1060 Mini Heatsink replacement

[MrWhuppo]

I recently upgraded from the EVGA GTX 960 single fan, to the Zotac Mini GTX 1060 6GB, and I was annoyed by the OC ceiling their cheap cooler put in place. I liked the zero fan speed functionality of the 960, but I more preferred the heat pipe cooling, Is there a way to at least keep the heat pipe cooling through a transfer to the 1060, and more preferably, also the 0 fan speed? Would this procedure be "safe"?

[Megah3rtz]

why not buy a 1050TI dualfan/ GTX 1060 3G dual fan if you wanted to overclock

[MrWhuppo]

Just now, Megah3rtz said:

why not buy a 1050TI dualfan/ GTX 1060 3G dual fan if you wanted to overclock

It was less of a wanting to overclock, and more of an Exploiting Black Friday sales of the 1060, I did hear about the cooling versus others. It isn't important, but even a 5-10% increase in cooling would be welcome.

 

Also, asking why I didn't pick another card in response is like responding to "How do you go about Painting your house" with "Why didn't you buy a house with a good paint job?" Pretty unhelpful.

[Megah3rtz]

Just now, MrWhuppo said:

Pretty unhelpful.

yep that was the point. I had a question. 

[PCGuy_5960]

Take a look at those coolers:

https://www.arctic.ac/us_en/products/cooling/vga.html

[MrWhuppo]

1 minute ago, PCGuy_5960 said:

Take a look at those coolers:

https://www.arctic.ac/us_en/products/cooling/vga.html

Thank you for the submission, but I was wondering if the cooler I have would work. I'm not desperate enough for cooler temps to buy a new cooler.

[PCGuy_5960]

2 minutes ago, MrWhuppo said:

Thank you for the submission, but I was wondering if the cooler I have would work. I'm not desperate enough for cooler temps to buy a new cooler.

Which specific 960 was it? (Brand, model etc.)

[MrWhuppo]

Just now, PCGuy_5960 said:

Which specific 960 was it? (Brand, model etc.)

It is the EVGA single fan card, the one shown here:

[it_dont_work]

6 minutes ago, MrWhuppo said:

Thank you for the submission, but I was wondering if the cooler I have would work.

Grab a screw driver set and pull them both part to find out. The bolt spacing for the core will most likely be the same, spacing for the vrm/memory and caps may get in the way.

[PCGuy_5960]

4 minutes ago, MrWhuppo said:

It is the EVGA single fan card, the one shown here:

Then it will fit like a glove !

I am 99% sure that the 1060 SC has the same cooler, the SC is using the same PCB as the Zotac.

Try it and if it doesn't fit you can:

a) Jerry-rig it

b) Keep the other cooler and then buy a new one...

[PCGuy_5960]

BTW, which thermal paste are you using...? If you are using Arctic Silver 5 try not to get it over the edge of the GPU core, because it can cause issues...

[MrWhuppo]

1 minute ago, PCGuy_5960 said:

Then it will fit like a glove !

I am 99% sure that the 1060 SC has the same cooler, the SC is using the same PCB as the Zotac.

Try it and if it doesn't fit you can:

a) Jerry-rig it

b) Keep the other cooler and then buy a new one...

I'm not too sure. Looking at the 960 from the side now tells me that the heatsink is machined to fit on that PCB, with millimeters of room for clearance for the capacitors.

[MrWhuppo]

1 minute ago, PCGuy_5960 said:

BTW, which thermal paste are you using...? If you are using Arctic Silver 5 try not to get it over the edge of the GPU core, because it can cause issues...

I have some Arctic left over from my CPU install.

[PCGuy_5960]

3 minutes ago, MrWhuppo said:

I'm not too sure. Looking at the 960 from the side now tells me that the heatsink is machined to fit on that PCB, with millimeters of room for clearance for the capacitors.

The PCBs do look quite similar... If it doesn't fit, you can always see what's interfering with what and deal with it, maybe cut a fin or 2 if that's necessary...

[PCGuy_5960]

4 minutes ago, MrWhuppo said:

I have some Arctic left over from my CPU install.

Just make sure not to apply too much thermal paste then...

[MrWhuppo]

2 minutes ago, PCGuy_5960 said:

The PCBs do look quite similar... If it doesn't fit, you can always see what's interfering with what and deal with it, maybe cut a fin or 2 if that's necessary...

Lastly, How would the fan be placed. I notice the fan power is in a different spot on both PCBs

[PCGuy_5960]

4 minutes ago, MrWhuppo said:

Lastly, How would the fan be placed. I notice the fan power is in a different spot on both PCBs

You just plug the fan into the fan header... I think that the cable should be long enough to reach...

PS, make sure that you have spare thermal thermal pads, as you might need them for the vRAM chips and the power delivery

[MrWhuppo]

3 minutes ago, PCGuy_5960 said:

You just plug the fan into the fan header... I think that it should be long enough to reach...

PS, make sure that you have spare thermal thermal pads, as you might need them for the vRAM chips and the power delivery

Alright, I'll take a stab at it tomorrow, and hopefully I drop the sharp end of my screwdriver right on the die. Thanks for your help.

[PCGuy_5960]

Just now, MrWhuppo said:

Alright, I'll take a stab at it tomorrow, and hopefully I drop the sharp end of my screwdriver right on the die. Thanks for your help.

Np, Let me know if it worked, I am genuinely curious

[PCGuy_5960]

@MrWhuppo Correction... The EVGA GTX 960 has a slightly different PCB which is closer to the Zotac 1060's

[PCGuy_5960]

You can add a thermal pad on top of the VRM cooler to get better cooling to the VRMs

Other than that, I think that the cooler will fit perfectly on the 1060

[Moto Gee]

This heat sink helped me bring down temp to 55*C max. Previously it was thermal-throttling and crashing in games. Now it is smooth. I got the GPU brackets on Aliexpress. Costed 30$ total.