Hello, I am attempting to remove the stock fans to replace with 2 noctua fans to see if I get better temperatures and the card running cooler. I have managed to remove the 2 fans but the frame they attach to is still there and was wondering if there is a proper way to remove it as I dont want to permanently damage the card by cutting them off. (You can see the frame im talking about in the attached pictures, more visble here )
Thank you.

Posts like this,  , they just say about lower temperatures but I am also hoping for lower temperatures.
 
I have just tried to fit the 2 fans to the card and don't actually thing I will need to modify the card to mount them as they fit around the existing mounting points.
 
Tomorrow I will hopefully have time to test this out. If temps or noise are worse then I will revert to the original.

i know this is a while ago but did you have any luck decreasing temps by swapping out the stock fans for noctua? what size noctua fans did you end up using?