Tightening Down the Heatsink on Your Video Card

[techguy77]

I've bought a couple Nvidia Quadro NVS 450 cards in recent months and they only use passive cooling. I was experiencing artifacting with my first card so I thought to check the heatsink. I noticed the heatsink actually just uses phillips screws and that I could tighten them a bit (not straining myself). It didn't fix the artifacting. However, when I unboxed my 2nd one I noticed that I could tighten it down also. Is this something any of you actually make a point to do prior to installing a card?...or am I an idiot causing excess strain on the solder points on my cards causing the solder points to crack/premature failure?

Any insight is greatly appreciated.

 

[tinytomlogan]

I think that card would have been designed for aircon server enviroments by the sound of things, try putting a fan over it dude.

 

[hmmblah]

Most of those cards are designed with workstations in mind that have excellent flow through the case, just like a rackmount server really. The cards themselves (and most other parts including CPUs) have passive cooling on them. They really aren't passively cooled though just because of the amount of air flowing through the case. They might not have a fan directly attached, but there will usually be a fan located right in front of the heatsink attached directly to the case.

Like Tom said, add a fan to that card.

Are there springs on the screws?

Edit: Is the heatsink warm or hot to the touch when being used?

 

[alienware]

If it's anything like any of the three Nvids I have here (8800u, 240GT and 6200LE) then yes, it will be sprung with odd looking screws that are fatter toward the head.

The reason for the springs is to put on the correct ammount of torque so not to press on the core it is cooling too hard. If it does it can lead to damage (if over tightened). (see also most CPU coolers).

However when I baked my 8800u I cranked them right up in order to put as much pressure on the GPU chip itself as the reason for the failure was broken solder contacts. When baking it I put a buttload of coins wrapped in foil onto it to push down so the solder would press well.

I don't reccomend doing that to a card under warranty though (changing the torque on the sprung screws).

 

[techguy77]

Sorry for going MIA for a couple weeks. Thanks for all your guys feedback. I’m current running it in a CoolerMaster COSMOS case that’s maxed out with some good Scythe fans (SFF21G)…I love these fans! It’s well setup to exhaust heat out of the chassis. Yes, there are springs on the screws. When in use, heatsink is definitely hot, but not too hot to touch. AlienALX thanks for your input since you’re experience directly addresses my concern. It’s now been a month since I did it and my replacement card has been good so I’m pleased. Thanks guys for satisfying my curiosity!