Accelero S1. Warning

They make noise, too.

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JoeWPgh
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Accelero S1. Warning

Post by JoeWPgh » Tue Sep 04, 2007 10:29 pm

I have an Accelero S1 on a Powercolor x1950 Pro. I have been very pleased with it's performance until yesterday.
The problem is the thermal tape on the memory heatsinks - not the cooler itself. In particular, one specific heatsink at the base of the card.

It is very close to the root of the heatpipe cluster. Check that. It doesn't quite clear the heat pipes. Bumping, or jostling the card can cause this HS to partially dislodge and cook your mem chip. As it's at the bottom of the card, it's invisible unless you pull the card and examine it from the bottom.

My card is still usable, but it's compromised - minor, stray cyan and red pixels even under light use such as surfing to this site.

I'm more than a little annoyed, but I'm not sure what options I have.

~El~Jefe~
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Post by ~El~Jefe~ » Wed Sep 05, 2007 7:06 pm

jeez. that sux. are the stickers that loose?

JoeWPgh
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Post by JoeWPgh » Thu Sep 06, 2007 10:11 am

I think the heat partly loosens the tape's bond, but the real problem is that the heat pipe doesn't clear the one heatsink, so any bump or jostle will pry at it. I was able to install an extra one and offset it just enough to clear, and after 2 days use, the artifacts have mysteriously vanished. I'm happy it's working again, but I'm very tempted to reinstall the heatsinks with a thermal adhesive. Anyway, if you're going to install one of these, keep a sharp eye on the heatsinks.

djkest
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Post by djkest » Sun Sep 23, 2007 5:36 pm

I was very pleased with the performance and quality of my Accelero S1. I mean, $24! and it got rid of one of my big sources of noise. I did have some 'fun' with the thermal tape, but it seems to be 'all good' now. We shall see. Thermal tape is nice since it's "easy" not messy and non-permanent. Thermal adhesive you need to be careful with.

newschool
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Post by newschool » Thu Oct 04, 2007 8:45 pm

What about getting some Zalman heatsinks for ram? The one that came with my VF700 were very solid and doing a great job.

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