Effective, cheap ramsinks for 8800GT

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DarkenReaper57

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I see there are a plethora of ramsinks available for graphics cards on the market right now. The price varies from $8.00 or so to over $30.00.

I am going to watercool my 8800GT without a full-cover block to save some money, and have the ability to reuse the block in the future (as full-cover blocks tend to be card-specific). I'm looking at the FuZion GFX block. Could you guys please give some suggestions of cheap yet effective ramsinks? I don't need anything fancy.

As a sidenote, what block is better - the Dtek FuZion GFX GPU block, or the low-profile one produced by swiftech?

EDIT: Do I need to worry about getting MOSFET sinks as well, or just BGA ramsinks? I'm not sure whether or not the MOSFETS still have independent sinks on them after the stock cooler is removed.
 
I found these: http://www.svc.com/zm-rhs1.html. Is 8 enough for a 8800GT? The thing I don't know is whether or not I need to get a separate kit for the MOSFETS, or if these are already cooled via independent sinks after the stock cooler is removed.

If I do need to cool the mosfets, how many do I need to cool, and is there a cheap kit that includes sinks for both the ram and mosfets?
 
SVC carries a thermalright Mosfet heatsink set for the 8800GT for $6. I'm using the zalman sinks you linked and have the mosfet ones on order, along with a VF900, and my card is nice and cool at 700/1000. I can push it to 750/1050 stable, but at this point, I have no need to.

Here's the mosfet sinks: http://www.svc.com/gt-ram-kit.html
 
I think you need 8 for the GT. I used the Zalman kit for my GTS 320 but be careful as they come with 4 taller heatsinks and 4 shorter ones. (if matching stuff matters to you)
Picture036-1.jpg

Petrastech is also a good place for the heatsinks.
 
markkleb said:
I think you need 8 for the GT. I used the Zalman kit for my GTS 320 but be careful as they come with 4 taller heatsinks and 4 shorter ones. (if matching stuff matters to you)

Petrastech is also a good place for the heatsinks.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the heads-up about the 4 shorter heatsinks. I wonder why they did this *shrugs*. I'm probably going to get the Swiftech MCW60-R GPU block. Are there any ramsinks out there that I should steer clear of due to clearance issues?

Also, I haven't gotten a clearcut answer as to whether or not I need to get MOSFET heatsinks, although I am guessing yes (but how many)?
 
entropism listed a link to the mosfet heatsinks (very different than the Swiftech ones I needed on my GTS)

Im sure the shorter heatsinks are to allow for hose clearance but I would get 2 packs (better to have extras than not enough)

Petras Tech Shop sells quite a few different heatsinks (some are sold individually), also their customer service and shipping are first rate.
 
So I am guessing that I need 4 MOSFET heatsinks and 1 PWM heatsink?

Also, I noticed that BGA ramsinks come in different sizes. Would someone mind telling me the size I should purchase, so I don't end up with sinks that are too large or too small?

I'm also assuming that the difference in performance for ramsinks between copper and aluminum is nothing, simply because the ram doesn't get super hot to begin with. Is this safe to assume?
 
I just want to warn you not to expect any great memory OC. The Qimonda (sp) ram on these cards is not OCing well at all. You can get high numbers using atitool to test for artifacts but your games will freeze at much lower numbers. The ramsinks are a good idea but consider also a pci slot fan underneath the card to blow air on ALL the components on the card. This is mainly for reliability, stability and long life, your memory OC is going to be minimal 950-975 in real applications unless you get very very luck or have samsung ram. AL or Cu will not matter. I suggest the cheapest set you can find.

if it is the Qimonda ram is it 14 x 10mm here is the datasheet for the ram that is being typically used. Package dimensions and thermal requirements are included.

Edit ahh hell cant get the link to work, the link to the ram data-sheet is in a review found here.
http://www.legitreviews.com/article/607/1/


I would be surprised if other brands of memory on that card where of a different size. The above doc should be good for any brand of memory found on that card.

Careful about the height of the ram-sinks, remember your barbs, depending on how they exit the block you might need a couple of low profile sinks.

As far as which block I don't think it will matter a lot, my low end swifttech mcw60 keeps the core at 36C no matter what I play. So just make sure the block is suited for the rest of your system components as far as flow, restriction and dissimilar metals. The rest is looks. There is not a huge amount of headroom in the gpu as well, I can run ati tool all day at 775 core with no artifacts. In "real" life anything more than 690 casues problems in game with unexpected freezes etc. Still thats better than stock and I love seeing that temp at reasonalbe levels. But it is the onboard caps for the power supply that I worry about and the slot fan or somethign blowing air directly on that card is what will cool them. If you buy a card every year, eh, dontworryaboutit.


ohhh drop down in the watecooling sub forum, same basic question and someone found some neat solutions and some shiny bits I had not seen before. Might be something you would want.

I had not seen this before, interesting,
http://www.dtekcustoms.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=207
 
DarkenReaper57 said:
So I am guessing that I need 4 MOSFET heatsinks and 1 PWM heatsink?

Also, I noticed that BGA ramsinks come in different sizes. Would someone mind telling me the size I should purchase, so I don't end up with sinks that are too large or too small?

I'm also assuming that the difference in performance for ramsinks between copper and aluminum is nothing, simply because the ram doesn't get super hot to begin with. Is this safe to assume?
Click to expand...

Im sure the copper blocks work better than the alum. How much is better left to technical types.
Also it matters how they are attached,I did not like the Zalman tape so I used AS Epoxy.

Another thing to consider is airflow the heatsinks will need air passing over them to be really effective.

One thing about the full coverage blocks is they eliminate all this extra baloney and make the cooling closer to full proof.
DB posted this review in another thread showing the BFG/DD ione cooler.Very BIG difference over the stock cooler.
http://www.guru3d.com/article/Videocards/484/
 
I ordered a kit directly from swiftech... anyways, you need 10 ramsinks and 1 mosfet

http://www.swiftnets.com/products/mcw60-R.asp

scroll down and there's a picture of an 8800GT with all it needs. I wouldn't neccessarily recommend swiftech's ramsinks (water block is awesome), but it works, just kind of pricey. Had to cut down 4 of swiftechs ramsinks for them to work, but it works good.

Other companies make low profile ramsinks that should work well too.
 
I'll probably get a pack of the Thermalright PWM heatsinks from SVC, but am a bit uncertain as to which BGA ramsinks to get. I see these made by Koolance http://www.svc.com/klramsink-18.html and look decent, but I can't find their dimensions anywhere. I'd prefer to keep the cost low and the color silver to match the other sinks, but it isn't a necessity. I can always fall back on the Zalman sinks, which are cheap as well.

The MC8800 Swiftech kit is a rip-off, though :mad:.
 
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