[CS-FSLUG] Dead Fan on ATI Card

[Erik Wessman]

Tim, I have a ATI 9600 Pro (a hand-me-down from my son) here with 
a similar complaint.  There is a mfgr out there that claims to 
make replacement fans for these cards, but they are as scarce as 
hen's teeth, at least in Canada.  The best advice I've had has 
two thrusts:

(a) carefully remove the fan, pry it apart, and use WD40 and oil 
on the bearings, then reassemble - techies claim to have obtained 
about 18 moths additional life this way;  and

(b) remove the fan but retain the heat sink in place, then put one 
of those I/O slot video card cooler fans in the slot adjactent to 
the card.  (With any luck, it can be fashioned to blow enough air 
on the video chip to keep it operating.  (You could try a more 
effectively finned heat sink instead of the original.)

Erik



On 24/02/08 20:53, Timothy Butler wrote:
> Hi everyone,
> 	I heard this really horrible sound out of my trusty old Dell,
> and realized relatively quickly one of its fans must be going
> out. I opened it up and isolated it down to the GPU's fan. The
> card is a Radeon 9700 Pro with 128 megs of ram -- it's five
> years old, but still a decent card. Question, does anyone know
> a way to buy a new fan for that card? The part number for the
> fan is:
>
> 	PN7120004100
>
> 	Alternately, if it really is completely dead, y'all have a
> suggestion for a card that is at least as good that doesn't
> cost too terribly much? If I go that route, I'd probably want
> to find a DirectX 10 compatible card -- this computer is my
> "lab" machine on which I usually try to keep a copy of Windows
> so that I can come up to solutions to problems for my clients.
> I was planning to put a copy of Vista Ultimate on it (gasp), in
> fact, as a dual boot with XP. As long as it runs Vista, I'd
> like it to run Aero.
>
> 	ATI/AMD has the helpful advice that goes like this:
>
> 	"Noisy Fan or Fan Failure
> The fans on ATI graphics cards are not user replaceable parts.
> To avoid any complications due to any possible damage that may
> have been caused by the fan's failure or degraded
> functionality, the entire card should be replaced. If the card
> is currently under warranty and built by ATI, you can fill out
> and submit the online warranty request form at
> http://www.ati.amd.com/rma."
>
> 	So much for buying a new fan from them!
>
> 	Thanks,
> 		Tim
>
>
>
>
> ---
> Timothy R. Butler | "The yellow fog that rubs its back upon the
> window-panes,
> Editor, OfB.biz   | The yellow smoke that rubs its muzzle on
> the window-panes
> tbutler at ofb.biz   | Licked  its  tongue  into the  corners  of 
> the evening,
> timothybutler.us  | Lingered upon the pools that stand in
> drains." -- T.S. Eliot