Radeon 7970 with dead fan header

[ssateneth]

I have a Powercolor 7970 thats "reference but not reference". Has the reference cooler on it, but the PCB revision doesn't match pure reference cards (says "LF R19FA" instead of "100-C36837-00") but the VRM temperature sensors works in addition to not being voltage locked, so it effectively behaves like a reference.

Anyways, the fan header is partially dead. It does not report RPM inside the OS, and the 12v lead is effectively dead too at 0v. The PWM pin shows a low-ish voltage like 3.5 or so. The fan itself work perfectly.

Is there a way to fix this without looking stupid? I'm not sure I can RMA this because powercolor does not accept RMA from second hand owners.

If it's not fixable, would anyone be interested in buying it? It can do 3D games just fine as well as mine bitcoins or litecoins. There is just the matter of the dead fan header. If you put a 3rd party heatsink and fan on there that is powered with a case fan header, or if you use a water block, it'll work fine I imagine

[Nomusss]

1. Buy gelid/arctic cooling custom 7970 fan
2. Take off stock fan
3. Apply fresh thermopaste to the chip
4. Install new fan
5. ?
6. Enjoy 60c temperature with a full gpu load

[ReCat]

Have you considered contacting the original owner and asking for them to RMA it for you?

[ssateneth]

Have you considered contacting the original owner and asking for them to RMA it for you?

I have done that. The 7970 is missing its serial number sticker though. Powercolor said they are contacting the factory to see if it is still good for warranty since I gave them pictures of the card and all stickers on it.