Slim Noctua GPU Fan Swap

vcashmo

Minimal Tinkerer
Original poster
Jan 3, 2019
3
2
Hey everyone,

I just impulse bought a Ghost S1 from a 1st shipment buyer, and now I'm realizing my current GPU (Asus Cerberus 1070ti) is too thick to fit. Im thinking of swapping out the shroud for 2x Noctua 120 or 92mm fans just ziptied to the heatsink. Not 100% if it will fit or if thermals will be any good though, was wondering if anyone had done a similar mod in the past and if they had any advice/results? I've seen the Linus Tech Tips video which was promising, but he used the full fat 120x25mm fans which wont fit for me.

Thanks
 
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tinyitx

Shrink Ray Wielder
Jan 25, 2018
2,279
2,338
Ghost S1 accommodates dual slot card, which is technically 2 x 20.32 = 40.64mm width. And there should be just some tiny bit more clearance between the card and the side panel.

Asus Cerberus 1070Ti is 51.1mm width. So, you need to shave off 51.1 - 40.6 = 10.5mm.
The fans of a Cerberus 1070Ti is 92x92x25mm and so if you change to A9x14, you will have 11mm more. So, it should work.
And, since there should be some clearance between the card and the side panel and now that the fans will rest on the heatsink fans, I bet A12x15 should also just fit in. But, being too close might cause turbulence and noise.
And, whether such a change can keep the thermal down, that is another matter.
 

Reldey

Master of Cramming
Feb 14, 2017
387
405
I have done this in the S4Mini and the DanCase A4, both of which I believe have less space than the ghost.
 

CountNoctua

(no relation)
Jul 11, 2019
214
263
I'm guessing it went well if it fit. Zip tying fans works better than you would think, mainly because the small fans on GPUs generally aren't very good. I've done so in the past on mining cards, and any decent 120mm (even slim) does great, especially if you use some TIM on the die in conjunction.

The big downside is obviously it isn't as elegant as stock cooler or aftermarket coolers that you can buy, but it's a cheap fix and works well enough.
 
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