Is there anywhere that sells OEM coolers?

S

Smoblikat

Limp Gawd
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May 28, 2020
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Hello, I am trying to find a different cooler for my GTX 980Ti. Currently it has a reference cooler on it, but im looking for a more open design with 2 or 3 fans, while being no wider than the standard 2 slots, which rules out the Accelero extreme (or whatever its called). Looking at a lot of the 3rd party cards, it seems like the actual heatsink part would screw onto the GPU fine, and I can seemingly get a couple of the other screws in as well. Anyone have any recommendations on 2 slot wide coolers for a 980Ti? Or where I could possibly find a 3rd party cooler thats compatible with a reference PCB? Ive been looking on ebay for dead cards, but even those are overpriced right now too :p
 
JSHamlet234 said:
Maybe look into a G12 bracket and an AIO?
Click to expand...

Ive thought about that, but it wouldnt really work with my setup. There are 3 other air cooled cards in there, plus I dont really have much room for a rad.

Looks like the EVGA ACX 2 cooler works with reference PCBs, at least the screwholes look the same:

Reference:
2724-pcb-back.jpg

EVGA:
s-l1600.jpg

I remember those being decent coolers too, hopefully I can find one.
 
hititnquitit said:
Try aliexpress.
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Good idea, I found this:
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/400...7566#803_668#3164#9976#186_668#3468#15614#512

Which is supposedly the same cooler as this:
Zotac_GTX980_AMP_06.jpg

But I dont see that plate thingy that covers the VRAM on the aliexpress cooler

I also found this one for a 970:

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/400...7566#803_668#3164#9976#186_668#3468#15615#611

Hole spacing seems to be the same for the whole 900 series @ 58.4*58.4mm, so I assume it would be fine. It also seems to have at least somthing to cover the VRAM, but its a 3 pin fan design, and I believe my 980Ti has a 4 pin by default. Would that cause issues with the card being able to regulate RPM etc?
 
Smoblikat said:
Hole spacing seems to be the same for the whole 900 series @ 58.4*58.4mm, so I assume it would be fine. It also seems to have at least somthing to cover the VRAM, but its a 3 pin fan design, and I believe my 980Ti has a 4 pin by default. Would that cause issues with the card being able to regulate RPM etc?
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It would, and that 970 heat sink doesn't look adequate.
 
Smoblikat said:
Ive thought about that, but it wouldnt really work with my setup. There are 3 other air cooled cards in there, plus I dont really have much room for a rad.

Looks like the EVGA ACX 2 cooler works with reference PCBs, at least the screwholes look the same:

Reference:
View attachment 366036

EVGA:
View attachment 366037

I remember those being decent coolers too, hopefully I can find one.
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Are the PCB layouts the same though? I agree, they do look the same from the back, but I'd look up some PCB shots to be sure.
 
It's a shame because there are likely thousands of good AIB 980 ti coolers for ref boards sitting in people's closets or landfills attached to cards that no longer work.

I'd say Ebay, or hit up these types of forums. Someone's bound to have one lying around.
 
Sir Beregond said:
Are the PCB layouts the same though? I agree, they do look the same from the back, but I'd look up some PCB shots to be sure.
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The PCB pictures that ive seen do appear very similar, I checked on EVGAs website and the consensus seems to be that only the really high end cards (Kingpin, classified) have a custom PCB, and the normal cards with the ACX cooler are reference.

https://forums.evga.com/980-Ti-reference-design-m2364655.aspx
https://forums.evga.com/is-the-evga...20-06GP44995KR-a-reference-card-m2514997.aspx

For "reference" (bad pun intended..) I found a decent deal on an ACX 2.0 cooler off of a card with the model number ending in 4995, which is specifically in that list as being a reference PCB. Just need to wait for the listing to end.......still looking for other options too :D
 
harmattan said:
It's a shame because there are likely thousands of good AIB 980 ti coolers for ref boards sitting in people's closets or landfills attached to cards that no longer work.

I'd say Ebay, or hit up these types of forums. Someone's bound to have one lying around.
Click to expand...

I completely agree, especially considering the hole spacing is the same for all models, you could theoretically use a cooler off of anything and put it on anything else, assuming you arent worried about pesky annoyances like "thermal performance" or "my VRM is on fire".

So far ebay has been a source of mostly pain, dead 980Ti's start off around $200 and nobody seems to sell bare coolers other than the few I found so far on aliexpress.
 
Just posted a thread in FS here, if anyone else happens to stumble upon a GTX 980Ti ACX 2.0+ cooler somwhere, I would very much appreciate the link :)
 
I always throw away my stock coolers. I'm going to start ebaying them instead in the future.
 
UPDATE - I bought a dead card on ebay, I was a little bummed at the price and the lack of backplate, but I just installed it and I couldnt be happier!

It took under 13 hours (12 hours and 51 minutes) from when I placed the order to when I physically had it in my hand, which was really cool. The ACX 2.0+ cooler is fully compatible with the reference PCB in every way, and the card comes with a "midplate" that goes between the PCB and HSF to keep the VRAM and VRMs cool, even the fan and LED cables are in the right spot/orientation. Idle temps dropped 7 - 8C compared to my old reference cooler, which is a bonus as I didnt really need more thermal performance, just a different style of cooler for the server its going in. I have a BIOS I used to run on this card that does 1455 on the core, I might throw it back on before this goes into the server :D

I would definitely recommend anyone with an older reference style card to try and find a dead version and swap the cooler out, this helped the upgrade itch as now I have a "different" 980Ti to play with :p
 
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