AC Accelero S1 is the BEST cooler for 8800GT / ATI38?0 cards

tdotcbc84 · Post by **tdotcbc84** » Fri Feb 29, 2008 10:29 am

question:

Do I really need to install those L bracket thingys on my S1 ?

Xuestor · Post by **Xuestor** » Fri Feb 29, 2008 11:46 am

Tsorovan wrote:Aaaaaand it's mysteriously not available in Sweden, although their other products have always been easy to find here.

I thought http://www.datorbutiken.com had some copies of it?

zoob · Post by **zoob** » Fri Feb 29, 2008 11:47 am

No you don't, but it'll help keep you from damaging your GPU core when handling the card with the heatsink attached.

FYI on the Radeon HD3850 (likely the 3870 as well), you can use the stock mounting screws+bracket to give even more pressure on the GPU core -- the screws on the S1 and the stock cooler are the same size.

I'll take some pictures once I get home.

doodddoo · Post by **doodddoo** » Sat Mar 01, 2008 9:30 am

I'm thinking of getting this cooler for my old Geforce 6800GT AGP but I was wondering; for those who have the S1, how much clearance is required from the graphics card to the side panel of the case?

From looking at various photos online, the cooler looks pretty huge! my case is a little on the slim side and I'm having doubts whether if it can fit this beast. Here's a rough pic I found online of my case interior [Coolermaster ATC 210C DX1]:

Can someone do a massive favour for me and measure the difference between the top edge of cooler to the top edge of the graphics card??

Many thanks

lemonparty · Post by **lemonparty** » Sat Mar 01, 2008 3:39 pm

This should give a sense of scale: http://www.hardwarezone.com/img/data/nn ... T_3870.jpg

Basically, if your case can house a DVD drive perpendicular to the motherboard (which it does), it's pretty much guaranteed to fit. In the worst case you can easily remove the black plastic bit from the end and shave off a couple of millimeters. It's usually the side-mounted fans, like on Antec 900, that can cause problems and need to be removed for the cooler to fit.

doodddoo · Post by **doodddoo** » Sat Mar 01, 2008 5:28 pm

Thanks for the link lemon : ) I know it seems a little desperate, but I found the dimensions of the S1 on the AC website. Assuming the dimensions include the plastic bits at the top and bottom; and assuming the heatsink is aligned to the bottom of the graphics card (excluding AGP connector), I made a dummy cut-out of it and made conservative estimates of how the S1 would fit. It's going to be VERY close and may even not fit in my rig. So, now I have some new questions to ask!

How easy is it to remove the black plastic at the top of the cooler?

- Is it designed to be detachable?
- How much would I save if I removed it? 1cm? 1.5cm?

I'd still like to know the answer to that clearance question I asked earlier if anyone has a ruler handy! : P

lemonparty · Post by **lemonparty** » Sun Mar 02, 2008 2:14 am

Okay, the cooler reaches 40...42mm over the edge of the video card (8800GT), which is in turn about 5mm wider than the metal strip you screw the card to the case with. Removing the easily detachable plastic bit will shave off a good 8mm or so.

doodddoo · Post by **doodddoo** » Sun Mar 02, 2008 4:53 am

Thanks again for going through the trouble for me lemon. Those measurements are a HUGE help : ) I think I'll take the gamble and buy the S1 along with a 120mm fan.

Kaleid · Post by **Kaleid** » Sun Mar 02, 2008 6:10 pm

Xuestor wrote:
Tsorovan wrote:Aaaaaand it's mysteriously not available in Sweden, although their other products have always been easy to find here.
I thought http://www.datorbutiken.com had some copies of it?

Bought mine through webhallen. Took some three weeks or so to receive it in december but if finally arrived.

Very pleased with it.

Slightly OT but here goes anyway:
Btw, how do I check the VRM temps with a 3870?

roadie · Post by **roadie** » Mon Mar 03, 2008 5:05 am

I bought an Accelero S1 rev2 along with the Turbo Module over the weekend and have installed it on my 3870. Idle temps are slightly lower than with the stock Zalman VF700 cooler but it easily outperforms it when loaded. The GPU temp mirrors that of the CPU temp and I've not yet seen it over 50 degrees.

The S1 is inaudible, even with the 2 1500rpm fans.

I may try remounting the S1 with an old fan bracket from a x1950xtx to see if that gives even better results.

Putki · Post by **Putki** » Thu Mar 06, 2008 3:03 am

I think I should post this message also here in order to get answers:

I ordered this cooler (Rev. 2) and a 120mm Nexus Real Silent for 8800GT. Two 92mm fans would fit there well and 120mm fans also somehow. But I was just wondering does anyone use this with two fans. Is it better to have one blowing air in the middle or two in the edges? For comparision: Accelero S1 Rev. 2 costs 20â‚¬ which is $30.66, Nexus Real Silent 120mm 8.42â‚¬=$12.90 (I bought two of these: one for S1 and one for Ultra-120 eXtreme) and Nexus Real Silent 92mm 7.30â‚¬=$11.20 (I bought one to be put in the front of the case). I also ordered Antec Sonata Plus 550, which is the same case than P150 but with a 550W NeoPower PSU. So it is going to be a silent system. If someone knows is S1 a lot better with 2x92mm fans or 2x120mm fans than with one, it would be nice to know. I could put two (Nexus Real Silents, 92mm or 120mm) on S1 and take TriCool away from the back of the case and put there a Nexus. Thanks.

And Noctua NF-S12 is everywhere around 20â‚¬=$30.70, (Inno3D) 8800GT 512MB (cheapest price in Finland) 169â‚¬=$259, Thermalright Ultra-120 eXtreme (cheapest price in Finland) 45.60â‚¬=$69.90

roadie · Post by **roadie** » Thu Mar 06, 2008 7:41 am

The S1 needs so little airflow to work at its best that I think two of any sized fans is excessive. I went for the Turbo Module because it is thinner than a 120mm fan and the cost was the same.

Conroy · Post by **Conroy** » Thu Mar 06, 2008 8:12 am

I agree
I intended to go with the turbo module as well, but the temps were so much lower than stock even without a fan directly on it that I didn't bother, so I think any single fan directly on the heat sink should be fine.

I did put a nexus 92mm into the bottom intake area of my solo as a compromise.

Putki · Post by **Putki** » Thu Mar 06, 2008 1:30 pm

Thank you for the info guys! Now I don't need to be thinking that should I put an extra fan there for better cooling.

zoob · Post by **zoob** » Sat Mar 22, 2008 9:44 pm

3850 with S1 + stock "backplate"

Swiftech RAM sinks on the voltage regulators. Note the VERY small gap.

Here is the clearance to the regular RAM sinks:

zejeanmi · Post by **zejeanmi** » Wed Mar 26, 2008 5:42 am

Hello,

Do you know if an accelero s1 would fit on a Gigabyte GV-NX88T512HP 8800gt ? (it has a non reference design)

This video card is the cheapest 8800gt here.

Thank you in advance

toki_c · Post by **toki_c** » Wed Mar 26, 2008 7:09 am

zejeanmi wrote:it has a non reference design

Go ahead without a second think. That VGA maybe not a standard design but only for the cooling part. No nVidia parteners' commercialize a "no standard card" with another bord. All the "no standard cards" use the same and unique bord. There's only the cooling system which does change.

So no worries about a no compatible bord. just take the cheapest card over there (well, pay a little attention to the warranty) and get a S1 rev.2 at the same to get the quietest but still powerful VGA.

I use the S1 as a semi passive solution. I just use a Noctua S12 @6V as an intake fan in order to get a proper air flow for the VGA. The result is 15Â°C fewer than the stock cooler.

The Zotac's AMP! Edtion stock cooler was really quiet with a 75mm stock fan. But the card was way too hot with 55-60Â°C at idl and the fan @33%.

KansaKilla · Post by **KansaKilla** » Wed Mar 26, 2008 7:41 am

hey zoob, what did you use to attach those sinks?

toki_c · Post by **toki_c** » Wed Mar 26, 2008 11:19 am

ghettojiggalo wrote:i'd like to see a performance comparsion between the AC S1 passive and w/ turbo module vs. thermalrights hr03 variants and zalmans ridiculously priced all copper vf-1000 to see who is the modern day king of vga cooling =)

No need here... you can find anywhere some figures about it. The HR-03 is a match for the S1 when it comes to passive cooling or using a 120mm fan too.
Do not except to gain anything with a HR-03...

There are two main factors which make the S1 unreachable by the HR-03:
- price: 20$ vs. 50$, the choice is done without a second thought especially with--
- weight: about 200g for a S1 while the HR-03 is almost 500g!

To have the exact figures about weight and price, you can google or whatever you want...

So no surprise about the success of the S1 especially here in spcr's forum...
And yes, a last thing: using the turbo module (for 10$) is a wise thing for those who do not have enough airflow since that dual fan is really quiet (check out spcr's review for more details).

Lastely, there's really NO need to consider the VF-1000 because that thing is far away to be called a quiet vga cooling solution.

mertsag · Post by **mertsag** » Thu Mar 27, 2008 6:05 am

Following the advices of this thread, I just bought a S1 rev2 for my 8800 gt (stock frequencies). I didn't try full load yet, but during normal works, it doesn't get very warm. If during high loads it would turn very hot, I will stick a noctua on it and I think it will be fine...

Scrith · Post by **Scrith** » Fri Mar 28, 2008 1:30 pm

Here's another enthusiastic S1 rev 2 story: my eVGA 8800 GTS 512 used to run around 59C idle and 79C under heavy loads. Now I'm seeing around 35C idle and 45C load temperatures...amazing! I'm using the optional fan module, by the way, though I'm probably going to give it a try without it given how low the temps are.

It really makes you wonder who designed the huge (thick, but not as tall as the S1, of course) stock fan contraption and what they were thinking!

I can also corroborate the finding that the adhesive on the RAM heat sinks is awful...I'm sure they'll fall off someday when I accidentally drop the computer a bit or push it too hard while it is on the ground. Also, the installation instructions are pretty awful.

FartingBob · Post by **FartingBob** » Fri Mar 28, 2008 3:06 pm

I got my S1 rev 2 a few weeks ago, and after properly cleaning the VRAM and applying reasonable pressure for 30 seconds on each heatsink, all of them have stayed on just fine and survived me moving the case around quite a bit. So looks as though they are ok on the rev 2, just make sure you clean the RAM well first and take your time.I have a 500rpm slipstream on and am getting a 15c drop in load temps compared to the stock cooler on my 7900GTO, and have now managed a healthy overclock while keeping the temps and noise much lower than stock.
For the price of the S1 and a fan, this is by far the best way to give your system a graphics boost, providing your card is a good OCer.

mertsag · Post by **mertsag** » Sat Mar 29, 2008 2:56 am

Scrith wrote: I can also corroborate the finding that the adhesive on the RAM heat sinks is awful...I'm sure they'll fall off someday when I accidentally drop the computer a bit or push it too hard while it is on the ground. Also, the installation instructions are pretty awful.

I agree. RAM heatsinks are just ok if you clean the chips very well, but they could probably find something better.
I had others AC coolers and this one is by far the most complicated to install and has the the worst instrutions of all them.

Wedge · Post by **Wedge** » Sat Mar 29, 2008 7:44 am

The price on this thing just went up: Newegg

Engineer · Post by **Engineer** » Sat Mar 29, 2008 1:16 pm

Wedge wrote:The price on this thing just went up: Newegg

Just Froogle it. You can find it cheaper at several places.

mkawa · Post by **mkawa** » Sat Mar 29, 2008 2:35 pm

i've had no problems so far with the s1 rev 2 mem heatsinks. i suspect the TIM is 3m's phase change (?) double sided tape: clean the IC surfaces extremely well (i used proper contact cleaner as solvent, then eraser nub then solvent again) and it will stick fine (the sinks are quite light).

rpsgc · Post by **rpsgc** » Wed Apr 02, 2008 3:21 am

This is terrific. I just bought a S1 rev.2 for my HD3870 and guess what? I don't have the right screwdriver to remove the stock cooler's retention screws!

w00t!

Now what the hell am I suppose to do? Damn tiny screws!

zoob · Post by **zoob** » Wed Apr 02, 2008 7:13 am

KansaKilla wrote:hey zoob, what did you use to attach those sinks?

Stock thermal tape on both types of ram sinks. Cleaned off the RAM surface with Articlean.

rpsgc · Post by **rpsgc** » Thu Apr 03, 2008 3:59 am

OMG my HD3870 looks so beautiful with the S1... the copper (coloured?) heatsinks contrast so beautifully with the Accelero's copper heatpipes and aluminum fins and the black cover of its base

Idle temps
Stock cooler: 47ÂºC
Accelero S1: 33ÂºC (and it's a hot day 23ÂºC)

Load temps
Stock cooler: ~89ÂºC
Accelero S1: 62ÂºC

tutu · Post by **tutu** » Thu Apr 03, 2008 3:01 pm

Is it necessary to replace the RAM sinks? I have ordered a Sapphire 3870 XT 512 but it's not here yet.

AC Accelero S1 is the BEST cooler for 8800GT / ATI38?0 cards

S1 Clearance from Graphics Card?

S1 still an uncertain fit