Replace fans Sapphire 7970 11197-03-40G?

[Hornedfrog]

Sapphire 7970 11197-03-40G. I think that I have a fan failing on this card & I wonder if any of you found a way to replace these fans.  I noticed some oil on the pcb. Would that be from the fan motor?  It no longer cools as effectively as it did.  Thank you.

[PYneer]

You can buy a aftermarket cooler and replace the stock one. However, tempering with the gpu will void your warranty so you way not want to do that.

Another solution is to buy a box fan and point directly at the gpu.

[Cryptomatical]

Sapphire 7970 11197-03-40G. I think that I have a fan failing on this card & I wonder if any of you found a way to replace these fans.  I noticed some oil on the pcb. Would that be from the fan motor?  It no longer cools as effectively as it did.  Thank you.

Have you thought about re-applying the thermal paste?  Maybe it has dried out.

[InCoinsITrust]

What makes you think its the fans? Is there a sound from them? You may try to replace thermal paste. If the fans are failing, replace them with 2 usual 80mm fans.

[Hornedfrog]

What makes you think its the fans? Is there a sound from them? You may try to replace thermal paste. If the fans are failing, replace them with 2 usual 80mm fans.

No they sound normal, just the cooling degradation.  Does the paste fail?

[Colin Miner]

What makes you think its the fans? Is there a sound from them? You may try to replace thermal paste. If the fans are failing, replace them with 2 usual 80mm fans.

No they sound normal, just the cooling degradation.  Does the paste fail?

Yes, the paste can fail - it dries up. You can see its bad when you separate the heatsink from the processor.

You can pick up a new 7970 fan on ebay, which may be worth changing while you have the cards off line. But start with a good vacuum clean through the heatsink vents.


The oil you see probably isn't from the fan, but from the heatsink pads for the ram chips.

[Hornedfrog]

Thank you for your help, I will check it out.