[mythtv-users] Replacing half height NVidia GT430

Joseph Fry joe at thefrys.com
Mon Sep 10 17:54:13 UTC 2012


>
> I have a small case Acer with an NVidia 9400.  I can only fit half height
> cards in it, so I got an NVidia GT430, with a fan.  It turns out the fan is
> WAY too loud.
>
> Does anybody know where I can get a 1/2 height NVidia card that will do
> VDPAU High Quality?  Fanless? (North America)
>
>
I just installed a Zotac GT440 card that was way too loud as well... after
doing some research I discovered that I could change the minimum fan speed
by editing the bios... and what a huge difference it made.  I first went
from the default of 52 down to 40, but the fan didn't spin... so I upped it
to 44 and am thrilled with the results.  It will spin faster if needed, but
I have never had it spin up under normal frontend loads.

NOTE: if you set it too low, the fan probably won't run until the GPU
reaches a certain temp... problem is that it will cycle the fan on and off
at that temperature.  Best to set the minimum speed to one in which the fan
is running all the time.

NOTE: I doubt the warranty will cover this, though I doubt they would ever
know.

Anyway... you will need a Windows computer and two programs.... nvflash and
NiBiTor  (both free).
1. Put nvflash on a bootable DOS floppy or USB key (I made a freedos usb
with unetbootin)
2. boot your system to dos and run "nvflash --save original.rom" to save
your nvidia bios to a file called original.rom.
3. Open that file in NiBitor on your windows box
4. go to the "Temperatures" tab and change the Fanspeed Min to a lower
value.
5. File>Save Bios to a new file name, like "new.rom"
6. copy new.rom to your bootable usb or floppy.
7. boot system to dos and run "nvflash new.rom" to write the new bios to
the board.

Give it a shot... it was pretty quick and painless and the risks are pretty
low with this minor of a change.
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