- Draper Precision Screwdriver Set
- 75mm Dual-X Fan Replacements
- Arctic Silver 5
- Arctic Silver ArctiClean
My trusty Sapphire Radeon HD 6950
Four screws holding the heat sink in place.
Heat sink removed
Removing the plastic shroud meant unscrewing these little fellas
Bleaurgh... Dust build up in the heat sink
The plastic shroud and noisy fan(s)
Shroud with fans removed
Replacement fans
New fans fitted to the shroud
GPU covered in thermal paste - this needs to go!
All clean - this was so reflective, taking a photo was almost impossible!
"Job's a good-un", as they say...
The procedure took me just under two hours to complete and so far seems to have been a complete success; the card has returned to normal noise levels when under load. Something interesting that I noticed when I had the heat sink off is that it doesn't appear to make direct contact with the video memory chips on the board, but the clearance between the two doesn't facilitate the installation of after-market heat sinks. This is a bit disappointing as video memory can get quite hot as well as the GPU itself!