So I had the same problem with my XFX 7950( 3months old). I contacted XFX support and they offered to send me a replacement fan to do myself or send it in for them to do it. If I f-up doing myself, warranty is voided. They stated its easy, just need phillips and thermal paste. Im pretty good with tinkering in electronics. Any advice on which route to take? Can I seriously f-up this unit by just replacing the cooler? Any advice would be appreciated.
It's pretty hard to screw up a HSF install. I have been building PCs for 16+ years, though, so I'm a bit biased. Thermal paste + a screwdriver set is usually all you need, along with some isopropyl alcohol to clean off the contact surfaces. Google HSF install and I'm sure you'll find plenty examples of how they are done (it may not be on a GPU, but the concept/method is the same as a CPU).