Graphic Blaster TNT

[ArchMagi]

I been reading alot of posts and i was woundering if i should get a extra fan and strap it onto my TNT card. Is the card fine without the fan?

Second,
Which drivers/bios should i use? the ones
from the Blaster CD or Creatives Webpage
or Nvida, its all very confuseing if you ask me.

Thank You for Lissing,

ArchMagi

[Bleeding Edge]

Most of the early releases of the TNT based cards didn't come with a fan (with a exception of a couple manufactures.) The later batches of cards from some of the same manufactures that originally didn't include a fan now do ship their cards with an attached fan. Whether this is do to following their competitor's lead, as a selling point or an actual thermal consideration, is suspect.

Whatever the reasoning, it can only benefit the electronics to keep them cool. Should you get a fan? Yes. Do you need one? I don't know.

I choose to attach one.

The Bios on the card is updated with the manufacture's (Creative) Bios. As to which drivers? That is your choice. Both nVidias' Detonator and Creative's drivers are excellent. There is no reason you can't try them both to help you decide.

[This message has been edited by Bleeding Edge (edited 04-11-99).]

[ArchMagi]

Putting a fan on does make sence
but what type would be best?
also, looking at the space there is betwine
the Card and the other beside it
this dosen't leaev very much room

[Bleeding Edge]

You can use any 486 fan, however, if you want a low profile fan in order not to overlap the PCI slot next to the videocard, look to TennMax's Lasagna.
http://www.tennmax.com/

http://www.isjm.com/tst/heatsink/lasagna.htm

http://www.heatsink-guide.com/apgfx.htm

[ArchMagi]

This might sound like a silly question, but where can i get the lastest Nvidia drivers?

[Bleeding Edge]

http://www.nvidia.com/Home.nsf/htmlmedia/products.html

[gangstawrapper]

A 486 fan is a very good idea for a TnT, especially if you want to overclock it. It should be easy to fine a small one quite cheap. You can use enTechs powerstrip and really get a usefull performance increase out of the card. Factory setting is 90mhz clock and 110mhz Memory for my CL TnT. With the fan I get 115 clock/115 memory no problem. If you aren't interested in raising the performance then you will be fine without a fan though...
As for drivers, I have found that the latest creatives tend to be better than reference nVidia. I got a noticeably decrease in performance when I recently tried to install the Detonator drivers from the nVidia site.

[ArchMagi]

I have 2 extra 3X3 (inch) fans inside my 19" tower
would this be good enough if i wanted to overclock it?

again, thank you for all your repleys

[gangstawrapper]

Not really Arch, at least not for any real overclocking since you really need to be directing the air at the proc/heatsink. It might help overclock a bit though but I wouldn't advise it for stability