Thermalright's new VGA cooler, the HR-03

Mats · Post by **Mats** » Tue Oct 10, 2006 6:42 am

Bobfantastic wrote:If you're that short of slots on your motherboard, you might need to reconsider using two graphics cards, each with a massive cooler, anyway.

I think you're missing my point. It's not really difficult being "that short of slots" when running two graphics cards.
One good example is this motherboard. If you put the lower cooler facing down you'll simply end up with no PCI slots at all (which is obvious from the third pic in the thread). Now we all know that there are lots of expansion cards that aren't available as PCIe cards yet. It would be too bad if I couldn't get it just because Thermalright didn't make any room for the bridge.

Byt yeah, it's all just speculation for now.

Mats · Post by **Mats** » Tue Oct 10, 2006 6:48 am

Poodle wrote:Well it's the best performer I've had. In my case it's in passive mode and beats the Vm-102, but the enviroment might not have been the same at the two tests.

Poodle: I guess you have bridge lying somewhere for that 7900 GT... Is there actually no space for the SLI bridge like I'm suspecting, eller Ã¤r jag ute och cyklar?

Poodle · Post by **Poodle** » Tue Oct 10, 2006 8:02 am

Mats wrote:
Poodle wrote:Well it's the best performer I've had. In my case it's in passive mode and beats the Vm-102, but the enviroment might not have been the same at the two tests.
Poodle: I guess you have bridge lying somewhere for that 7900 GT... Is there actually no space for the SLI bridge like I'm suspecting, eller Ã¤r jag ute och cyklar?

I think you are onto something. My conlusion is that you have to have the cooler above the the top card and the cooler hangin underneath the bottom card in a SLI config. But I don't see why this would be a general problem other than i some setups. That's just how life is like, isn't it?

I'm quite sure that the fins would be in the way otherwise if that will answer your question. SÃ¥ du va inte ute och cyklade.

Tzupy · Post by **Tzupy** » Tue Oct 10, 2006 8:16 am

In a SLI configuration with the lower card's cooler facing up or down it wouldn't work well because of lack of airflow.
If you have a strong negative case pressure (no front fans) and open several PCI slots, then it should work reasonably well.
IMO the lower card should have the cooler facing down and a low speed 92 mm fan too.

Poodle · Post by **Poodle** » Tue Oct 10, 2006 8:21 am

Tzupy wrote:In a SLI configuration with the lower card's cooler facing up or down it wouldn't work well because of lack of airflow.
If you have a strong negative case pressure (no front fans) and open several PCI slots, then it should work reasonably well.
IMO the lower card should have the cooler facing down and a low speed 92 mm fan too.

From my experience on SLi (I've had two setups) I've learned that the lower card doesn't get much work to do and due to the lack of load stays MUCH cooler (<20 degrees C.) than the top card (it isn't a perfect technology, now is it?). So no worries guys.

It is the top card that you should worry about which is getting the heat from the bottom card in a non ducted setup. Unless Nvidia comes up with a new technology that harness the full capacity of the cards which gives 200% perfomance over one card, cooling the lower card is childsplay even with poor airflow and the pressure of your chose.

Mats · Post by **Mats** » Wed Oct 11, 2006 8:01 pm

Poodle wrote:From my experience on SLi (I've had two setups) I've learned that the lower card doesn't get much work to do and due to the lack of load stays MUCH cooler (<20 degrees C.) than the top card (it isn't a perfect technology, now is it?). So no worries guys.

It is the top card that you should worry about which is getting the heat from the bottom card in a non ducted setup. Unless Nvidia comes up with a new technology that harness the full capacity of the cards which gives 200% perfomance over one card, cooling the lower card is childsplay even with poor airflow and the pressure of your chose.

I guess then that it should be the opposite with ATI CF, the lower card gets hotter.

Bungee · Post by **Bungee** » Thu Oct 12, 2006 11:05 am

This looks like a good cooler for my 7600GT instead of that noisy VF900.

Has anyone found reviews, or is there someone in this forum who has some temperatures to share ?

Thanks.

Mr. Tinker · Post by **Mr. Tinker** » Thu Oct 12, 2006 11:53 am

If anyone mounts this on a 7800gtx or card with similar dimensions, please post pics. I'm interested in clearance issues, particularly in a NSK2400.

OR - Can anyone with the cooler answer whether the position of the heatpipes through the block is adjustable (can it slide in and out)?

AND - how does it manage to mount both ways? Is the block double sided, or does it need to be flipped on the pipes?

rpsgc · Post by **rpsgc** » Thu Oct 12, 2006 11:57 am

Bungee wrote:This looks like a good cooler for my 7600GT instead of that noisy VF900.

Has anyone found reviews, or is there someone in this forum who has some temperatures to share ?

Thanks.

Thermalright's numbers, so take them with a grain of salt

Bungee · Post by **Bungee** » Thu Oct 12, 2006 12:12 pm

rpsgc wrote:
Bungee wrote:This looks like a good cooler for my 7600GT instead of that noisy VF900.

Has anyone found reviews, or is there someone in this forum who has some temperatures to share ?

Thanks.
Thermalright's numbers, so take them with a grain of salt

Yes, I have seen those numbers, and I have taken them with a lot of salt. So I was hoping someone from SPCR had some temperatures, so I could be sure this pricey cooler was worth it.

Just found the following pre-review, but I'm not sure which card they used and if they used a fan

http://www.ocxtreme.org/joomla/images/r ... r03xls.jpg

Tephras · Post by **Tephras** » Thu Oct 12, 2006 12:44 pm

Mr. Tinker wrote:how does it manage to mount both ways? Is the block double sided, or does it need to be flipped on the pipes?

It is double sided.

MamiyaOtaru · Post by **MamiyaOtaru** » Fri Oct 13, 2006 3:13 am

Bungee wrote:
Just found the following pre-review, but I'm not sure which card they used and if they used a fan

http://www.ocxtreme.org/joomla/images/r ... r03xls.jpg

From the other pictures in the same directory, such as this, it looks like they used a fan

this might help you pin down the card. It's an ATI anyway.

Or you could go up another directory, and find the full article, wherein they seem to be using an nVidia cooler lol (the ATI, now identified as an x1950xtx is on the next page).

The link to the third page is broken, so here it is. Fourth page still seems to be missing.

Good job finding that chart, all that article was rather useless without it. More screenshots of 3d mark and temperature apps here.

WR304 · Post by **WR304** » Fri Oct 13, 2006 8:00 am

My Thermalright HR-03 turned up today.

It's fitted to a MSI GF7900GTX.

It's surprisingly easy to fit (especially compared to other coolers such as the Thermaltake Schooner or Zalman ZM80D-HP): The hardest part is preparing the base of the heatsink because it's recessed under the fins.

I didn't use the rubber spacer for the GPU core.

It looked like it could work passively as there is a large gap between the CPU and PCI-Express sockets on the P5W DH Deluxe motherboard. This meant that the vanes could be mounted above the graphics card and would be cooled by the rear exhaust.

It's been running ok for a few hours now. When I turned it on the GPU temp climbed to 49c but actually fell back to 47-48c when I put the side of the case on. This means it's being cooled by the rear fan.

I haven't had a chance to try it with any games yet.

There's a few other changes in this pic compared to my earlier ones: Closing off the PCI slot above the graphics card encourages more air to pass through the exhaust fan.

PC with Thermalright HR-03 GPU heatsink fitted.

Idle temperatures 13 October 2006 Room temperature is 19c

Some pics of the Thermalright HR-03 fitted to a MSI GF7900GTX card

Upper View of Heatsink

Bottom of Heatsink Showing Thumbscrews and Retainer

Side View Showing Clearance from Card

Tzupy · Post by **Tzupy** » Fri Oct 13, 2006 8:49 am

You are a courageous fellow, I wouldn't dare to put it fanless on my 7900 GTX (I am thinking about a 1,150 rpm Papst fan ).
My idle temps with the stock cooler are 42C right now, and under load I suppose upto 65C - temps drop quickly by ~10C after exiting a game.
Where did you get it from in the UK? I saw it available only in Germany and Poland - not yet in my country.
Quite important: what's the rpm of your back case fan? It seems to be a Solo, so if you are using the Tricool on low, that's not so quiet.
Quoting: 'more air to pass through the exhaust fan' ??? The point here is to have more air passing through the HR-03's fins.
Oh, and how hot is the voltage regulator getting? There's no more airflow over its heatsink, so I suppose it could get quite hot.

WR304 · Post by **WR304** » Fri Oct 13, 2006 9:19 am

The exhaust fan is a Scythe S-Flex SFF21D 800rpm fan fitted with softmounts.

It's a lot quieter than a Antec tricool.

http://www.scythe-usa.com/product/acc/0 ... etail.html

The extra blanking plate was because there didn't seem to be much air passing through the fan. With the extra plate it should improve the performance of the fan by reducing other paths for the air to escape.

It seems to help.

With the stock cooler the card idled at 39-40c so a 9c increase seems ok.

I ordered it from pccooling.de in Germany.

Tzupy · Post by **Tzupy** » Fri Oct 13, 2006 10:17 am

Thanks for the info. Just 800 rpm and good temps, that's impressive.
But why aren't you using fan control, like in 700 rpm for 2D and 1,000 rpm for 3D (with a different fan, of course)?
Have you tried to cover the back-bottom case intake and see what difference it makes to temps (maybe all front to back airflow would be better)?

WR304 · Post by **WR304** » Mon Oct 16, 2006 1:55 am

I tried it with a few games over the weekend.

The load temperatures after 2-3 hours were in the 75-80c range which seems reasonable.

The temperatures dropped fairly quickly after quitting also.

It is mid October though.

You could probably get it hotter with some intensive benchmarking but it seems fine for real world use.

Bungee · Post by **Bungee** » Fri Oct 20, 2006 9:50 am

Finally got the HR-03 today, and used a lot of time to make a good installation, only to find out that my GPU reached 110C after 2 minutes.

I did not have a metal bracket around my GPU, so I used the silicon frame supplied by Thermalright, but I guess it causes no contact between GPU and heatsink base.

What will happen if I remove the silicon frame, could I break the core ?

Mr. Tinker · Post by **Mr. Tinker** » Fri Oct 20, 2006 12:49 pm

Check your thermal compound to see if you made good contact. That should tell you.

What card are you using?

Bungee · Post by **Bungee** » Fri Oct 20, 2006 12:59 pm

It's an EVGA 7600GT.

Once I disassemble the cooler again, I'll see what it looks like, but I cannot see any other reason for the high temperature.

rpsgc · Post by **rpsgc** » Mon Oct 23, 2006 1:17 am

HR-03 review VS Accelero X1 and VF-900

Tzupy · Post by **Tzupy** » Mon Oct 23, 2006 2:34 am

Unfortunately they ruined the HR-03's review because of the high speed fan. Since the fan is easy to replace, they should have tested with two different fans.
IMO if the HR-03 was 11C lower than the VF-900 at load, for 3 db more noise, when tested with a lower speed fan it still would be better.

kater · Post by **kater** » Mon Oct 23, 2006 5:43 am

bungee - looks like the contact is v poor. getting rid of the bracket should not damage the gpu. a schooner on my 7600gt makes perfect contact and the core is mint too, even tho i fastened the heatsink w little respect

no, really - if you don't go mad with the screws (i assume there are screws just like in 95% other heatsinks) this won't ruin the die. make sure then not to use too much paste. to check if you've screwed the hr-03 fast enough try to v gently (i mean gently) touch it to see if it moves hmmm sideways or just like you would unscrew a bottle cap (know what i mean?), in one level - that way you won't chip the chip

and you'll be able to see if the whole assembly is tight (sorry for a v unscientific description - but it works for me!)

temps for my schoonered and OCed 7600gt (630/830 tho it can go a wee higher still!) are 63/74 - and that in a not-so-perfectly ventilated case

when installing a hr-05 on my nb i also tried to used the bracket supplied with the cooler but got rid of it as it produced a large gap between the chip and the base of teh heatsink (i just checked out of curiosity)

WR304 · Post by **WR304** » Tue Oct 24, 2006 3:31 am

I didn't use the rubber spacer for the GPU core.

The four point mounting seemed secure enough without it.

One thing to be careful of is to tighten the screws in the backplate thoroughly: If you don't they thread themselves back out when you fit the main thumbscrews.

When you do the four thumbscrews go round them in order progressively tightening them by just a single turn at a time. That way you'll avoid putting too much pressure on one side of the GPU core.

@bungee: Have you got the fins underneath or above the card? The HR-03 is unlikely to work that well passively with the fins beneath the card.

Poodle · Post by **Poodle** » Tue Oct 24, 2006 10:09 pm

WR304 wrote:I didn't use the rubber spacer for the GPU core.

The four point mounting seemed secure enough without it.

One thing to be careful of is to tighten the screws in the backplate thoroughly: If you don't they thread themselves back out when you fit the main thumbscrews.

When you do the four thumbscrews go round them in order progressively tightening them by just a single turn at a time. That way you'll avoid putting too much pressure on one side of the GPU core.

@bungee: Have you got the fins underneath or above the card? The HR-03 is unlikely to work that well passively with the fins beneath the card.

I didn't use the spacer either. I put duct tape around the core though.

WR304 · Post by **WR304** » Thu Oct 26, 2006 2:51 am

Unfortunately the Thermalright HR-03 GPU cooler doesn't seem to be performing as well with the 7900GTX as I'd hoped.

It's fine for 2D mode and games that aren't too graphically intensive.

We were playing Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter co-op on the LAN yesterday however.

There weren't any noticeable gameplay issues but the card temperature was going over 100c.

GF7900GTX with Thermalright HR-03 playing GR Advanced Warfighter

It looks like it's a choice between putting a fan on the HR-03 or trying yet another cooler.

Noni · Post by **Noni** » Thu Oct 26, 2006 4:41 am

Put a Nexus between the HR-03 and ninja at 5V

WR304 · Post by **WR304** » Thu Oct 26, 2006 11:44 am

There's not a great deal of clearance so I've temporarily put a 80mm Acoustifan Dustproof running at 5v on top of the heatsink.

It's got some rubber spacers under the fan to make it more secure.

With the fan added the graphics card temperatures were about the same as with the stock cooler: 40c at idle and 65c-70c approx under load playing Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter.

The whole point was to try and get it down to a fanless card though.

GF7900GTX with Thermalright HR-03 & 80mm fan at 5v playing GR Advanced Warfighter

Noni · Post by **Noni** » Thu Oct 26, 2006 12:41 pm

Where the 80mm fan is I would put a 120mm Yate Loon or slimilar at 5V.

How about letting the fan start up when the card reaches a certain temp?

WR304 · Post by **WR304** » Thu Oct 26, 2006 2:59 pm

Here's mkII.

I haven't got any quiet 120mm fans spare at the moment.

The fan isn't touching either heatsink.

It's actually quite a tight fit as well. The Thermalright heatsink is ridged so there's surprisingly little clearance.