Gigabyte GTX 970 Noctua Fan Mod

[BrotherStein]

Recently, I had a fan go bad in my GTX 970 mini. I pulled the shroud off, cut out the fan and enclosure, cleaned up the cuts (on the shroud), and mounted a 92mm (14mm) Noctua fan.

It fit perfectly into the space where the previous fan sat, however, there really wasn't much to mount it to. I ended up mounting the fan using small zip ties. I am still trying to think of other ways to mount the fan to the heat sink, so any advice will be appreciated!

I don't have a 3D printer, but it would be cool to use the mounting points that the shroud used. Unfortunately, I'm no good with CAD software.

I am also planning on mounting the shroud to promote better airflow, but not sure what the best way to do that would be either.

 

[bledha]

Great work! What mods did you have to do to the fan connector to get it connected to the PCB on the GPU? It looks sleeved too, nice!

 

[BrotherStein]

Great work! What mods did you have to do to the fan connector to get it connected to the PCB on the GPU? It looks sleeved too, nice!

Thanks so much!

I probably should've put that in the OP! So, I did a little research on Noctua fans and PWM to figure out the best way to hook that up as this GPU uses a 3 pin (power/ground/rpm). Originally, I wanted pull the connector out and redo the pins, BUT I'm lazy and did not want to pull the whole heatsink off (I may do that this summer). I don't think I have it in the pictures, but this model requires the heatsink to be off to plug in the fan cable due to clearance. So, I cut the wires, stripped them, and then twisted and taped them up (LOL super janky; I know!). Sleeving was pretty easy thankfully; I just put the sleeve and heatshrink on it before wiring back up. As for the PWM wire, I just snipped it and called it a day. It's so much more quiet too, so it may have been a blessing in disguise. I still need to put it back in my S4M-C and test the fan curve, but I think it's going to work out nicely.

Now to figure out how to get the shroud on!

 

[bledha]

Thanks so much!

I probably should've put that in the OP! So, I did a little research on Noctua fans and PWM to figure out the best way to hook that up as this GPU uses a 3 pin (power/ground/rpm). Originally, I wanted pull the connector out and redo the pins, BUT I'm lazy and did not want to pull the whole heatsink off (I may do that this summer). I don't think I have it in the pictures, but this model requires the heatsink to be off to plug in the fan cable due to clearance. So, I cut the wires, stripped them, and then twisted and taped them up (LOL super janky; I know!). Sleeving was pretty easy thankfully; I just put the sleeve and heatshrink on it before wiring back up. As for the PWM wire, I just snipped it and called it a day. It's so much more quiet too, so it may have been a blessing in disguise. I still need to put it back in my S4M-C and test the fan curve, but I think it's going to work out nicely.

Now to figure out how to get the shroud on!

Very cool! Thanks for letting me know. I have been meaning to do this exact same mod to my EVGA 1060 SC 6GB card, which has a much smaller 4-pin connector for it's fan. Don't know much about them but I will have to look into it in order to figure it out!

Also, for my card in particular, I am very curious if the new fan will retain the 0db fan function.

Anyway, great work!

 

[BrotherStein]

Very cool! Thanks for letting me know. I have been meaning to do this exact same mod to my EVGA 1060 SC 6GB card, which has a much smaller 4-pin connector for it's fan. Don't know much about them but I will have to look into it in order to figure it out!

Also, for my card in particular, I am very curious if the new fan will retain the 0db fan function.

Anyway, great work!

You may have to double check for that GPU, but if it's 4-pin, I think that it uses PWM, so all you would need to do is figure out which wires are which and then wire them up because that type of plug is quite a bit smaller than your standard fan connector/plug. You might check online as well because there are some people that were able to wire up multiple fans. Thankfully, I only needed one fan! Have a good one!

 

[zovc]

Your mod came out looking great. I don't normally like how Noctua fans look, but for some reason I really like it here!

 

[BrotherStein]

Your mod came out looking great. I don't normally like how Noctua fans look, but for some reason I really like it here!

I think the brown (surprisingly) goes well with the black. Thanks!

 

[MarcParis]

Very nice mod.

How does it performa vs original fan?
For speed regulation, you can use corsair commander mini and adjust spee following gpu temp.

 

[BrotherStein]

Very nice mod.

How does it performa vs original fan?
For speed regulation, you can use corsair commander mini and adjust spee following gpu temp.

Thanks! The sound is night and day. The original fan was shit and super loud. Now it’s super quiet (as expected from a Noctua fan) and I imagine it moves more air as it is slightly bigger too. I was playing with manual speeds according to temp using Gigabyte’s software, but it doesnt seem to be working. I need to test MSI afterburner as well as corsairs. Still it performed well. I don’t have numbers, but gaming it didn’t get above 50c (nothing too intensive though).

 

[MarcParis]

Thanks! The sound is night and day. The original fan was shit and super loud. Now it’s super quiet (as expected from a Noctua fan) and I imagine it moves more air as it is slightly bigger too. I was playing with manual speeds according to temp using Gigabyte’s software, but it doesnt seem to be working. I need to test MSI afterburner as well as corsairs. Still it performed well. I don’t have numbers, but gaming it didn’t get above 50c (nothing too intensive though).

for GPU temp, aim 70°C on load..
Below 50°C you can shut down the fan.

If your motherboard is compatible, you can use speedfan. You can manage fan with gpu temp...and even stop fan completely.

 

[BrotherStein]

for GPU temp, aim 70°C on load..
Below 50°C you can shut down the fan.

If your motherboard is compatible, you can use speedfan. You can manage fan with gpu temp...and even stop fan completely.

Very cool, I’ll check it out! Thanks!

Also, your kitties are adorable! I have a part Maine Coon who looks very similar. Cheers!

 

[MarcParis]

Very cool, I’ll check it out! Thanks!

Also, your kitties are adorable! I have a part Maine Coon who looks very similar. Cheers!

Good luck..
Thanks for my cats..

 

[BrotherStein]

Quick update!

I was sick of seeing the zip ties (decided not to attach the shroud back on), so I tracked down some heatsink fan wire "clips". Honestly, I had trouble finding these not on Taobao.com. However, I picked up a ID-Cooling IS-40 cooler, and pulled the clips from that fan. I'll probably end up using that cooler for a small build I have coming up.

This side fit PERFECTLY!:

Angle from the bottom:

The side closest to the IO was a little more difficult. I had to bend quite a bit to get it to fit, BUT it is nice and snug:

Top view:

NEXT STEP: Now that I have a soldering iron, I'm going to cut, shorten, and solder the wires for the fan so it looks a little cleaner.

 

[MarcParis]

that's becoming a beautiful mod..

 

[BrotherStein]

that's becoming a beautiful mod..

Thanks @MarcParis I hope to pick up one of those all black Noctua fans, but the tan will do for now

 

[hellduck]

It switch to EVGA style , Nice work !