Cooling Replacement Recommendations For AIW Radeon?

[Brain]

I have a friend who still uses the very
first AIW Radeon (the 32MB 7200).
:shock: He has been complaining that his computer is making a lot of
noise lately and when I cracked open his case, his video card's fan
was buzzing so loudly it was beyond belief. Obviously, his AIW fan is
dying and I was hoping someone could recommend a VGA cooling solution
that would be compatible with such an
old video card.

He will not upgrade his video card since he is a cheap son of a gun
and isn't a gamer by any stretch anyway.

Any recommendations?


http://pc.watch.impress.co.jp/docs/article/20001013/aiwr_01.jpg

 

[Paul Murphy]

I have a friend who still uses the very
first AIW Radeon (the 32MB 7200).
:shock: He has been complaining that his computer is making a lot of
noise lately and when I cracked open his case, his video card's fan
was buzzing so loudly it was beyond belief. Obviously, his AIW fan is
dying and I was hoping someone could recommend a VGA cooling solution
that would be compatible with such an
old video card.

He will not upgrade his video card since he is a cheap son of a gun
and isn't a gamer by any stretch anyway.

Any recommendations?


http://pc.watch.impress.co.jp/docs/article/20001013/aiwr_01.jpg

Having just encountered exactly the same with my old Radeon AIW 32 MB
antique and being of like mind to your friend with regards to the lock on my
wallet, I contacted ATI to try for a repair. When I bought it the warranty
was 5 years and it was a retail (not OEM) card so I figured it should come
under the warranty. Sure enough ATI promptly emailed me an RMA number and
the instructions sent to me said I should send only the defective part so I
took the fan off (it has 4 small Philips screws and just unplugs from the
card) and sent just that rather than send the whole card (what's the point
in costing them more than necessary in postage). I carefully wrapped it in
bubblewrap and included the paperwork and details of the card/RMA. After a
week or so I hadn't received a replacement so contacted them for a progress
report. I was advised they hadn't received my card. I told them I'd sent
just the defective part/fan (as directed) and expected just a replacement
fan in return. Within a few more days a shiny new Heatsink with fan arrived
at the door all the way from Canada (I'm in the UK). Since those heatsinks
are glued to the GPU I just unscrewed the fan off the heatsink and fitted it
to my Radeon and now its good as new.

If your friend is considering an aftermarket heatsink fan for the card, the
only option would be a passive cooler (if you can find one to fit around the
tuner "can") as the current range of 3rd party Radeon HSFs are only for
cards of Radeon 9xxx series or newer. Best bet is to try for the free fan
replacement if you can. Let us know how you get on!

Paul

 

[GMAN]

Having just encountered exactly the same with my old Radeon AIW 32 MB
antique and being of like mind to your friend with regards to the lock on my
wallet, I contacted ATI to try for a repair. When I bought it the warranty
was 5 years and it was a retail (not OEM) card so I figured it should come
under the warranty. Sure enough ATI promptly emailed me an RMA number and
the instructions sent to me said I should send only the defective part so I
took the fan off (it has 4 small Philips screws and just unplugs from the
card) and sent just that rather than send the whole card (what's the point
in costing them more than necessary in postage). I carefully wrapped it in
bubblewrap and included the paperwork and details of the card/RMA. After a
week or so I hadn't received a replacement so contacted them for a progress
report. I was advised they hadn't received my card. I told them I'd sent
just the defective part/fan (as directed) and expected just a replacement
fan in return. Within a few more days a shiny new Heatsink with fan arrived
at the door all the way from Canada (I'm in the UK). Since those heatsinks
are glued to the GPU I just unscrewed the fan off the heatsink and fitted it
to my Radeon and now its good as new.

If your friend is considering an aftermarket heatsink fan for the card, the
only option would be a passive cooler (if you can find one to fit around the
tuner "can") as the current range of 3rd party Radeon HSFs are only for
cards of Radeon 9xxx series or newer. Best bet is to try for the free fan
replacement if you can. Let us know how you get on!

Paul

When ATI told you to send just the defective part, they meant the card(minus
cables /disks etc), not just the stupid fan!

 

[Paul Murphy]

When ATI told you to send just the defective part, they meant the
card(minus
cables /disks etc), not just the stupid fan!

Surely not! ;-)

Paul
PS Can I help it if I'm more sensible about it than their expectations are?