4870 cooler advice.

Copyright · Post by **Copyright** » Tue Jul 01, 2008 10:36 am

Just picked up a 4870 and it runs HOT... real HOT. About 76C at idle and 85C under load. I realize they are meant to be ran this hot but I personally dont like it and when I start to OC it will just become worse. I did play with fan speed settings but its LOUD. So I am about to order the Thermalright HR-03GT which I have seen installed on a 4870 and then the Nexus 19db 92mm fan. Is this a good combo? The S1 wont fit in my case because of the side fan im running. Thanks for any advice.

blackworx · Post by **blackworx** » Tue Jul 01, 2008 11:01 am

**ignore me - would have helped if i read the op properly**

thejamppa · Post by **thejamppa** » Tue Jul 01, 2008 11:37 am

OC'ed HD 2900 pro ( OC'ed into 2900 XT+ ) draws juices like HD 4870. HD 2900-series was know from being HOT chip. With Thermalright 6 pipe cooler for RV 600 ( practically same with HR 03 GT ) + Nexus brought down Idle temps from high low 60's into low 40's. and load temps from high 70's / low 80's into somewhere 60's. And the fan was much louder in HD 2900 than in HD 4870 albei they look very alike. When I gamed with HD 2900 pro with stock cooler, I could have grilled saucage in back went and it sounded like F/A-18 was about take off...

So I'd say HR-03 GT + Nexus is better choice than stock cooler. Ok, its expensive but it will work.

Luminair · Post by **Luminair** » Tue Jul 01, 2008 6:16 pm

I see three options: S1 for a front side cooler, HR03 for a back side cooler, or a cleaned off stock cooler with new thermal paste.

Copyright · Post by **Copyright** » Wed Jul 02, 2008 9:23 am

Well the S1 wont fit becuase of a side fan. I ordered the HR-03 GT with a scythe Kama-flex 92mm Low speed fan. I wanted to try out these newer FDB 92mm fans and see how they are. Ive read some good reviews on them so far.

lethul · Post by **lethul** » Wed Jul 02, 2008 12:24 pm

Copyright wrote:Well the S1 wont fit becuase of a side fan. I ordered the HR-03 GT with a scythe Kama-flex 92mm Low speed fan. I wanted to try out these newer FDB 92mm fans and see how they are. Ive read some good reviews on them so far.

Can't you get a S1 and bend it?

Pics taken from viewtopic.php?t=46721&highlight=accelero++bend

Copyright · Post by **Copyright** » Wed Jul 02, 2008 12:47 pm

I would be bending mine down which im not sure is a good thing. My board is mounted upside down. The Thermalright will fit fine and look good

greybard · Post by **greybard** » Sun Jul 27, 2008 10:28 am

I also just bought two Sapphire 4870s.

They do run HOT and I would also like to install aftermarket coolers.

And good one that like the stock coolers dump the heat out the back of the case.

The temp has risen so much in my case that my CPU is reporting 10C higher temps than when I had an 8800GTS in there!

Price isn't an issue, just want cooler and quieter!

THANKS!

GB

thejamppa · Post by **thejamppa** » Sun Jul 27, 2008 1:00 pm

We probably see soon AC bringing new revision with their Accelero Extreme suited for HD 4870. 5 heatpipes and 3 quiet 80mm fans. That seems to be only one capable cooling HD 4870 adequatly since it was targeted for HD 2900 XT's and 8800 GTX's and Ultra's...

Copyright · Post by **Copyright** » Mon Jul 28, 2008 3:54 pm

I saw AC has the twin turbo that is coming out for the 4870 that looks nice. I got the HR-03Gt on mine and it runs VERY cool and I also installed an Antec spot cooler that is mounted over the VRM's because they get very hot. I have managed to get the card up to 865/1100 stable with this setup.

Rehto · Post by **Rehto** » Thu Jul 31, 2008 2:39 pm

Accelero S1 in passive wasn't enough so I ziptied a 120mm noctua fan on top of the thing. Temps are now 45 idle 55 under heavy load; cool enough for me. The only thing that's negative is that the S1 blocks the CrossFire connectors

but I'd need a new PSU for that anyways, or is 520W enough?

nici · Post by **nici** » Sat Aug 30, 2008 12:32 am

I put a Coolink GFXChilla on my 4870 because the Accelero S1 is out of stock everywhere, anyway itÂ´s quiet enough for my HTPC and cools the core just fine(not spectacularly supergreat fantastic mind you) but the VRMs are a real problem.

Stock cooler keeps them at about 95Â°C(which is still bloody high), but even with the included heatsinks with quite sticky 3M tape and a 120mm fan blowing over the card they go over 120Â°C and the card shuts down, which is unfortunate. I even disassembled the stock cooler and tried to just mount the big red plate bit of it, but it doesn't fit under the cooler where the heatpipes are(same place as accelero). So im back to the stock cooler for now and therefore had to remove the coolink momery heatsinks also..

So what next?

Suosaaski · Post by **Suosaaski** » Sat Aug 30, 2008 3:11 am

I just hope Zalman would release one of these for the HD4870:
http://www.zalman.co.kr/ENG/product/Pro ... sp?idx=189

That would most likely solve the VRM issues and would offer a lot better memory cooling too. And would me more trustworthy than just sticker mounted cooling for VRMs...

nici · Post by **nici** » Sat Aug 30, 2008 3:37 am

That's basically the same thing as just using the stock coolers VRM / Memory cooling plate, except it owuld look nicer. I assume it's not removable on the stock nVidia heatsink? You can easily separate it form the rest of the cooler on the 4870, it's just a few screws. Though if Zalman did make that and it was reasonably priced i would buy one of those for the 4870.

Vaiski · Post by **Vaiski** » Thu Sep 04, 2008 6:06 am

Is there enough space on S1 for 2 120mm fans? I'm thinking about 4870 + S1 with 2x 120mm slipstreams, should cool both the core and power regulator.

nici · Post by **nici** » Thu Sep 04, 2008 6:17 am

The S1 is 215mm long. You can put two fans on it but you will have some overlap. I would say it's overkill though.

rpsgc · Post by **rpsgc** » Wed Sep 17, 2008 7:31 am

Hello,

Sorry to hijack the thread but I would like to know if it would be possible to use this pwm fan, tested by spcr, connected directly to the HD4870 fan header and use it with an Accelero.

Thanks.

thejamppa · Post by **thejamppa** » Wed Sep 17, 2008 8:11 am

rpsgc wrote:Hello,

Sorry to hijack the thread but I would like to know if it would be possible to use this pwm fan, tested by spcr, connected directly to the HD4870 fan header and use it with an Accelero.

Thanks.

Its doable, but considering what is default fan % in Bios, it probably won't spin unless fan profile is changed since starting voltage is for that articular fan bit over 7v which is quite a lot... 1600 rpm S-flex has around 4v starting voltage in comparision.

Tzupy · Post by **Tzupy** » Wed Sep 17, 2008 8:28 am

AFAIK a PWM fan is usually fed 12V and the rpm is controlled by the PWM.
The reason SPCR didn't test that fan with a PWM controller is, quoting:
'We do not have a standard PWM fan speed controller for use in the lab'.
I also am interested in PWM fan on gfx heatsink, connected to the gfx card header.
But I believe the problem is that the PWM connectors aren't the same size, at least AFAIK. Can anyone confirm or not this?

rpsgc · Post by **rpsgc** » Wed Sep 17, 2008 10:16 am

thejamppa wrote:Its doable, but considering what is default fan % in Bios, it probably won't spin unless fan profile is changed since starting voltage is for that articular fan bit over 7v which is quite a lot... 1600 rpm S-flex has around 4v starting voltage in comparision.

I was thinking of changing the fanspeed with Riva Tuner and set it at 0% or whatnot (fan stopped) at idle and then increase with load. The starting voltage of 7V still yields <18dBA according to spcr so I think I'm good.

Tzupy wrote:But I believe the problem is that the PWM connectors aren't the same size, at least AFAIK. Can anyone confirm or not this?

Bugger

It's too bad spcr didn't provide a picture of its connector.

Maybe MikeC could shed some light on this, pretty please?

EDIT: I've found a pic of this fan's connector (thanks newegg!

)

vs

So it's true... the connectors are different :/ bummer.

thejamppa · Post by **thejamppa** » Wed Sep 17, 2008 8:09 pm

its still doable via soldering. Just cut the wires off, leave enough long wires for the PCB header and then just solder color into color. Its doable but requires quite a lot tinkering.

rpsgc · Post by **rpsgc** » Thu Sep 18, 2008 12:03 pm

thejamppa wrote:its still doable via soldering. Just cut the wires off, leave enough long wires for the PCB header and then just solder color into color. Its doable but requires quite a lot tinkering.

Too much work for little benefit. Might as well just use a regular fan with a fanmate or connected to the motherboard.