GPU cooler recommendation for 6950?

Thermalright Shaman, Arctic Cooling Accelero Extreme Plus, Zalman VF3000

Those seem to be the best ones going right now.
 
The Arctic Cooling Twin Turbo Pro mounts up just fine on a 6950, and does a great job as well. Everything you need is in the kit, and you can find it for not much over $30 if you shop around.

Mine now idles at 34c (21c ambient) and where it used to hit 90c+ under full load, it doesn't see anything over 62c now, and it's hella quiet. Shader-unlocked 6950, 840/1325 overclock.

Thinking I'll try the full 6970 BIOS again, now that I've got decent and quiet cooling.
 
That's good to hear Croak. I've been thinking about getting one of those but was concerned about the cooling capacity with my 6970.
Is that cooler dual slots, or more? I'm most likely gonna have a crossfire setup in the near future again, and have been looking for a cooler that will fit. The Shaman is obviously out.

I really should just plumb this thing into my water loop...but then I need a bigger rad :(
 
Are aftermarket coolerse for 6970/6950 the same?
 
I'm debating taking the plunge but my 6970's don't reach about 85 degrees unless it's in furmark so I lost interest. It would only be a noise thing for me.
 
The Zalman VF3000A does fit. There are several versions of the VF3000...but the "A" model fits ATI cards. The bolt pattern on the core is the same on the 6900 series as it is on the 6800, 5800, etc. The only difference is the layout of the VRM's. The VF3000A comes with seperate memory sinks which will work fine, but the VRM cooling solution might not fit. If that's the case, you'll need to source some seperate VRM sinks.

That said, the main cooler will bolt right onto a 6900 card.


I'm also adding the Gelid GC-VGA02-01 (Rev. 2) to the list. It should fit, and the included VRM/Memory cooling solutions look like they would adapt perfectly to the 6900 cards.
 
Bad ConNecTioN said:
The Zalman VF3000A does fit. There are several versions of the VF3000...but the "A" model fits ATI cards. The bolt pattern on the core is the same on the 6900 series as it is on the 6800, 5800, etc. The only difference is the layout of the VRM's. The VF3000A comes with seperate memory sinks which will work fine, but the VRM cooling solution might not fit. If that's the case, you'll need to source some seperate VRM sinks.

That said, the main cooler will bolt right onto a 6900 card.


I'm also adding the Gelid GC-VGA02-01 (Rev. 2) to the list. It should fit, and the included VRM/Memory cooling solutions look like they would adapt perfectly to the 6900 cards.
Click to expand...

Going to check this out, might end up attaching my Zalman VF3000 to my 6950 depending on the temps i'm getting.
 
Are there any efficient dual-slot and crossfire friendly coolers for this card other than the obvious stock solution?
 
Zalman VF3000 looks pretty close to dual slots. Scythe makes one that will fit, and is dual slot capable, but who knows how well it works - http://heatsinkfactory.com/scythe-setsungen-2.html
I'm not sure if it ships with adequate VRM/Mem cooling options either.

Another Scythe Unit that IS dual slot - http://jab-tech.com/Scythe-SCVSG-1000-Setsugen-HD5870-5850-VGA-cooler-pr-4613.html
It also will fit, and appears to ship with enough mem/VRM sinks to get the job done. Won't be a super good performer from the looks of it, but is still probably better then the stock cooler.
 
Croak said:
The Arctic Cooling Twin Turbo Pro mounts up just fine on a 6950, and does a great job as well. Everything you need is in the kit, and you can find it for not much over $30 if you shop around.

Mine now idles at 34c (21c ambient) and where it used to hit 90c+ under full load, it doesn't see anything over 62c now, and it's hella quiet. Shader-unlocked 6950, 840/1325 overclock.

Thinking I'll try the full 6970 BIOS again, now that I've got decent and quiet cooling.
Click to expand...

To be fair, I get pretty similar temperatures as you by using the stock cooler on my shader unlocked and overclocked hd6950. Fan runs at 40%.

A big case with good airflow will also help massively, and will help every other component too.
 
theone1989 said:
To be fair, I get pretty similar temperatures as you by using the stock cooler on my shader unlocked and overclocked hd6950. Fan runs at 40%.

A big case with good airflow will also help massively, and will help every other component too.
Click to expand...

I'd bet dollars to donuts the Arctic Cooling unit is quieter...which is sorta the point. The stock coolers on these cards are actually very good...they are just loud. Crank them up to 60% fan speed, and they'll beat the pants off most of the aftermarket offerings....but they will drive you crazy while doing so. Vapor Chamber does its job well...
 
Hi guys!

I can vouch that the Thermalright Shaman will fit and the GPU will never see anything more than 60ish degrees Celsius under 100% load! The heatsinks, ramsinks, and the GPU cooler itself match perfectly as the reference HD 5000 series and the reference HD 6900 series is very similar.

Here are some photos of my Shaman:





Keep in mind my card is unlocked, overvolted, and overclocked, my clocks are 1000core and 1400 memory and my card idles at around 34 degrees celsius(If I keep the OC on all the time) and load it goes to around 50-60 degrees celsius(Kombuster :) ).

My max temperature ever was 62 degrees celsius and normal gaming temperature stays from 50-55 degrees celsius, hope this helps some :D .
 
I wish they'd make an HR-03 style cooler for the HD6 series so you could run them in crossfire like you used to be able to do, one facing upwards, the other downwards, like this:
HR03GT%20002.jpg
 
samuelmorris said:
I wish they'd make an HR-03 style cooler for the HD6 series so you could run them in crossfire like you used to be able to do, one facing upwards, the other downwards, like this:
Click to expand...


You can just use an HR-03, I have one on my 6950 now. It's too bad that the cooler is discontinued. I guess that you could also use a Spitfire.

BTW guys this is a vrm under that thermal pad, don't forget to sink it.

vrm.png
 
I'm not sure I like the idea of an HR-03 on a card that puts out as much heat as the HD6900s do, they were only designed for 130-150W cards max, though there was a special version made for the HD2900XT (215W, the 6970 uses 210-220) which had to have a high speed fan on it at all times.
 
samuelmorris said:
I'm not sure I like the idea of an HR-03 on a card that puts out as much heat as the HD6900s do, they were only designed for 130-150W cards max, though there was a special version made for the HD2900XT (215W, the 6970 uses 210-220) which had to have a high speed fan on it at all times.
Click to expand...

:confused: It's not any bigger than the HR-03 GTX that I had on my 280 and that did a great job on that card. I have an S-Flex turned down to the point where you can barley hear it on the HR-03 on my 6950 now and it doesn't get much over 50c so I'm not sure what you are talking about.
 
Everything that had thermal pads on the stock cooler needs to be sinked. The only oddball is that one vrm in the picture.
 
BababooeyHTJ said:
:confused: It's not any bigger than the HR-03 GTX that I had on my 280 and that did a great job on that card. I have an S-Flex turned down to the point where you can barley hear it on the HR-03 on my 6950 now and it doesn't get much over 50c so I'm not sure what you are talking about.
Click to expand...

Is that a stock 6950 or a flashed one though? The increase in power/heat is quite significant, up from 170W to 210. 170W is 20W more than an 8800GTX for which the HR-03 GTX was first designed, but 60W less than a GTX280.
Like I say, my HR-03 ran my X1900XT (which I think were about 120W?) fanless ok in a system with low ventilation. It ran around 92-93C load, which is about the edge of acceptable, but it did nonetheless run fine like that for a long time. I think the VRMs got a little on the toasty side without any airflow over them though, as the original HR-03 doesn't come with VRM Sinks.
 
samuelmorris said:
Is that a stock 6950 or a flashed one though? The increase in power/heat is quite significant, up from 170W to 210. 170W is 20W more than an 8800GTX for which the HR-03 GTX was first designed, but 60W less than a GTX280.
Like I say, my HR-03 ran my X1900XT (which I think were about 120W?) fanless ok in a system with low ventilation. It ran around 92-93C load, which is about the edge of acceptable, but it did nonetheless run fine like that for a long time. I think the VRMs got a little on the toasty side without any airflow over them though, as the original HR-03 doesn't come with VRM Sinks.
Click to expand...

It's a shader unlocked 6950. :confused: It's not going to suddenly go from a little over 50c to 90c with a small voltage bump and a small bump in clock speed. I am using some enzotech sinks on the vrms since they work far better than the aluminum sinks that come with most coolers.

The HR-03 GTX is for the GTX280/60 etc. I am using the HR-03 GT. I'm pretty sure that the only difference is the mounting hardware as far as I can tell.
 
master noran said:
Could somebody do us all a favour and outline what has to be heatsinked on this card?
Click to expand...

Its really not that hard. Any cooler that fits ATI 4*** and 5*** cards will fit. You only need to avoid special editions coolers that are designed for a specific card...otherwise, just about any universal cooler out there will work, assuming it can handle the heat load.
I've listed a few in the first page of this thread...all the others, nobody knows about.
 
I attempted to get the Zalman VF3000 on my reference 6950 and it needed some modding, the far left large ramsink needed to be slightly cut to fit.
 
I managed to fit the Prolimatech MK-13 cooler to a reference AMD Sapphire 6950 2GB. Unfortunately, not without some modifications to the VRAM heatsink by chopping off a third on one side. I also kept the stock back plate on the card by using screws and bolts to secure it to the PCB, this obviously gave it less flex and extra strength.
All up, the extra modifications and custom heatsink made for that lone ranger solo one near the pci bracket took an extra half an hour of install time (if you have adequate tools).

Would I do this again? Hell yes! Temps never go above 64 Degrees Celsius under load in Furmark (all stress tests) and gaming in typical Brisbane Australia weather with usual ambient of 33 Degrees Celsius, all whilst being super silent with one 120mm Scythe S-Flex 800rpm and Noctua 80mm fan via fan control. However, it does help to have adequate air flow in the case obviously. Nonetheless, you should expect a minimum of 10 Degree Celsius drop coming from the stock heatsink whilst very quiet. Typically both my 6950s would reach 75 Degrees Celsius whilst the stock fan would sing away at 35% (not quiet).

The benefit of using the Prolimatech MK-13 is having the fans mounted to a spare unused pci bracket hence less weight and stress on the actual card itself.
 
BTW guys, do you have any suggestions for the fan, as my mobo only has 3-pin fan outputs?
Can those be modded somehow, so I can get smart-fan for the cooler?

Running at 100% all the time would be lame ;-)
 
Does anyone know how one of the better aftermarket coolers compares to, say, the stock cooler on the dual-fan ASUS 6950?

The reason I ask is because I could potentially buy a reference ASUS 2GB 6950 and outfit it with a $35 aftermarket cooler, ending up at approximately the same price.

EDIT: I love unwittingly posting in two month old threads.
 
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exlink said:
Are there any efficient dual-slot and crossfire friendly coolers for this card other than the obvious stock solution?
Click to expand...

Hate to drum up an old thread but I don't see this question answered.

I'm looking to change the stock cooling on my 6950s but need to keep the same clearance because they are next to each other.
 
It depends on your motherboard. Are you limited to a two slot solution? If thats the case there probably isn't a better solution than the stock cooler.
 
BababooeyHTJ said:
It depends on your motherboard. Are you limited to a two slot solution? If thats the case there probably isn't a better solution than the stock cooler.
Click to expand...

Hey Now!

Yea, for me to get a slot in between I would have to ditch my Asus Xonar sound card ;/

I was just hoping that there was an upgrade that kept the stock clearances.
 
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