GPU fans started failing, had to improvise a little

[Souran]

Hello All,

Just wanted to share my funny experience with these cards I purchased around a year ago.

The cards Im talking about are the Gigabyte RX 570 Gaming 4G: https://www.gigabyte.com/Graphics-Card/GV-RX570GAMING-4GD#kf
They are pretty much the worst cards I got for mining, even though I bought them early on for 160$ each, and I got 30 of them.
At first they were great, amazing value for money and ROI, elpida memory, they do 29.5mh/850mh eth/dcr; and 900 h/s on cryptonight.

They worked great for 10 months, and then the fans started failing; these fans can not handle dust at all. They are very poor in cooling; and unless I set the fans at 80% or more, the gpu temps would easily reach 75C.

The funny thing is that half of my cards would have the rear fan failing, either completely stop working, or work at a much slower rpm; to the point that I had to only mine cryptonight due to the lower power requirement for the algorithm compare to dual mining.

So I got this idea..

A week ago, I purchased these fans: https://www.aliexpress.com/item/Brand-Original-Delta-AUB0812VH-pwm-DC12V-0-41A-80mm-computer-cpu-case-axial-cooling-fan/32541022969.html?spm=a2g0s.9042311.0.0.Fy7LDH
And these splitters: https://www.aliexpress.com/item/SATA-Port-to-10-Way-12V-3-4Pin-Computer-CPU-Cooling-Fan-Splitter-Hub-with-PWM/32842778420.html?spm=a2g0s.9042311.0.0.Fy7LDH

Removed the shroud and fans from the gpu, and stuck the new delta fans I got on the heatsink (using some metal wires, and a bit of clamping).
and this is the result
https://image.ibb.co/hSBvY7/IMG_20180213_WA0006.jpg

Currently, out of all the cards I have; Nitro+ Limited Edition, XFX GTS Edition, Nitro+ 570 8GB, and Powercolor Red Dragon golden sample; these cheap elpida cards are my favorite xD

Temps on the gpu are at around 39C under the same conditions, and they consume less power (compared to the original fans, 12v @0.5A, the new ones are 12v @0.41A).

So I lose the warranty, but I've already recovered their cost and much more, and they still run perfectly, so I am very happy

Now im thinking to do the same for all my other cards, and probably turn one of the AC units I got off to save on electricity

[Mr.Spider703]

I have a slightly different situation, the 1080 card for 2 coolers was heated to 90-95 degrees. one of the coolers began to fail, loosened up. I bought a 12 mm cooler at a nearby computer store for pennies, now the temperature is 70-75 degrees, in peaks up to 80 degrees it comes
power is supplied to it from the motherboard
https://drive.google.com/file/d/12yXNqWzuTTewAknbvlqFASVdgI-96oKm/view?usp=drivesdk

[swampdawg]

That's crafty - I'll try that out.  I have the same problem with a gigabyte 580 gaming card. The rear fan started to wobble, then screech for a few days then seized up.

[Elder III]

Yeah, unfortunately those coolers that Gigabyte uses on that series of GPUs have downright lousy fans. You can buy replacement fans for them, but I don't know if the quality is any better or not.

[BennyT]

Great solution, thanks for sharing!

Surprising the temps are lower with those fans

[Mr.Spider703]

my decision is temporary, I ordered a cooler on my graphics card, but their efctivity I hope will be better than regular

[gotminer]

I will never buy Gigabyte gpu's ... I've heard that their fans are shit ever since I've been in this game.

[Metroid]

I will never buy Gigabyte gpu's ... I've heard that their fans are shit ever since I've been in this game.

It's not only gigabyte, asus too. EVGA and Sapphire are the best .

[gotminer]

I will never buy Gigabyte gpu's ... I've heard that their fans are shit ever since I've been in this game.

It's not only gigabyte, asus too. EVGA and Sapphire are the best .

Metroid, I like it a lot when you post as a sane person.  I'm tried of replying to your posts with the number to the suicide hotline.

No offense to you whatsoever, but some of the stuff that you post is way out there.  If you can predict the future based on your sources, more power to you.  But most the the people who you call trolls are saying you are the troll.  1 vs 999M loses every time.

[QuintLeo]

Great solution, thanks for sharing!

Surprising the temps are lower with those fans

I have some of the 1070 version of that card (and some of the 3-fan versions), ALL of which have had fans die or are starting to lose fans.
I have a bunch of NMB 92mmx25mm fans around - server-case fan design for about 40 CFM rated .35 amp at 12VDC.

I've been pulling the entire fan shroud assembly, twist-tie one NMB fan to each heatsink assembly, then wire them up to the *5 VDC* connection on a MOLEX - they toss enough air through the HS to do BETTER cooling than the original fans did at up to 80% or so, while using a LOT less power.

The original Gigabyte fans are JUNK on their current Windforce models - dunno why they moved away from ball-bearing fans a few years back except on the Aorus models, but it has cost them any chance of selling ME any more cards.
The AORUS models still have good ball bearing fans - but they tend to be high-end models with extra power connectors that make it harder to power a bunch of them for mining usage.

EVGA and Sapphire are still "all ball bearing, all of the time" and are my go-to brands - I just wish Sapphire made Nvidia cards.

[Metroid]

Metroid, I like it a lot when you post as a sane person.  I'm tried of replying to your posts with the number to the suicide hotline.

No offense to you whatsoever, but some of the stuff that you post is way out there.  If you can predict the future based on your sources, more power to you.  But most the the people who you call trolls are saying you are the troll.  1 vs 999M loses every time.

Well, as far as I can tell you, I have no horns or hold clubs yet hehe, so I guess that is a good thing. Now concerning what I say, I can't change what trolls think about what I say cause reality hurts them. So I guess I have to leave at that. I'm trying to be more polite if that helps.

[BennyT]

Just curious. If it’s still under warranty, why not RMA the card instead of repairing it yourself?

[Vann]

With the current GPU mining runnup already outlasting all the previous ones by far, GPU manufacturerer's should realize nobody wants to RMA a GPU for fans, which is usually the first thing that goes bad. Sapphire and XFX have stepped up their game with one screw and snap-on modular fans. I love the Sapphire dual ball bearing X-Fans on the RX series. One screw to take off the fan for maintenance and cleaning and no wires to run or deal with. Replacements are $12.50 each including shipping from Sapphire and they are super easy to replace.

[bigjee]

Not sure if ive just got bad luck but Sapphire has been a nightmare to deal with.
First their itx model fan died with 6 months of mining use.
then the cs sends me a replacement card that has the SAME problem.

Now im waiting for a replacement gpu to ship from Hong Kong (its been 8 weeks already) wtf.
Here's how it looks and sounds.
NEVER buying sapphire again.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/gjl60zoknasdw8b/IMG_9230.MOV?dl=0

Its MSI, evga or asus for me. TAT for Asus 1-2 weeks tops for rma.

[jillscarbrough]

the same case, I have Sapphire 290 triple fan. one fan is broken then I replace a fan using delta fan (12 inches, powered by 12 volts). has been running for 1 month so far so good.

[Vann]

Not sure if ive just got bad luck but Sapphire has been a nightmare to deal with.
First their itx model fan died with 6 months of mining use.
then the cs sends me a replacement card that has the SAME problem.

Now im waiting for a replacement gpu to ship from Hong Kong (its been 8 weeks already) wtf.
Here's how it looks and sounds.
NEVER buying sapphire again.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/gjl60zoknasdw8b/IMG_9230.MOV?dl=0

Its MSI, evga or asus for me. TAT for Asus 1-2 weeks tops for rma.

That's why I also like buying cards that run cool and never buy single fan cards. Cheaper cards always skimp on cooling and the better the passive cooling, the lower you need to keep the fan speed which makes them last much longer than fans always running the 80%+.

[QuintLeo]

Just curious. If it’s still under warranty, why not RMA the card instead of repairing it yourself?

Because the RMA process is very slow and gives you back a card with THE SAME ISSUE.

If something OTHER THAN the fan(s) die, sure I'll RMA the card.
Otherwise it's a waste of money (1-2 MONTHS lost income + SHIPPING CHARGES) and time.

[deadsix]

Ive had HIS Fans literally falling off of running GPU's



This happened to 4 of my GPU's and I finally switched the orientation of the GPU's to horizontal, I guess vertical position was putting uneven shear stress on the plastic and these fans were only tested for typical Computer mounting which places them horizontal. Just a guess though, could just be shitty GPU's and I may have more fail similarly soon.

[QuintLeo]

"Typical" computer mounting puts the fans UPSIDE DOWN, which would generate more stress on whatever retainer they are using than a "sideways" mount.

Not just the weight of the fan blades themselves but the force of the air movement they generation trying to pull it out of the mount.

On the other hand, I gave up on HIS years ago due to their JUNK fans in pretty much all of their models.

I also find it interesting that Newegg stopped carrying HIS a while back (the ONLY HIS listing right now is for a 6850 from a 3'd party vender) - guess THEY were getting too many RMAs.

[Souran]

Great solution, thanks for sharing!

Surprising the temps are lower with those fans

The original fans can barely generate 18 cfm at 100%,, these fans can do around 42 cfm