ATI X1900XTX aftermarket coolers...opinions/recommendations

[Mischief007]

These are just some of the VGA coolers I'm looking at:
- Thermaltake HR-03 GT
- Zalman VF1000
- Artic Cooling Accelero S1

Out of those 3 so far, the Accelero undercuts both the others by $20 and it is getting good reviews. Only complaints are that it is huge. That is understandable since it is a fanless design.

From those 3 you can tell that I am looking at efficient cooling and for it to be quiet.

I won't be overclocking this card but the problem I'm having is that it runs at 96°C when playing games and I start getting artifacts. Today VPU Recover kicked in. I'm definitely having a problem cooling the card.

What I have done so far is get the temps down to 80 C under full load by using ATItool and changing the default fan speeds to 100% once it reaches 80 C. The default settings were to get the fan to kick in at 62% at 97 C and 100% at 101. Ridiculous.

80 is still too high for me though.

Suggestions/opinions are wanted. Any other ones I should look at?

EDIT: I'm also looking for Microcool Thermattach T412s. Anybody know any big computer stores that would have this product available? I can buy it in the States but the shipping is the exact same price as the product.

[BillD]

What is the temp inside the case?

[tflash]

you need a fan, the passive cooler would work great with a 120 MM fan mounted close by, be very quiet

[Mischief007]

2 exhaust and one intake fan. All are 120mm and running at high.

EDIT: System temp is 36 C. 2 degrees higher than CPU temp.

[Mischief007]

I went ahead and bought the Artic Cooling Accelero S1 with dual fans. I will be purchasing 2 120mm fans tomorrow.

Cleaned up my case with an air compressor, rerouted some cables, cleaned the video card with an air compressor, and it is now running a lot cooler but I'm never satisfied.

[LaRSin]

did you find it hard to install ?

how is it in games ?

what store did you get ?

[Jemima]

I won't be overclocking this card but the problem I'm having is that it runs at 96°C when playing games

I have this card too... i have played any games in a few months, but yesterday I installed half life 2 episode 2, and the noise coming from my computer was really loud! I think it was the graphics card fan whizzing like mad!! I think I need some extra cooling!

[Mischief007]

did you find it hard to install ?

how is it in games ?

what store did you get ?

Still waiting for it to come in. I bought it from NCIX.com. It just came in. Mailman dropped it off 2 seconds ago. I will install it tonight.


I have this card too... i have played any games in a few months, but yesterday I installed half life 2 episode 2, and the noise coming from my computer was really loud! I think it was the graphics card fan whizzing like mad!! I think I need some extra cooling!

I you haven't played with ATItool to adjust the fan speed, then it is not at the loudest. Up to 101 C the fan only turns at 68%. I changed mine to come on at 70 50% and 80+ 100%. It is one of the hottest cards on the market

[LaRSin]

Keep Us Up Todate
Thx.

[Mischief007]

Installed it but it is not 100% done to what I will be doing to the whole computer. The RAM heatsinks stick on poorly but after depressing it for a while, they stay on. At idle my temps were 49 C. With this cooler, I'm down to 38 C at idle. When I played GTA 3 with the stock cooler, temps went up to 55 C. The new cooler only brought it up to 42 C. Already seeing a big improvement, plus it is lighter than the stock heat sink.

I am not done at all. Plans are to buy Arctic Silver 5 and Microcool Thermattach pads. After that I will take everything apart, clean the GPU and CPU, apply AS5, reapply RAM heat sinks on the video card, and clean the whole case out with a compressor. This all should be done before the hot hot summer arrives. No AC and don't plan on one so I need to keep the system cool.

Some pictures:

[LaRSin]

Hows the noise level ?

Did you try it without the fan kit ?

Thx for sharing this and the pic's.

[Mischief007]

Noise level is down when playing games for sure. In general it is the same at idle. The two 80mm fans don't really increase the noise level at all. I've got an external drive that makes more noise than the whole computer but I can't find a small fan that doesn't make that much noise.

I can try it without the fans on tonight and see how the temps differ.

After reading your specs, I see why you are interested :).

[LaRSin]

Yea my get's very load during gaming and boot up.

[LaRSin]

Ok just ordered one from Ncix , Price match Direct canada ,

[LaRSin]

Just got mind from NCIX today and installed it , found the installation to be a little trickey , The heat sinks don't stick well, as you said , and I left the oem heat sink for the regulator on the card.

My idle temps before playing any games were 53 now 38
After playinf cod4 my temps went up 79 before now 53
But after playing games idle temps stay at 41

[Mischief007]

Big difference isn't it. If I were you, I'd replace the stock voltage regulator cooler with the one from AC. It is much bigger. From reading all kinds of articles, it is the voltage regulators that really need to be cooled very well.

[networkguy]

I have two 8800GT's and each one has an S1 on it, I never bothered to use the heatsinks at all, my idle temps are 38, under load they climb to high 50's and into the 60's a bit, I am running them in SLI.

[LaRSin]

Big difference isn't it. If I were you, I'd replace the stock voltage regulator cooler with the one from AC. It is much bigger. From reading all kinds of articles, it is the voltage regulators that really need to be cooled very well.

Took it out today and replace the stock voltage regulator cooler with the new one and applied artic silver 5 to vga cpu. My temps only droped 1 degree , which is not a bad thing.

[Mischief007]

I have two 8800GT's and each one has an S1 on it, I never bothered to use the heatsinks at all, my idle temps are 38, under load they climb to high 50's and into the 60's a bit, I am running them in SLI.

For the ATIs the RAM chips don't get hot. It is the voltage regulator under load that is the culprit. So yeah, the RAM heatsinks don't really matter.


Took it out today and replace the stock voltage regulator cooler with the new one and applied artic silver 5 to vga cpu. My temps only droped 1 degree , which is not a bad thing.

Anything and everything counts. Wait till the summer ;).