*****
Before I start, it's worth mentioning that this isn't an ongoing build per se. It's the steps taken to modify a component, for my build. It's probably been done before, but, I figured it might be cool to some people, and this seemed like the most appropriate space
*****
For my current build, I was looking for a 'mini' GPU which isn't uncommon. But the problem was it had to be one that was extremely shallow, and air cooled. Aside from a few rare expensive cards like the 1070 'katana', I basically realised that this...isn't a thing. Mini cards? They're all just t h i c c. So take a card and put a different cooler on it. Simple enough.
I used a GTX 750 for mock up purposes, because it has the same cooler mounting holes as a 1050 mini. Aside from that, it was super cheap, and could potentially still be used in a lower powered build. So win/win. I looked at various different heatpipe and blower style low-profile coolers, but I ended up just going with the same cooler that I'm using on my CPU a, Silverstone NT-07. I happened to have a spare one, and the metal baseplate and legs are well laid out if you plan to make your own mounting holes!
Here's a comparison of the height saved by using the NT-07 vs the regular cooler and fan, as well as the planned new mounting holes;
After that it was just a case of drilling the mounting holes and tapping them. The latter of which is easier said than done at this scale(m2 screw). I've never done anything so nerve wracking...
A couple of fins on the cooler had to be clipped to avoid clashing with capacitors, afaik on a 1050 a few more will need to be trimmed too, but no more than the ends of 4-6 more. I removed and re-fitted the cooler a few times, just to make sure that I was applying pressure evenly and that the paste was getting good coverage. To my relief, it was all looking pretty spot on.
Admittedly I did have to oval out one of the holes on the pcb with a file. Obviously I wasn't quite accurate enough, but it was well within the 'safe zone' and the traces of the board itself weren't harmed.
The backing plate went on a diet, as did the plastic shroud, being about halved in height. But unfortunately I don't have the pictures of that.
And the final product looks pretty sleek. I will admit, it was a sheer stroke of luck that the fan cut out on the original shroud, exactly matched the diameter of the coolers fin array. In fact, the shroud is actually suspended in place, by the tight fit it has the the edges of the cpu cooler! Although I will find another way to affix it, should it stay on the card.
The other card pictured is a Zotac 3GB GTX 1060, a 2-slot card, roughly the same height as the GTX 750 was prior to modification. It's a good way of portraying the difference, it really is quite hard to portray how sleek the card looks now Sure it's thin, but the fact it's a short pcb kind of exaggerates the effect even more!
I was initially worried that the smaller fan would mean less effective cooling. But unlike the original cast block, being a cpu cooler we benefited from having a copper core, as well as a comparable fin array. So I ran some tests, and with Furmark running on an open bench, ambient around 22*c, the card settled into the mid 50's, with a slightly raised fan curve. It'll definitely take a clever custom curve when it's inside the case, but cooling was not really effected detrimentally like I feared.
*****
Anyway, that's about it, hope it was interesting, thanks for looking
Before I start, it's worth mentioning that this isn't an ongoing build per se. It's the steps taken to modify a component, for my build. It's probably been done before, but, I figured it might be cool to some people, and this seemed like the most appropriate space
*****
For my current build, I was looking for a 'mini' GPU which isn't uncommon. But the problem was it had to be one that was extremely shallow, and air cooled. Aside from a few rare expensive cards like the 1070 'katana', I basically realised that this...isn't a thing. Mini cards? They're all just t h i c c. So take a card and put a different cooler on it. Simple enough.
I used a GTX 750 for mock up purposes, because it has the same cooler mounting holes as a 1050 mini. Aside from that, it was super cheap, and could potentially still be used in a lower powered build. So win/win. I looked at various different heatpipe and blower style low-profile coolers, but I ended up just going with the same cooler that I'm using on my CPU a, Silverstone NT-07. I happened to have a spare one, and the metal baseplate and legs are well laid out if you plan to make your own mounting holes!
Here's a comparison of the height saved by using the NT-07 vs the regular cooler and fan, as well as the planned new mounting holes;
After that it was just a case of drilling the mounting holes and tapping them. The latter of which is easier said than done at this scale(m2 screw). I've never done anything so nerve wracking...
A couple of fins on the cooler had to be clipped to avoid clashing with capacitors, afaik on a 1050 a few more will need to be trimmed too, but no more than the ends of 4-6 more. I removed and re-fitted the cooler a few times, just to make sure that I was applying pressure evenly and that the paste was getting good coverage. To my relief, it was all looking pretty spot on.
Admittedly I did have to oval out one of the holes on the pcb with a file. Obviously I wasn't quite accurate enough, but it was well within the 'safe zone' and the traces of the board itself weren't harmed.
The backing plate went on a diet, as did the plastic shroud, being about halved in height. But unfortunately I don't have the pictures of that.
And the final product looks pretty sleek. I will admit, it was a sheer stroke of luck that the fan cut out on the original shroud, exactly matched the diameter of the coolers fin array. In fact, the shroud is actually suspended in place, by the tight fit it has the the edges of the cpu cooler! Although I will find another way to affix it, should it stay on the card.
The other card pictured is a Zotac 3GB GTX 1060, a 2-slot card, roughly the same height as the GTX 750 was prior to modification. It's a good way of portraying the difference, it really is quite hard to portray how sleek the card looks now
Sure it's thin, but the fact it's a short pcb kind of exaggerates the effect even more!
I was initially worried that the smaller fan would mean less effective cooling. But unlike the original cast block, being a cpu cooler we benefited from having a copper core, as well as a comparable fin array. So I ran some tests, and with Furmark running on an open bench, ambient around 22*c, the card settled into the mid 50's, with a slightly raised fan curve. It'll definitely take a clever custom curve when it's inside the case, but cooling was not really effected detrimentally like I feared.
*****
Anyway, that's about it, hope it was interesting, thanks for looking
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