WOW at GTX 470 aftermarket cooling

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Cali3350

Supreme [H]ardness
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Mar 22, 2002
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Got a GTX 470 a week ago and loved the performance but hated the sound and heat. The card would get up to 93C and was far louder than anything else in my computer (loud enough to be very annoying). This was at 700mhz.

Bought the Zalman VN3000-F and put it on. Now running 800mhz at 62C in furmark and the thing is quieter than my case fans. WOW is all I can say.

I highly recommend the cooler to anyone with this card.
 
are you sure that is the right model number? I was trying to look at it
 
Any word on this working on 5XX series cards? I have the original Galaxy reference card (that comes with those inferno temps and sound.) I can't justify paying that much. Appreciate the user testimonial though.
 
I've heard good things about those Zalmans, although I personally prefer the AC coolers
https://www.arctic-cooling.com/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=2_&mID=619

Whichever you prefer, your best bet is to buy a new card with it already installed. Several vendors sell their cards with these type of units on them for around $20 more than reference, this saves you the cost of having to buy the expensive cooler after the fact and ensures no warranty issues.
 
I may put that Zalman on my 480 when it arrives. I've been considering the best way to tackle the noise/heat problem and the Zalman has caught my eye a few times already. Thanks for the recommendation Cali.

Edit: oooo I like the design of the AC unit even better but I swore off buying their stuff since the F7 revisions are so utter crap. Too bad. Looks really sweet.
 
martinmsj said:
Any word on this working on 5XX series cards? I have the original Galaxy reference card (that comes with those inferno temps and sound.) I can't justify paying that much. Appreciate the user testimonial though.
Click to expand...

This model will work fine. Someone at XS even slapped one on a 6870. I may do the same. I like a quiet cooler.
 
I can't seem to find the right kit for the 480 at AC's page, on the Accelero XTREME Plus page at the bottom they say:

The Accelero XTREME Plus does not have any additional heatsinks for VR and RAM.
To use the cooler on a VGA board it needs to be purchased with a specific set of heat sinks.
Please find the according sets underneath.
Click to expand...

However the proper one (VR004) is not listed on the linked page. It has 001 002 003 005 on page 5 but no 004 anywhere to be found.
 
That's it! Thank you! Buying the AC unit even though I swore them off, doesn't look like I have much choice for 480 aftermarket cooling.
 
Hahah they have a thing to quick add Jolt drinks on the main product page. SOOOOLD!!
 
I think you'll like it, I have its predecessor for the gtx 280 and it never breaks 60C and is whisper silent.

One thing to pay close attention to with any of these monstrous coolers on 10''+ cards is they have a tendency to sag at the rear when installed. Reference coolers provide a two slot wide rigid frame that supports the rear of the card by exerting force on the pci retention bracket but non blower designs force the pcb to support the full weight of the cooler. With my AC unit, this can mean almost a 1cm sag at the bag if you don't support it. While I haven't heard anybody mention cards dying from this, it just doesn't seem like a good idea to me. Some newer cases have gpu support rails that would solve this, I used a zip tie from the top of my case ;)
 
R-Type said:
I think you'll like it, I have its predecessor for the gtx 280 and it never breaks 60C and is whisper silent.

One thing to pay close attention to with any of these monstrous coolers on 10''+ cards is they have a tendency to sag at the rear when installed. Reference coolers provide a two slot wide rigid frame that supports the rear of the card by exerting force on the pci retention bracket but non blower designs force the pcb to support the full weight of the cooler. With my AC unit, this can mean almost a 1cm sag at the bag if you don't support it. While I haven't heard anybody mention cards dying from this, it just doesn't seem like a good idea to me. Some newer cases have gpu support rails that would solve this, I used a zip tie from the top of my case ;)
Click to expand...

I notice this behavior with my Gigabyte GTX 460 and it isn't even very long. I'll make sure to address it somehow when I install the card. This will be my first major aftermarket GPU HSF installation in a couple years but I do plan to keep the GTX 480 for 2-2.5 years so I decided it was worth the extra cost/bother for an exceptionally good card that needs a HSF change to make it perfect. Will post pics and final OC in a week or two.
 
Nice results with that cooler.

The GTX470 has many air and water cooling options.

Great card.
 
I wonder how the GTX580 vapor cooling stacks up against these kinds of aftermarket heatsinks...
 
Kalster said:
I wonder how the GTX580 vapor cooling stacks up against these kinds of aftermarket heatsinks...
Click to expand...

No need to wonder, there is an abundance of temp and sound data on the 580's cooler.
Here's a quick reference: http://www.anandtech.com/show/4008/nvidias-geforce-gtx-580/17

The stock 580 is slightly better than the 285 in temp and sound, performance which I was not satisfied with on my 280. My accellero dropped the load temps by about 30C and turned a hairdryer into in inaudible whisper. I expect that you would see similar performance on the fermi cards as TDP at the high end hasn't changed all that much over the generations.
 
my zotac card came with one of these beastly coolers on it, it really does make everything quiet and cool.. at the cost of an extra slot :p
 
Not to rain down on your thing or anything like that OP.
I don't get it with the after market coolers. Like why pay 50+ bucks extra to buy one and possibly void warranty on some MFGs when you can just pay a bit more when buying the card and get one that has a non stock cooler on it already?
I've seen some cards which are coming stock with that Zalman cooler.
Don't see the point unless a person got a super special deal on a card, where the card + AM cooler are still less money than a card which comes with a AF cooler stock.
 
Dosobye said:
Not to rain down on your thing or anything like that OP.
I don't get it with the after market coolers. Like why pay 50+ bucks extra to buy one and possibly void warranty on some MFGs when you can just pay a bit more when buying the card and get one that has a non stock cooler on it already?
I've seen some cards which are coming stock with that Zalman cooler.
Don't see the point unless a person got a super special deal on a card, where the card + AM cooler are still less money than a card which comes with a AF cooler stock.
Click to expand...

This is very true and I mentioned the same thing, however many people have already purchased their cards before they find that it is too loud or hot for their liking. At that point the price difference between selling used or returning with restocking fee and buying another card with the AM cooler likely outweighs the cost of just buying the cooler.
 
I haven't seen any 480s for sale with the Arctic Cooling aftermarket solution pre-applied. Gigabyte has a similar one, a "Super OC 480", but it's about 80 more than buying used 480 and applying the Arctic Cooling yourself. Also, it's Gigabyte. Before 2010 I've been strongly pro-Gigabyte but this year has been a Gigabyte RMA nightmare.
 
Jeffredo said:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814500167

Zotac has it installed on their AMP! version of the GTX 470 for $299. That's about the same as buying the stock card and the HSF separately. Its kind of fun to install things like that though (at least I've enjoyed putting AC Acceleros on three cards over the years).
Click to expand...
My GTX 280 install was a 4 hour job because their vrm/mosfet cooling solution was so bad that the preferred method of instal was to dremel that portion off of the stock heatsink. It works great but they have thankfully made the new ones much easier.
 
Don't forget some people buy their cards when they first come out like me. Therefore we have to either sell our cards or go aftermarket since we have the reference cooling. :(
 
Everything has arrived, 480 tested and functional, verifying stability with OCCT and fan forced @ 100 (still not near as loud as the 6870 fan that thing was epic) then I'm moving on to the AC install.
 
requiem99 said:
Everything has arrived, 480 tested and functional, verifying stability with OCCT and fan forced @ 100 (still not near as loud as the 6870 fan that thing was epic) then I'm moving on to the AC install.
Click to expand...

My friend has a 6870 and it's virtually silent.
 
Exactly anything over 40 was loud and 80-100 were drowning out all the sounds outside my room including cars on the street and knocking on the front door. I'm 15 feet from the front door.

Still, the 480 is too loud, glad I bought aftermarket cause its going to get used.
 
R-Type what did you use to clean the NVIDIA thermal goo off the core before putting on the AXP? It says to use erasers on the memory/VRMs and I've done that before but I always have a devil of a time getting the core surface spotless.

Edit: Also, if anyone knows really fast as I'm taking it apart now, does it matter what type of eraser is used to clean the memory? I'm planning to use ones from the ends of colored pencils (harder type, a bit old but they erase well).
 
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I typically use acetone to break up old TIM and clean the heatsink and gpu heatspreader.

For the memory a good eraser does work ok but it is extremely hard to get them truly clean. Those white thermal pads used with your stock heatsink leave an oily residue on the plastic chip casing that just refuses to come off. IIRC I used acetone and the eraser to scrub the hell out of them.

Fortunately, AC has moved away from the thermal tape that required extremely clean surfaces to adhere properly and instead now ships a small tube of thermal adhesive with your supplemental heatsinks. This has a very short shelf life of one week once you open it but works great for adhering ram and vrm sinks. Put a dab on the chip and press the sink on for 15-20 seconds and then let it sit for 10-20 minutes and it is pretty well stuck. When I ordered the sinks for my 460 I had excess paste and used it to put vrm and mosfet sinks on a couple of motherboards I had. You can remove the sinks later with some twisting motion and from what I've read, the adhesive can be taken off with an eraser after it has been exposed to air for a day or two.

When I did my 280 I also kept the oem backplate as it felt more substantial than the one included, this may have changed since then however.

Let me know if you run into any other difficulties.
 
Thanks I don't have acetone but I'm going to use rubbing alcohol as recommended in a few other threads. Still disassembling the 480 at the moment...
 
requiem99 said:
R-Type what did you use to clean the NVIDIA thermal goo off the core before putting on the AXP? It says to use erasers on the memory/VRMs and I've done that before but I always have a devil of a time getting the core surface spotless.

Edit: Also, if anyone knows really fast as I'm taking it apart now, does it matter what type of eraser is used to clean the memory? I'm planning to use ones from the ends of colored pencils (harder type, a bit old but they erase well).
Click to expand...

I don't know about erasers but I would try some glycol ether based cleaner then clean that with 90% isopropyl. if all else fails MEK (you can buy a small can at lowes, good to have on hand anyways) will pretty much clean anything. just make sure that you clean off any residue left by the solvent.
 
Valset said:
I don't know about erasers but I would try some glycol ether based cleaner then clean that with 90% isopropyl. if all else fails MEK (you can buy a small can at lowes, good to have on hand anyways) will pretty much clean anything. just make sure that you clean off any residue left by the solvent.
Click to expand...

MEK is some serious shit, I would not use that one my video card.

The contact patch between the heatsink and gpu spreader is so large that they do stay on with some force, I usually twist back and forth a few degrees while pulling.

I'm assuming you know this but on the off chance you don't, Acetone is much more commonly known as nail polish remover and you should be able to get it at pretty much any convenience store, pharmacy or supermarket. Its probably the strongest cleaner that you can safely use on most any electronics.
 
Its cool, the twist method is what i remembered (by holding onto the heatsink while twisting letting gravity pull the card away mostly).

Rubbing alcohol and erasers worked splendidly. Assembling now.
 
R-Type said:
MEK is some serious shit, I would not use that one my video card.

The contact patch between the heatsink and gpu spreader is so large that they do stay on with some force, I usually twist back and forth a few degrees while pulling.

I'm assuming you know this but on the off chance you don't, Acetone is much more commonly known as nail polish remover and you should be able to get it at pretty much any convenience store, pharmacy or supermarket. Its probably the strongest cleaner that you can safely use on most any electronics.
Click to expand...

it is but it can be used safely. just dampen a small end of a rag and wipe the parts. its an excellent cleaner. it dissipates so fast that it can be used clean most things. You are right though and great care must be taken as it can blister and remove paint and will even eat the plastic if left on for any length of time.

I would not use nail polish remover as it has other things in it (I don't know if it would leave a residue) but you can do the same thing with regular acetone cut with a little water. if your worried you can buy glycol ether based solvents or even diactone alcohol
 
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