COOLER MASTER CoolViva Pro (minor mod)

[goofazoid]

First mod. Rather minor I suppose.

I was looking for a better cooling solution for my EVGA GeForce 8500GT's GPU because the idle temp ranged from 50-52C. (I am told that is well with in specs for this card but I wanted it cooler)
I selected COOLER MASTER's CoolViva Pro (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103030&Tpk=CoolViva) based on reviews linked form Cooler Master's web site.

I got it here and got it installed without difficulty, until I put the card back in my case and then I noticed that the weight of it was making the card sag. At approximately 1.5cm downward sag it probably wasn't too bad, but I felt that it would be bad for the card/slot over time.

http://sunnybrooksporthorses.com/card%20sag.jpg

I decided to close the case and test for results... I was very pleased to see that the card idled at 36-38C! Obviously I decide to keep the cooler, but had to do something about the sag.

I got to looking at my case (Antec P180b) and discovered that there was a small hole drilled in the floor of the top compartment almost perfectly aligned with the screw in the fan shroud of the card. I decided that it would be fairly simply to make a post to support the card, and selected an old expansion slot cover as the easiest way to get what I wanted, as it already had a hole that could be modded for the screw, the end was turned over to make a foot, and the "foot" had a screw hole in it.

http://sunnybrooksporthorses.com/slot%20cover.jpg

There it is sitting on my mouse pad before I started on it.
I simply used a pair of side cutters to remove the little tab that was over the hole, then marked and cut off the tip of it with my Dremel, then smoothed the edge out.
I then removed the screw from the fan shroud and screwed the newly fabricated brace to it, and then re-installed the card and secured the foot of the brace to the floor of the upper compartment (in the afore mentioned conveniently placed hole) with an old case screw.

http://sunnybrooksporthorses.com/bracket%20in%20place.jpg

Thats it.
For my next project I am going to create a bracket for the cooler that is attached to the rear of the case (at slots) instead of a post type, and then I am going to fabricate an extension for the fan shroud so that the hot air form the heat sink is not vented into the interior of my case.

Thanks for reading, hope I didn't bore you too badly.

(Note: Before installing I did a little bit of dry fitting, with the power off, to ensure that it would not only fit, but would not short anything out. :))

Parts List:
Old expansion bay cover
Old case screw
Dremel

Cost:
about 15 min time

[calumc]

simple yet effective. +rep

[goofazoid]

Thanks!

[psychowit]

Not best looking, but yes, "simple yet effective"

[FuzzyPlushroom]

Hey, it's free, effective, strong, and not hideous. Looks like a good mod to me!

[goofazoid]

Like I said I plan on creating a bracket that comes from the rear of the case (attached to the screws of two expansion slots) and mounts to the same screw hole that is currently in use, as well as the one htat is open to hte left of the current one.

The hold up on doing so is that the top of the heat sink is a good 1.5-2" above the top of the expansion slot screws, so I will have to make a bracket that has a bend in it. At the same time I want to add a shroud to the back of the heat sink so that the exhaust goes out hte back of the case rather than to the interior of the case. (Note: The mobo temps, and CPU temps have remained unchanged since installing this cooler, most likely due to the fact that the P180 has 2 120 exhaust fans, rear and top.)

Also, since my case does not have a window, its not visible. :)
The real reason I am going to make a new bracket is so that I will like it better, it doesn't block access to the rest of the PCI slots, and because I want the challenge. :)

Thanks for hte feedback!

[psychowit]

oooh Idea!!! Just spray it a funky colour!

[SgtM]

Boo sagging video cards! Hooray brackets! +rep

[goofazoid]

Thanks for the Rep!