Still no decent aftermarket cooler for the Radeon 5870?

They make noise, too.

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wasserware
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Still no decent aftermarket cooler for the Radeon 5870?

Post by wasserware » Sun Jul 04, 2010 9:02 am

It seems there are still no decent aftermarket cooler for the Radeon 5870 that can cool both the core and VRM properly? Of all the reviews I read, all of the third party coolers have trouble keeping the VRM cool enough :(

faugusztin
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Post by faugusztin » Sun Jul 04, 2010 9:25 am

And why is that a problem, why do you need all-in-one package ? Get a VRM-R3/R4/R5 for VRM area and Prolimatech MK-13 for GPU and RAM. Of course, it won't be cheap - but why do you need it in one package ?

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Re: Still no decent aftermarket cooler for the Radeon 5870?

Post by rpsgc » Sun Jul 04, 2010 11:22 am

wasserware wrote:It seems there are still no decent aftermarket cooler for the Radeon 5870 that can cool both the core and VRM properly? Of all the reviews I read, all of the third party coolers have trouble keeping the VRM cool enough :(
Zalman VF3000A

faugusztin
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Post by faugusztin » Sun Jul 04, 2010 12:03 pm

If you mean that small red thingy in pictures, then yeah, that is the VRM cooler and hell no, it won't be able to cool down HD5850 VRM area.

rpsgc
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Post by rpsgc » Sun Jul 04, 2010 12:20 pm

faugusztin wrote:If you mean that small red thingy in pictures, then yeah, that is the VRM cooler and hell no, it won't be able to cool down HD5850 VRM area.
???

Zalman VF3000A


I have plenty of user reviews in forums that prove the opposite.

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Post by frostedflakes » Sun Jul 04, 2010 1:07 pm


Tenoq
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Post by Tenoq » Sun Jul 04, 2010 10:52 pm

rpsgc wrote:
faugusztin wrote:If you mean that small red thingy in pictures, then yeah, that is the VRM cooler and hell no, it won't be able to cool down HD5850 VRM area.
???

Zalman VF3000A


I have plenty of user reviews in forums that prove the opposite.
Agreed. Although I'm not using the actual VRM heatsink shipped with the VF3000A, it is fairly decent in size and benefits from direct airflow from the fan directly above it.

On the lowest setting (via the Fanmate) the VF3000A isn't too loud either.

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Post by faugusztin » Mon Jul 05, 2010 12:13 am

Tenoq wrote:Agreed. Although I'm not using the actual VRM heatsink shipped with the VF3000A, it is fairly decent in size and benefits from direct airflow from the fan directly above it.

On the lowest setting (via the Fanmate) the VF3000A isn't too loud either.
Let's see : http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/sho ... p?t=252982

Sorry, but two 9,2cm fans at 1300RPM or 2500RPM won't be silent. What is the point of aftermarket cooler if it isn't a lot more silent than the stock cooler ? And with 800RPM those fans would probably fail to provide enough airflow to the cooler and VRM heatsink at same time.

Try to explain that the Prolimatech MK-13 VRM cooler, which is bigger than the Zalman one can't reach such low temps :
http://www.legionhardware.com/pic.php?i ... age_02.jpg
http://www.legionhardware.com/articles_ ... ing,2.html

58C with VRM-R5 vs 76C with MK-13 and two 1500RPM 12cm fans vs 67C with VF300A and two 1300RPM 9,2cm fans? You cannot test open graphic cooler performance on open test bench (like the guy in that review), or your results will be useless because in the case you will get radically different temperatures (horizontal mount vs vertical mount, graphics card body blocking hot air rise, less cool air).

Please provide me with results of this cooler on HD5870 in computer case, doing a few minute Furmark/Kombustor run (sorry but first few pages provided nothing else than shop results and that guys review on few sites). My VRM-R4 had a ~70-75C temperature in passive run after 5 minutes.

PS1: On positive side, it seems that it does provide one RAM sink which probably cools the VDDCI chip too, i must give VF3000A point for that.

PS2: The Newegg reviews for VF3000A are pretty scary :wink: .

Tenoq
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Post by Tenoq » Mon Jul 05, 2010 6:01 pm

faugusztin wrote:Let's see : http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/sho ... p?t=252982

Sorry, but two 9,2cm fans at 1300RPM or 2500RPM won't be silent. What is the point of aftermarket cooler if it isn't a lot more silent than the stock cooler ? And with 800RPM those fans would probably fail to provide enough airflow to the cooler and VRM heatsink at same time.
I have the VF3000A, so I already know that on the lowest fan setting it is NOT silent (see my review). But I can also tell you it is much, much, MUCH quieter than the stock fan on my 4870. So it is "a lot more silent than the stock cooler".

As for the MK-13 - for starters its fin spacing is much closer together, blocking more airflow to the VRM heatsink. And it is not significantly bigger than the Zalman one - perhaps 20%? I don't doubt the MK-13 is a better cooler, but it is also a LOT bigger and costs twice as much once you add in fans!

The tests of the VF3000A show VRM temps don't exceed 85 degrees at 50% fan speed on a 5870 (running MSI Kombustor) - well within spec (limit is what, 120 degrees?). And that is overclocked AND overvolted!!! Stock settings were what, 67 degrees? Even in a case you're not going to be anywhere NEAR the VRM danger zone. I wouldn't have any problem putting the VF3000A on a 5870; in fact I purchased it so if I craved an upgrade I would be able to swap it from the 4870. It might not be the BEST solution, but it is cheap, all-in-one, and actually fits in my case!

I reckon you'd be nuts not to consider it. For the OP: ultimately it comes down to budget and space. There are some good cooling solutions for 58xx VRMs now; but they generally take up a lot of space (VRM-R4/R5) and/or are very expensive.

EDIT: interesting you mention the "authoritive" :lol: Newegg reviews - they mention you can still use the stock cooling plate with the Zalman. I'd say that would be the best solution for VRM & RAM cooling if you can.

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Post by ntavlas » Mon Jul 05, 2010 8:00 pm

I have to agree that the zalman looks like good value. While the stock fans are not quiet, a vf3000 plus replacement fans is still cheaper than a t-rad or mk13 (plus fans). The fact that you can use the stock cooler base along with it is a nice bonus and should help in vrm cooling.

What I don`t know for sure is whether that would cool the vrms well enough with the fans running at an inaudible 800-1000 rpm. 85 degrees are not too bad, especially on an overclocked card, but this is probably at a higher speed.

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Post by Tenoq » Mon Jul 05, 2010 9:02 pm

ntavlas wrote:What I don`t know for sure is whether that would cool the vrms well enough with the fans running at an inaudible 800-1000 rpm. 85 degrees are not too bad, especially on an overclocked card, but this is probably at a higher speed.
Overclocked and overvolted apparently - which makes 85 degrees even more impressive. Although as faugusztin pointed out the testing was done in open air, so isn't really a good representation of real-world performance.

Reading between the lines we could probably guess at VRM temps in the range of 80 degrees @ stock speeds inside a case (given in open-air it was 67 degrees).

I'm going to try slowing my Zalman fans even further... unfortunately my 4870 doesn't have a VRM temp sensor. Still, 4870s are known to self-destruct if VRMs start cooking, so I guess that will tell me if there is a problem. ;)

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Post by faugusztin » Mon Jul 05, 2010 11:31 pm

ntavlas wrote:I have to agree that the zalman looks like good value. While the stock fans are not quiet, a vf3000 plus replacement fans is still cheaper than a t-rad or mk13 (plus fans). The fact that you can use the stock cooler base along with it is a nice bonus and should help in vrm cooling.
That is true only for HD5850. No original cooler base for HD5870.

Tenoq
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Post by Tenoq » Tue Jul 06, 2010 9:26 pm

faugusztin wrote:
ntavlas wrote:I have to agree that the zalman looks like good value. While the stock fans are not quiet, a vf3000 plus replacement fans is still cheaper than a t-rad or mk13 (plus fans). The fact that you can use the stock cooler base along with it is a nice bonus and should help in vrm cooling.
That is true only for HD5850. No original cooler base for HD5870.
Aye. Why did the bastards weld it on for the 5870? :P

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