Aftermarket Coolers on the GTX680

reworked the post a little bit as I found a couple guys on OCN that make and sell brackets to put the antec kuhler on the 680
 
Alright will do. Thanks!!



Excellent. They have this at Micro Center too.


Keep in mind that the Artic Alumina stuff is PERMANENT. Which means that it is going to be very difficult to remove the heatsinks from the VRAMS. The stuff that comes in the Accelero Twin Turbo II is not permanent and comes off pretty easy.
 
I installed the Gelid Icy Vision on my EVGA GTX680 with EVGA backplate. You lose screw holes for the backplate when you take off the reference cooler but I was able to find a solution to make sure the backplate was firmly attached and even pressure all around

The standoffs used with the Icy Vision were just long enough to accommodate the extra width of the card while the backplate is lined up. I used extra screws/nuts that were included with the Icy Vision to make sure the backplate was fully attached beyond just the 4 screws for the heatsink itself.

OC: +132% power target, +127 GPU clock yielding 1250Mhz, +400 memory

Before - Idle Temp: 48c (three monitors makes the card idle high)
Before - Load Temp: 69c (agressive/loud fan profile to keep under 70)

After - Idle Temp: 30c
After - Load Temp: 57c (max after 3 heaven runs)

I knew as soon as I ordered the card that I would hate the reference cooler. Ended up hating it even more so because of how loud it had to be to keep it under 70c. Much happier now that it is quiet and cool.

680gelid.jpg


thats awesome
 
Keep in mind that the Artic Alumina stuff is PERMANENT. Which means that it is going to be very difficult to remove the heatsinks from the VRAMS. The stuff that comes in the Accelero Twin Turbo II is not permanent and comes off pretty easy.

the card has to hang upside down and you don't want to be worrying if the stuff will hold up espcially if your adding in heat from inside the case and everything. As long as you put a thin layer like your suppose to and do not apply it too thick it should not be hard to remove
just need something to pry it off with maybe
the stuff disolves with rubbing alachol liek regular thermal paste
 
Oooohhh, that inno3d setup is dead sexy. Wonder if that cooler is going to be released aftermarket or if it's proprietary.
 
Well just wanted to give an update, Arctic sent me a new screw to replace the one that had no threading.

And now my temps never go over 70 in my RV02. So I will say it seems to get warmer than the other "normal" cases but it still works better than the stock heatsink.

Heres a picture of the threadless screw for anyone who is interested:
 
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I just purchased an Arctic Cooling Accelero Twin Turbo II VGA Cooler for NVIDIA and AMD Radeon 2X92MM 54CFM from NCIX for $46 shipped. I'll be using it on my GTX 680. Does anyone know if I will need any additional spacers or screws for the installation?
 
Might go for the Gigabyte card that has three fans instead of installing aftermarket cooling. I remember I did it for my GTX280 and I remember it not being too fun.
 
The stock fans on the Icy Vision plug into the video card with the 'gpu-style' PWM fan connector; unfortunately, the stock fans on it are not actually PWM and not controllable through Prevision X. They were also a bit noisy, so I replaced the stock fans on the Icy Vision with 2x Noctua PWM 92mm attached with some random fan brackets I found. Also, the Noctua fans now match every other fan in my case :D

Also visible is a fabricated cable: the two Noctua fans are ran in parallel and then attached to the video card with a salvaged 'gpu-style' fan connector from an old 8800gt - this allows me to control the Noctua fans with Precision X.

reference EVGA 680, Gelid Icy Vision, 2x Noctua 92mm PWM, EVGA backplate - turned into kind of a frankenstein
680-icyvision-noctua.jpg
 
The stock fans on the Icy Vision plug into the video card with the 'gpu-style' PWM fan connector; unfortunately, the stock fans on it are not actually PWM and not controllable through Prevision X. They were also a bit noisy, so I replaced the stock fans on the Icy Vision with 2x Noctua PWM 92mm attached with some random fan brackets I found. Also, the Noctua fans now match every other fan in my case :D

Also visible is a fabricated cable: the two Noctua fans are ran in parallel and then attached to the video card with a salvaged 'gpu-style' fan connector from an old 8800gt - this allows me to control the Noctua fans with Precision X.

reference EVGA 680, Gelid Icy Vision, 2x Noctua 92mm PWM, EVGA backplate - turned into kind of a frankenstein
680-icyvision-noctua.jpg

This is awesome!
 
the way you have those fans aren't they blowing air into the heatsink? don't you want it to blow air away from the heatsink?
 
the way you have those fans aren't they blowing air into the heatsink? don't you want it to blow air away from the heatsink?


It helps to cool the vrms and memory too.

I would love to see some benchmarks of that cooler before and after adding those fans. It does look really good.
 
The default fans on the Icy Vision also were pushing air into the heatsink, so I just replicated the same with the Noctuas. Cooling performance between the two is the same, but the bearing on the stock Gelid fans made quite a bit of noise. I moved to the Noctua fans because I knew that they would be quiet, be able to operate horizontally without any problems, and now my GPU fans match every other fan in my case (I'll post pics when I'm done sleeving my PSU).

I haven't tried puling air away from the heatsink - was not capable of doing it with the stock Gelid fans, but I'll have to give it a try with the Noctua fans.
 
I have two Arctic Cooler Twin Turbos in my closet but I haven't decided if I want to use them yet. Two three slot video cards eat up a ton of space. Might resell them (they are unopened) if I decide not to use them.
 
The default fans on the Icy Vision also were pushing air into the heatsink, so I just replicated the same with the Noctuas. Cooling performance between the two is the same, but the bearing on the stock Gelid fans made quite a bit of noise. I moved to the Noctua fans because I knew that they would be quiet, be able to operate horizontally without any problems, and now my GPU fans match every other fan in my case (I'll post pics when I'm done sleeving my PSU).

I haven't tried puling air away from the heatsink - was not capable of doing it with the stock Gelid fans, but I'll have to give it a try with the Noctua fans.

VERY nice setup varione! Thanks for sharing!
 
Is the EVGA high flow bracket worth snagging for 10 bucks + shipping? I just noticed that they're back in stock at EVGA.
 
Arctic Accelero Hybrid is available for preorder here http://www.arctic.ac/en/p/detail/index/sArticle/569/sCategory/2182

I will be damned to pay 180 bucks for that IMO. You can buy an Antec Kuhler 620 or any Corsair H series and a bracket from DWood for a lot less than that.....

Arctic cooling is getting out of hand. The new Acclero extreme that they have coming out has an MSRP of $120. I remember when they release the acclero extreme for 9800gtx it had an msrp of just over $50 and the cooler really isn't that much different.
 
Aftermarket coolers that expensive are totally worthless. A full coverage water block is less money, and if you already have a water cooling loop makes more sense.

There is no way you will get $180 worth of performance out of that. It would be better to just save money and buy a 2nd video card in SLI.
 
Aftermarket coolers that expensive are totally worthless. A full coverage water block is less money, and if you already have a water cooling loop makes more sense.

There is no way you will get $180 worth of performance out of that. It would be better to just save money and buy a 2nd video card in SLI.
Indeed, but don't water blocks take up so much space that SLI is no longer possible?

I paid $46 shipped for my Accelero Twin Turbo II which keeps my video card below 63C at all times and QUIET. It was well worth the investment. Also, I can still do SLI if I please. There is no reason to risk putting water in a case when air cooling achieves excellent results so cheaply.
 
Indeed, but don't water blocks take up so much space that SLI is no longer possible?

I paid $46 shipped for my Accelero Twin Turbo II which keeps my video card below 63C at all times and QUIET. It was well worth the investment. Also, I can still do SLI if I please. There is no reason to risk putting water in a case when air cooling achieves excellent results so cheaply.

You ever tried to SLI triple slot cards?

I'll go ahead and tell you, its not pretty. Regardless of how good your accelero is the upper GPU will be a toaster because the cards are sandwiched and dumping heaps of hot air into the case.

Water is a pain to setup your first time, but so so worth it.....and with accelero's costing 100$, you could get a RASA kit for like 150 bucks which would be way better....
 
I'm going to be a thread necromancer but since this thread already is here... I'm seriously considering about getting at least one Gelid Icy Vision for one of my GTX 680. Is it SLI compatible and does it work with GTX 680's with stacked power connectors? Is it quiet and effective?
 
Not sure about the Gelid Icy Vision, but I do have a Accelero Twin Turbo II on one of mine with the stacked connecters. It works fantastic. Takes up over 2 slots, but under 3 so SLI isn't a problem with my board and shouldn't be with the P8Z77-V either. It's extremely quite, so much so that it's quieter than my case fans at their lowest settings (DF-85). It was extremely easy to install as well. Temps without SLI rarely reached in the 60s, it would idle around 31, but with SLI it hits 77...and it's my top card. Highly recommended.

EDIT: I should also clarify that the reason I originally chose the TTII over the Icy Vision was that the fans have some cover on the TT, but are totally exposed on the Icy Vision. I had a card start sagging once and the fan hit another expansion card below it, breaking the fan and the expansion card it it, so I don't feel comfortable without some cover over it, but to each their own.
 
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Not sure about the Gelid Icy Vision, but I do have a Accelero Twin Turbo II on one of mine with the stacked connecters. It works fantastic. Takes up over 2 slots, but under 3 so SLI isn't a problem with my board and shouldn't be with the P8Z77-V either. It's extremely quite, so much so that it's quieter than my case fans at their lowest settings (DF-85). It was extremely easy to install as well. Temps without SLI rarely reached in the 60s, it would idle around 31, but with SLI it hits 77...and it's my top card. Highly recommended.

EDIT: I should also clarify that the reason I originally chose the TTII over the Icy Vision was that the fans have some cover on the TT, but are totally exposed on the Icy Vision. I had a card start sagging once and the fan hit another expansion card below it, breaking the fan and the expansion card it it, so I don't feel comfortable without some cover over it, but to each their own.
I just took a look at Gelid FAQ and it's definitely compatible:
3odjq3.jpg


49ijt7.jpg


I have 12cm SLI bridge incoming but it looks like that wouldn't be needed with Icy Vision. What really worries me about Twin Turbo II is the height (or width) of the cooler. It seems to block SLI connector quite badly and I'm not sure if that 12cm bridge would be enough.
1czuel.jpg

600x450px-ll-42c1d6e9weucn.jpg

^^That looks problematic for top card.

Is there any idea how well these cool VRM chips? I'd guess they wouldn't do that bad job since the stock heat spreader likely traps a lot of heat. GTX 680 isn't the most power hungry card either so...

Oh, by the way, does GTX 680 use PWM or voltage based fan control thingy?
 
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I know the SLI bridge I had with my 7900GTXs years ago was rigid, so that would have been problematic, but the one that came with my board is very flexible so it's a non-issue. The width could be an issue for smaller cases or anyone with a side fan. The fan is PWM I believe, but it's been a while.

Cooling the VRAM might suck a little bit, but I've had my TTII on for over a year without issue, and in SLI for only about a month now. I do have pretty awesome airflow throughout the case, and I'm planning on adding a side fan for that very reason soon just to be on the safe side.

What it looks like now
 
Hmm... I have to ask, how long is your SLI bridge exactly? I think MSI had few 14cm ones but I have not seen them anywhere so I bought 12cm ASUS instead. The current one I have is flexible but too short (it is straight, no extra) so it would not fit. I am hoping that the 12cm version might help.

I wonder if it would be better to make the side fan exhaust, especially when I have bottom fan. Side fan intake could just push the hot air back.
EDIT:
Well, side fan doesn't seem to make much difference. I've actually started to wonder... It might be better to sell my cards and get nice GTX 780 with good cooler for the money.
 
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