy adapters from the GPUs fan controller to the standard 4 pin headers, though I tend to just plug it into the motherboard instead to save money and use something like FanControl to control those fans off GPU temps. 

[filpo]

I think you should just point a noctua fan at it because even with my 3060 I only hit temps of around 50 degrees with a fan or two pointing at it in apex at 1440p. i don't think you should go through all that trouble of dismantling the GPU, cable tying some fans on it, and risk breaking it as well as risking voiding your warranty

[Levent]

"Deshrouding" a working card is dumb and just creates more e-waste. Swapping out your GPU fans with noctua fans will also be a super jank solution, you will lose ability to control GPU fans (unless you make your own cable).

[Osmane888]

2 minutes ago, Zando_ said:

Take a look at your fan curve first, you may not need to ramp the fans further than 60% to keep the card cool. Also dust it out if it hasn't been cleaned in years. 

Yep already did as soon as i got it. And rn i'm running Kombustor with a fan speed set to 60% to see how high the temp goes and it's reaching 78c, but with the fan high pitch noise  

[Osmane888]

2 minutes ago, RONOTHAN## said:

I've done it with a couple other GPUs that had their fans die (not that specific card, but the process is about the same with all of them), and it's not that bad. You take off the cooler, take off the fans and shroud, and zip tie as many either 80mm or 120mm fans as you have on to the heatsink and see if it works. You won't be able to put the shroud back on, the case fans are much thinker, but it performs a little better and as is pretty easy to do as long as you don't care about aesthetics. You can buy adapters from the GPUs fan controller to the standard 4 pin headers, though I tend to just plug it into the motherboard instead to save money and use something like FanControl to control those fans off GPU temps. 

That's reassuring ! I do not need the shroud to be honest, my case has solid side panels and is in a place i wouldn't be able to see ahah

[Osmane888]

3 minutes ago, filpo said:

I think you should just point a noctua fan at it because even with my 3060 I only hit temps of around 50 degrees with a fan or two pointing at it in apex at 1440p. i don't think you should go through all that trouble of dismantling the GPU, cable tying some fans on it, and risk breaking it as well as risking voiding your warranty

Okay i'll try that, i already have a 140mm noctua fans pointing in the area of the gpu but it's installed on the front panel so i guess i should install a smaller fan in between the gpu and the 140mm fan ?

[filpo]

1 minute ago, Osmane888 said:

Okay i'll try that, i already have a 140mm noctua fans pointing in the area of the gpu but it's installed on the front panel so i guess i should install a smaller fan in between the gpu and the 140mm fan ?

If you already had one installed then I think it's your fan curve that you may be able to tune some other way in some of the posts above

[Osmane888]

Okay so, small update.

I did my fan curves a long time ago, basically when i got this motherboard two years ago, but i did reset the BIOS when i tried a non supported ram kit and forgot to redo it so my case fans weren't providing enough air to the gpu (and the cpu too, i only realized now that i checked ryzen master). I've set a steady fan speed for my front fans speed and the gpu is running MUCH cooler (averaging 72c with my gpu fan curve i've set months ago while it was averaging 76c lol).

[filpo]

53 minutes ago, Osmane888 said:

Okay so, small update.

I did my fan curves a long time ago, basically when i got this motherboard two years ago, but i did reset the BIOS when i tried a non supported ram kit and forgot to redo it so my case fans weren't providing enough air to the gpu (and the cpu too, i only realized now that i checked ryzen master). I've set a steady fan speed for my front fans speed and the gpu is running MUCH cooler (averaging 72c with my gpu fan curve i've set months ago while it was averaging 76c lol).

is it much quieter as well cuz that would make a difference too. Also worth trying to change your cpu fan fan curve

[Osmane888]

On 3/10/2023 at 10:57 PM, filpo said:

is it much quieter as well cuz that would make a difference too. Also worth trying to change your cpu fan fan curve

Yes a bit but i can still notice the fans whining a bit, i guess the fans are just not that great ahah

[SSDsNotSSRIs]

On 3/10/2023 at 2:01 PM, Levent said:

"Deshrouding" a working card is dumb and just creates more e-waste. Swapping out your GPU fans with noctua fans will also be a super jank solution, you will lose ability to control GPU fans (unless you make your own cable).

I promise you bro, its fine. Also you can buy an already made cable on amazon https://www.amazon.com/dp/B082G2CT17/?coliid=I20N6I25CIUUUS&colid=2PDGF5K0ORDKC&psc=1&ref_=list_c_wl_gv_ov_lig_pi_dp

Also may people have reported that the sound of a 120 is much pleasing than the sheik of the stock case fans. Not to mention preforming much much better.