Tech Tip: $5 VGA Cooler

MediaMan (MediaMan) Heat is the enemy of PC stability and successful overclocking. Sure an expensive VGA cooler could be the answer but we built our own for under $5.

November 1, 2004 12:26 AM ET in News

Heat is the enemy of PC stability and successful overclocking. Sure an expensive VGA cooler could be the answer but we built our own for under $5.

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26 Comments:

  1. Thrax
    1 Nov '04, 12:30 am

    Ghetto Hardware v2.

  2. Geeky1
    1 Nov '04, 12:36 am

    That is soooooooo not ghetto. If it were cardboard, it'd be ghetto. Either way, it's sweet.

  3. Shorty
    1 Nov '04, 1:27 am

    ahahaha.. wicked

  4. Unregistered
    1 Nov '04, 7:29 am

    what about the ram on the other side of the board

  5. primesuspect
    1 Nov '04, 9:11 am

    Totally sweet, Doug.

    /me gets out a fiver and heads to Home Depot

  6. MediaMan
    1 Nov '04, 10:09 am
    Quoting Unregistered

    what about the ram on the other side of the board

    Give me another Sunday afternoon and I'll have that figured out for you. I still have plexi left over and another fan. Modding supposed to be fun...especially for 5 bucks.

  7. Unregistered
    1 Nov '04, 11:37 am

    Why not just get an old pci card that you don't need, cut a hole in it and mount
    your fan?

  8. CyrixInstead
    1 Nov '04, 12:36 pm

    Good guide!!

    ~Cyrix

  9. Shorty
    1 Nov '04, 12:46 pm
    Quoting Unregistered

    Why not just get an old pci card that you don't need, cut a hole in it and mount
    your fan?

    But where is the fun in that

  10. Unregistered
    1 Nov '04, 4:24 pm

    what if you had it suck cold air from the pci slot and vent the hot air up using the fan. It seems like it would be much more efficient to pull the hot air up then to force it out the back of the case.

  11. Thrax
    1 Nov '04, 4:27 pm

    It's not so much about creating a turbulent airflow over the GPU, it's more about removing the dead air pockets that reside over almost the entire PCI/AGP region. It's just the way most ATX cases work. Even if no "Cool air" is being drawn in, there's still tremendous benefit from circulating the warm air away from the GPU.

  12. MediaMan
    1 Nov '04, 4:27 pm

    Now this is what it's all about. Now you're thinking like a modder. I suggest heading down to the nearest Home Depot, pick up that 3 buck 8x10 sheet of plexi and create one on your own.

    I know that I'm going to revise my simple mockup to see if I can get more elaborate and keep it under $5. Glad the article got you thinking!

  13. Unregistered
    2 Nov '04, 4:22 pm

    Just super glue some fans on both sides of the card!

  14. Geeky1
    2 Nov '04, 6:12 pm

    Doesn't cyanoacrylate do nasty things to solder masks?

  15. TheGr81
    2 Nov '04, 7:00 pm
    Quoting Geeky1

    Doesn't cyanoacrylate do nasty things to solder masks?

    .........

    I really should learn to expect these things.

    Let's see. dictionary.com says... "An adhesive substance with an acrylate base that is used in industry and medicine."

    Do hospitals use super glue?

  16. MediaMan
    2 Nov '04, 8:28 pm

    Plastic...plexi...glue worked the same way in either case. If Geeky starts quoting off chemical equations I think he's been sniffing the glue instead.

  17. Geeky1
    2 Nov '04, 8:31 pm

    That's contact cement tho. Which I don't think is cyanoacrylate. But then maybe they call super glue "contact cement" up there.

    What I wanna know is what superglue does to solder masks. For some strange reason, I seem to remember reading or hearing somewhere or something that they don't get along well.

  18. MediaMan
    2 Nov '04, 8:53 pm

    I think what Geeky's getting at is "will the fumes from 'super glue' (cyanoacrylate) break down the solder or PCB material?"

    Have I got that correct?

    A CSI Miami trick is that super glue fumes will adhere to surface areas such and can reveal fingerprints. Place the object in a sealed space with an open amount of super glue..wait...fingerprints will be revealed.

    In a PC there is constant air movement. The super glue will have dried thus no fumes. To the best of my knowledge there will be no harm. I have read nothing about the dangers of cyanoacrylate around solder masks.

  19. Geeky1
    2 Nov '04, 8:58 pm

    Almost, but I'm not talking about the fumes. You ever left a nasty solvent like Goof Off on say, ABS plastic before?

    It does things. Very Bad things. Like melting the plastic. Cyanoacrylate (or superglue, whichever you prefer) is not a nice cocktail of chemicals. I was simply wondering whether putting superglue on a PCB would cause any harm to the PCB while it's drying.

    For some reason, i seem to remember that the two don't mix very well. Oh well. Maybe my memory is just going. (Don't say it Prime, I'm downloading it now... )

    Oh, and that thing on CSI isn't just a movie trick.

  20. MediaMan
    2 Nov '04, 9:22 pm
    Quoting Geeky1

    Maybe my memory is just going. (Don't say it Prime, I'm downloading it now... )

    20 second "huh? time before I got that one. Varrrry good....Varrrrrry good.

  21. Unregistered
    28 Dec '04, 3:06 am

    why not use Epoxy?

  22. shwaip
    28 Dec '04, 9:16 pm
    Quoting Unregistered

    why not use Epoxy?

    hard to take off if you want to switch cooling systems...and depending on how large the heatsink you attach is, you may rip the gpu off the card.

  23. RADA
    7 Jan '05, 4:23 pm

    OFF TOPIC ALERT!!!

    Quoting TheGr81

    .........

    Do hospitals use super glue?

    They sure do Gr8. They use a milder form of "super glue" in place of stitches all the time.

    1. Seals wound against infection

    2. Less scarring that stitches.

  24. Sledgehammer70
    14 Sep '05, 2:41 pm

    dude this gives me ideas for a new cooling soultion

  25. Smoochee
    24 Nov '08, 10:26 pm

    Well instead of leaving that slot open why dont you glue the plexi to the piece of metal that slides into the slot. It would help hold it in place,

  26. Sonorous
    24 Nov '08, 11:12 pm

    3 years later? lolwut?

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