selecting correct fan CFM for 7600gs fan

[keakar]

i need to replace a fan on a geforce 7600gs video card that has a square aluminum heatsink with solid corners that is perfect for mounting a silent 60mm case fan onto. i just have no idea how much CFM i need to get good heat transfer. i cant get anyone to tell me any CFM specs on my stock fan or any other stock heatsink fan (freakin lawyers lol). i'm not going to buy a handfull of them, spend countless hours testing each one and throw away the ones i dont need. the generics as well as direct fan replacements have 4,5,6,7.5,etc. cfm sizes in fans. the fan heatsink combos look insuficient for the bigger cards and the list of cards that they claim for compatability are all over the place.

i have a geforce 7600gs with an aluminum heatsink that will let me drill and tap the solid parts in the 4 corners so i can install a 60mm super quiet (10cfm @ 8dbl ) or (14cfm @ 12dbl) or (18cfm @ 16dbl) case fan the same as a cpu heatsink setup. so which is the right size for cooling without overdoing it because i know air needs to move slow enough to provide good heat transfer. i have no clearance issues to deal with.

i had total silence from my computer before this card and now that the noisy fan crapped out i want only mandatory minimum noise levels wherever it wont sacrafice performance. i sleep next to this computer and it stays on all the time so any noise increase is too much noise as far as im concerned.

my system:
p4 3.4ghz 1mb L2 cache @800fsb
2gb pc-3200 ddr400 ram
300gb maxtor hard drive @ 16mb chache
ultra true power 400watt ps
865pe north
iche5 south

im not a gamer but i play some of the games out now but mostly i play older fps
games from the last 5 years or so, no online gaming.

i forgot to mention that my stock one was rated at 20-25dbl.

the heatsink and fan i have is from the bfg card shown here.

http://www.bfgtech.com/7600GS_512.html

i dont think it moves the same air as the high volume blower style most of those cards have but i really cant be sure. what cfm fan size would you recommend? i'm really set on mounting a fan to what i have because bfg has lifetime warranty so buying a new heatsink is not preferable to a warranty replacement with 20dbl fan. my whole goal is a quieter fan so if need be, i'll go up to 120mm fan to get cfm's with a dbl rating in the 10 - 15 range.

 

[KennyT772]

The 7600's heatsink fan moves alot more then 18cfm. I highly suggest getting a 3rd party heatsink such as a vf700, or other silent cooler.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835118116

That cooler is dead silent, will keep your card even cooler than stock, and its only $31 shipped to your door.

 

[keakar]

that is the quietest one i've seen and i even found it at $25 but it puts out 18.5 dbl at the very lowest setting and the fan is not replacable if it fails, besides i forgot to mention that my stock one was rated at 20-25dbl.

the heatsink and fan i have is from the bfg card shown here.

http://www.bfgtech.com/7600GS_512.html

i dont think it moves the same air as the high volume blower style most of those cards have but i really cant be sure. what cfm fan size would you recommend? i'm really set on mounting a fan to what i have because bfg has lifetime warranty so buying a new heatsink is not preferable to a warranty replacement. my whole goal is a quieter fan so if need be i'll go up to 70,80,90, or even120mm fan to get cfm's without the high dbl.

 

[Ketxxx]

The higher the CFM the better. For a 7600 anything that shifts around 30+CFM should be more than sufficient. Depends on the size fan you want to use though. If your stuck with a 60mm size, try to make sure its around 20CFM.