Arctic Cooling Accelero Xtreme 5970 now available!

Wow, I am using AC right now but after this, I don't think I will trust Arctic Cooling ever again.
 
Hey.

Just wanted to let you guys know, that I got this cooler when the first batch was out. Luckily I saw this thread before it was delivered, so I didn't install it.

Saw AC's post the other day, and decided to go for it.

When installing, I tightened the x-clamps just enough so that they were almost flush with the back plate (some stick out a tiny bit).

And and turned the other two marked screws with very minimal force until putting them in wasn't trivial. So no real torque applied at all.

All seems to be working well. Temps are good, and my DVI port remains operational.

I know this sucks for all the people who lost their card to this fiasco, but for anyone who's still interested they shouldn't be turned off by this.

Just be careful with the installation, watch the aforementioned screws, and be thankful to the early adopters that saved you from a disaster.
 
I'm thinking that if anybody really wants to install these things, it might be safer to insulate the bottom of the X-Clamps with electrical tape or non-conductive paint before installation.
 
ViviOrunitia said:
Hey.

Just wanted to let you guys know, that I got this cooler when the first batch was out. Luckily I saw this thread before it was delivered, so I didn't install it.

Saw AC's post the other day, and decided to go for it.

When installing, I tightened the x-clamps just enough so that they were almost flush with the back plate (some stick out a tiny bit).

And and turned the other two marked screws with very minimal force until putting them in wasn't trivial. So no real torque applied at all.

All seems to be working well. Temps are good, and my DVI port remains operational.

I know this sucks for all the people who lost their card to this fiasco, but for anyone who's still interested they shouldn't be turned off by this.

Just be careful with the installation, watch the aforementioned screws, and be thankful to the early adopters that saved you from a disaster.
Click to expand...

Have you tested the second port?
 
Hey guys, I too had installed the Accelero 5970 and had my left DVI (Closest to the mother board) port go out. I had read about the nightmares people have been getting from installing this cooler and took great care in the installation of the card. Like many others the port would still work if I used a DVI->VGA Adapter which led me to believe that the port was not dead and that there was a short somewhere on the board.

I took the 5970 out and inspected the screws according to AC's post about over tightening causing the board to bend. I did notice on screw B that it pulled the board inwards towards the heatsink which really freaked me out so I loosened that up to make it more flush and parallel to the board. Next I went ahead and reduced the slack on the x-clamps. The instructions asked for 100%, I reduced the tightness to about 80%. After this I popped the 5970 back into my system and SUCCESS, the DVI port works again! I think I lucked out here but I feel it's definitely worth a try to play around with the tightness and see if your port becomes operational again. YMMV. Sorry to hear about the folks getting their cards fried, hope AC does the right thing.
 
Laigaloon said:
Hey guys, I too had installed the Accelero 5970 and had my left DVI (Closest to the mother board) port go out. I had read about the nightmares people have been getting from installing this cooler and took great care in the installation of the card. Like many others the port would still work if I used a DVI->VGA Adapter which led me to believe that the port was not dead and that there was a short somewhere on the board.

I took the 5970 out and inspected the screws according to AC's post about over tightening causing the board to bend. I did notice on screw B that it pulled the board inwards towards the heatsink which really freaked me out so I loosened that up to make it more flush and parallel to the board. Next I went ahead and reduced the slack on the x-clamps. The instructions asked for 100%, I reduced the tightness to about 80%. After this I popped the 5970 back into my system and SUCCESS, the DVI port works again! I think I lucked out here but I feel it's definitely worth a try to play around with the tightness and see if your port becomes operational again. YMMV. Sorry to hear about the folks getting their cards fried, hope AC does the right thing.
Click to expand...

I had done the same to no avail. And they aren't doing the right thing, we're all resorting to chargebacks.
 
Laigaloon said:
Hey guys, I too had installed the Accelero 5970 and had my left DVI (Closest to the mother board) port go out. I had read about the nightmares people have been getting from installing this cooler and took great care in the installation of the card. Like many others the port would still work if I used a DVI->VGA Adapter which led me to believe that the port was not dead and that there was a short somewhere on the board.

I took the 5970 out and inspected the screws according to AC's post about over tightening causing the board to bend. I did notice on screw B that it pulled the board inwards towards the heatsink which really freaked me out so I loosened that up to make it more flush and parallel to the board. Next I went ahead and reduced the slack on the x-clamps. The instructions asked for 100%, I reduced the tightness to about 80%. After this I popped the 5970 back into my system and SUCCESS, the DVI port works again! I think I lucked out here but I feel it's definitely worth a try to play around with the tightness and see if your port becomes operational again. YMMV. Sorry to hear about the folks getting their cards fried, hope AC does the right thing.
Click to expand...

I just tried exactly what you said to no avail. I think you are a lucky man.
 
I just took the X adapters off mine to see if it would help, and nothing. Temps are the same. So it's not even needed in the install.
 
X brackets aren't used on my Twin Turbo install either. If Sapphire leaves them off then perhaps everybody should leave them off.
 
I just tried loosening the x brackets and screws, no luck DVI port still busted for me.
 
Coming on over from overclock.net, good job for those of you that figured out all the bending.

Is it possible for those 8-9 that have bad cards now to post which brand that they have? Just curious as to if there is a trend in certain PCB layouts with certain brands. I went through this entire thread and most of the people who had a dvi connector go out only had "5970" in their sig, or no system at all.

I was thinking about getting two thermalright spitfire's that are made for 5870's and modding them to work for the 5970, with one pointed up and one pointed down, but I think I might just risk getting this and help you all by taking measurements and perhaps come up with some sort of washer mod to prevent the bending of the pcb and touching of components.
 
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Sapphire 5970. I went back to the card to see if I could get the heatsink to press up harder against the gpus by adjusting the x-clamps. I currently had it at 80% and tightened to about 90%. Put the card back in and the left DVI port went out again. Reduced it back to 80% and it worked again. hrmph. I think that the screws are too short causing you to pull the card inwards when you screw it tighter. AC should work with Sapphire and get us some screws from the toxic 4gb and have us get rid of the X-clamp all together as it seems to be the culprit.
 
joemaniaci said:
Coming on over from overclock.net, good job for those of you that figured out all the bending.

Is it possible for those 8-9 that have bad cards now to post which brand that they have? Just curious as to if there is a trend in certain PCB layouts with certain brands. I went through this entire thread and most of the people who had a dvi connector go out only had "5970" in their sig, or no system at all.

I was thinking about getting two thermalright spitfire's that are made for 5870's and modding them to work for the 5970, with one pointed up and one pointed down, but I think I might just risk getting this and help you all by taking measurements and perhaps come up with some sort of washer mod to prevent the bending of the pcb and touching of components.
Click to expand...

I thought all 5970 2GB cards were reference design?
 
Digital Viper-X- said:
I thought all 5970 2GB cards were reference design?
Click to expand...

pcb layout should be the same, but they could always use components with different dimensions, as you can already see, most of the people with bad cards seem to have sapphire. Yeh, my previous post was a little off in what I said in regards to pcb design.


I think what I am going to do is buy the cooler, cover the entire underside in thermal tape and see if it makes any indentations from components on it since thermal tape seems to retain any indentations very well. Then perhaps I can write up a faq for covering up either the cooler or components with electrical tape or something.
 
Going back to some previous pics I don't think getting rid of the x-plates is the problem.

Look at this pic.
12.jpg


Looks like they got rid of the x-plates, but still used some type of black washer anyway to fill the gap.


It could also be just me, but can anyone else also see the bend from the vrm's to the end of the board, as if the main gpu fins are hitting the vrm heatsink and pushing the card down at that point as well. Plus it doesnt look as if there is a gap big enough for a hair to pass through between the vrm heatsink and the main cooler.

2.jpg
 
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joemaniaci said:
Going back to some previous pics I don't think getting rid of the x-plates is the problem.
Looks like they got rid of the x-plates, but still used some type of black washer anyway to fill the gap.
Click to expand...
Well the X-plate is metal which might conduct.
The black washers insulate so that the screws don't hit the PCB.

joemaniaci said:
It could also be just me, but can anyone else also see the bend from the vrm's to the end of the board, as if the main gpu fins are hitting the vrm heatsink and pushing the card down at that point as well. Plus it doesnt look as if there is a gap big enough for a hair to pass through between the vrm heatsink and the main cooler.
Click to expand...
The bending is also cause by tightening some screws too much as seen on the drawings AC posted.
Both the bending and the x-plate were causing it. Because of the bending the x-plate touched the PCB.
 
Does the AC kit come with washers like the Sapphire one has?

What terrible engineering from this company.
 
Freaxy said:
Well the X-plate is metal which might conduct.
The black washers insulate so that the screws don't hit the PCB.
Click to expand...

Well I dont think the x-plate making contact was the problem, it was a screw well on the cooler that is much shorter than all the others that seems to be the problem. I mean the x-plates are reused from the stock cooler so I dont see how they can cause a problem, its how much you torque them that is causing a problem by causing the cooler to possibly short something.
 
So is it any easy/safe to install this cooler without damaging my Sapphire HD5970 OC Edition ?
 
Mastercard Credited back my 230$CAD for the 2 coolers that I bought. They're going into my closet with the 4870x2 cooler that broke my card as a reminder never to deal with these POS's again.
 
kcuestag said:
So is it any easy/safe to install this cooler without damaging my Sapphire HD5970 OC Edition ?
Click to expand...

Lol! Did you read any of this thread! If you are a gambler with about 90 percent odds against you, then give it a shot! Just be sure and post back when one or both of your DVI ports fry.
 
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