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ATI 5870: Reference cooler v. Version 2.0 cooler

E

ebeattie

Limp Gawd
Joined
Jan 29, 2007
Messages
441
So after having just RMAed my GTX 285, Im in the market for a 5870. To be upfront, Im only interested in an XFX brand of 5870 for the obvious double lifetime warranty.

I have seen XFX offer two versions of this card which seem to be a trend followed by the other ATI AIBs.

XFX Radeon HD 5870 Version 2.0 Style cooler

This is the only available XFX 5870 right now. Notice that the cooler is NOT the "reference" cooler which looks like this:

XFX Radeon HD 5870 with reference cooler (seems to be sold out and from the looks of it, not likely to come back into production.)

After looking at both, it seems the "new" cooler design will dump hot air back into the case whereas the "original" reference cooler dumps all the hot air out of the case.

Is this all just an effort to offer better cooling for the GPU or are they simply manufacturing the 5870s with a more cost effective board layout? The reason I ask is that it would seem counter productive to dump hot air back into the case where it could be pumped into the CPU cooler. I know that these style coolers were prevalent on the 7800 GTX and the respective ATI card at the time, but I was under the impression that the reference cooler for the 5870 provided better cooling.

If the reference design is NOT going to be produced, is this an indication that the refresh for ATI is nearing?

Whats the deal? :confused::eek:
 
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I firmly believe that those new non reference coolers are simply cheaper to produce. XFX has been notorious for this and also messing with the PCB to cut costs and cause poor overclocks.

Any reason you have to get an XFX... they aren't the best for ATI. I would look at Asus, Sapphire and Visiontek. They all offer the reference cooler and also offer good warranties (visiontek lifetime, asus 3 years and sapphire 2).
 
haadij404 said:
I firmly believe that those new non reference coolers are simply cheaper to produce. XFX has been notorious for this and also messing with the PCB to cut costs and cause poor overclocks.

Any reason you have to get an XFX... they aren't the best for ATI. I would look at Asus, Sapphire and Visiontek. They all offer the reference cooler and also offer good warranties (visiontek lifetime, asus 3 years and sapphire 2).
Click to expand...

Yeah if you look at the reference vs. nonreference XFX 5850 reviews on newegg, you hear people complaining that you can't change the voltage on the non-reference designs. Not sure if that is also the case for the 5870 since I didn't look (I am looking for another reference 5850 to pair with my existing one), but I wouldn't be surprised if that holds true for 5870s as well.
 
I'm holding out for a refresh. Hoping for a refresh in the next month or two. It's been about 6 months now.
 
Not worried about overclocking for the card, although I do realize that lot of folks do. However I would be interested to find out just how effective the cards are in case temps.

But it has been a good while since these cards were first launch so here's hoping for a refresh soon.
 
Version 2 coolers are all about cheaper price. They already did this for the 5770 by adding the 5750 cooler on it...

It'd probably cool a little better than the batman shroud, but dump the bulk of hot air back into the case.
 
haadij404 said:
I firmly believe that those new non reference coolers are simply cheaper to produce. XFX has been notorious for this and also messing with the PCB to cut costs and cause poor overclocks.

Any reason you have to get an XFX... they aren't the best for ATI. I would look at Asus, Sapphire and Visiontek. They all offer the reference cooler and also offer good warranties (visiontek lifetime, asus 3 years and sapphire 2).
Click to expand...

That XFX non-ref PCB is the same as the Sapphire Vapor-X 5870 which also has no software voltage control. XFX didn't design it, it's a shared design a lot of AIBs use. Basically you can tell the difference by where the power connectors are. Pointing to the side = reference. Pointing off the end = non-reference design.

Non-reference usually has an axial fan in the middle and no software voltage control.
 
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There's a reason I bought my reference 5850 before they were all gone. :D I'm not a big fan of non-reference cards.
 
Being a green team guy for the last few years I wonder if someone can point me in the right direction...

They all offer the reference cooler and also offer good warranties (visiontek lifetime, asus 3 years and sapphire 2).
Click to expand...

I was unaware of a lifetime warrantie on the red side besides XFX's double. I went to Visiontecs site to see about the "Lifetime" .

http://support.visiontek.com/warranty/limited_warranty.html

It states: "...for the lifetime of the retail product ..."

Is this thier way of saying they only cover it while they actively sell it? :confused: I have heard of these plans but am uncertain how they word it to be able to use the lifetime buzz word but mean while it is being offered.

If this is the case is it not then only a year or two warrantee?

My EVGA 7950KO died 2+ years after purchase and long after is was no longer sold, and EVGA had me a replacement 8800gts (320mb version) in under a week. That is my idea of lifetime. :)
 
The way I understand it, Visiontek's is like PNY. It is for the retail lifetime of the product. Once the product is out of production\EOL\they run out of replacements, warranty over. Figure a couple years if you bought when introduced.

No doubt XFX is the best warranty but next to them, I like the Asus warranty myself. It is 3 years from date of manufacture, meh, but it doesn't matter who owns the card. No need for all that register/transfer bs. If it's within 3 years, it's under warranty and Asus isn't known to be the fastest at RMA but they honor their warranty and I've never heard of them just outright f'ing anybody over.
 
Awsome, Thank you for the clarification.

I have been scrounging along with some friends for deals on either 5850s or 5870s. It has been a hunt to find them in stock and moreso to find the preferreed brand. In this case it is XFX for me this round unless BFG does some miracolous launch out of nowhere to confirm the rumors they are going red. :eek:
 
Yeah, no doubt Id be all over a BFG Radeon like a fat kid on a cupcake. Hope that pans out. If not, Im probably going to wait for a refresh if there is one. if not... well Ive waited this long to upgrade!
 
wrangler said:
The way I understand it, Visiontek's is like PNY. It is for the retail lifetime of the product. Once the product is out of production\EOL\they run out of replacements, warranty over. Figure a couple years if you bought when introduced.
Click to expand...

Um, no.

The language "the lifetime of the retail product when given normal and proper usage" refers to the lifetime of YOUR retail version that you bought. As long as it is used in a manner that it was intended, the warranty is valid. It does NOT mean the retail shelf life of the SKU, i.e. when the next gen ATI video card comes out and the 5870-series is no longer made, the warranty on your still-functioning 5870 vanishes into thin air. Completely wrong interpretation of the warranty language. If your card malfunctions 20 years from now, it's still under warranty.
 
pulled the trigger and bought the xfx non reference card this afternoon....I was actually gonna buy the $389 sapphire, but I have 2 8800gt's from xfx that I have had for almost 2 years that work perfectly...I like their warranty, and I really don't think the cooler is going to be that much of a difference then the reference....I can't wait to put the card in and enjoy the gaming experience...I might also try to see if it will do some decent overclocking as well.....At the end of the day, regardless of price, cooler or otherwise, we are gonna have a fast ass card that we will get to enjoy!
 
Island, when you get your card post it up. Let us know how much (if at all) the new cooler raises temps in the case.
 
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