Heat issues and CoolViva on my HIS 9600XT

[3DGuy]

Hello,

I'm having 60C++ on full load and 50++C idle on my HIS 9600XT which is higher compared to before, 35-40C idle and 40C++ on full load. When I reach at 65C++ my computer either hangs up or restarts immediately, I've tried to think up a temporary solution (open case with large fan blowing in it), seems to work well but I don't want to stick to this kind of solution.

I have been trying to solve my overheating problem past month and I've decided to buy a better cooler for my HIS 9600XT. I tried to search for a good cooler and only found Coolermaster CoolViva which is relatively cheap (and hopefully effective).

Since my HIS 9600XT only has a little fansink (called iCooler), a larger cooler would probably be much more effective. Since my video card also has a built-in bridged ramsinks on the front and unbridged ramsinks at the back, would it be possible to fit in the CoolViva?

I've seen reviews that it is compatible with ramsinks on the front of the card but may cause problems if you also have ramsinks at the back of the card.

Anyone who has first-hand experience here tell me if it does indeed fit? Also on the mainboard, would it fit on a nForce2 chipset? (cooler may collide with the mobo-chipset passive heatsink).

Also, could the overheating problem be the cause of bad fansink placement? Because its been almost 2 years since I owned this card and when I touched at the fansink, it wasn't steady like it was before, it twitched on the other side when I pushed it a few times as if it was not glued on the gpu. I have no idea whether the thermal paste in the gpu isnt that "fresh" anymore, or could it also be a loose screw? Please help/suggest.

Thank you.

Referrence/Pictures:

HIS 9600XT Front 1 - http://www.guru3d.com/admin/imageview.php?image=2372
HIS 9600XT Back 1 - http://www.guru3d.com/admin/imageview.php?image=2371
HIS 9600XT Front 2 - http://www.guru3d.com/admin/imageview.php?image=2369
HIS 9600XT Back 2 - http://www.guru3d.com/admin/imageview.php?image=2367

[ukulele]

Pull the fan, clean it, lube the bearing if you can and reinstall it with thermal tape or paste. If it feels loose it won't work right. How's your case fan arrangement? Is the air flow blocked by cables or other cards? Sometimes just moving PCI cards can help a lot. A little service once in a while will go a long way towards keep your cool.