I was thinking getting Sapphire Vapor X 7770 to replace my 4670 and allow me to play Witcher 2 with acceptable frame rate and more bells and/or whistles. But do you think the PCB of the card will get bent over time?

Since it is 7770, the PCB isn't overly long, but that heat sink is very large as it must accomodate a vapour chamber and dual fans. So I'm a little worried.

Vapour cooling and full displayport and nice looks are nice, but I was thinking maybe it was better just to get the non Vapour X version as the heat sink is smaller (but still very effective) and less weight on the PCB. What do you think?

No, unless you're frequently moving the thing in the back of your pickup truck you have nothing to worry about. Let me tell you about the chincy way the original Celerons fit on the motherboard...

Not really if you have both screws in where it slots at the back of the case... also more heat is more likely to cause warp on some components so a better cooling system is always advisable. (Remember to regularly blow it out with compressed air too because these things can get horrible chunks of dust in which leads to overheating.)

If you can afford a cheap air compressor and have a place to put it I prefer that to compressed air (which will chill the components if you're not careful, and it's best to only use it when the computer has been off and the components are already cool).

Now an air compressor carries its own set of problems, you don't want to connect the metal nozzle to your case EVER. You can wrap it in electrical tape if you're worried, but frankly the things have a lot air pressure and you shouldn't need it near your case (in fact you're an idiot if you put it in there and blow 30 PSI at your components from that close), you can blow shit out from 2 feet away... Remember to do it outside, unless you like breathing that shit in as it settles all over your house for the next hour or two:)

Problem?

Never had that happen lol. Interesting solution though. I don't think it's a huge issue though. I had one of the first gen Nvidia 8800's and the thing was stupidly big and very heavy but it never warped on me (in 3 years usage).


One other thing with compressed air... make sure you get one for electrical components as some contain gas which leaves a residue that can be conductive or otherwise damaging (they'll all leave an inital white mark but that's just vapour & will quickly dissipate)

8800 GTS? Am I remembering that model right? I had one of those and I could have fried eggs on the bastard.

Yeah it used to get up to 98c lol. I took it apart after 2 years because I started getting graphical anomalies... thing was swamped in thermal transition paste. Cleaned it up & replaced it and got another 8 months out of it then it died. Kept me warm in winter without the need of any heating though, good excuse to be gaming.

It shouldn't be a problem. Put a plastic wire tie through one of the holes in front if you're worried.