masterosok
Gawd
- Joined
- Apr 1, 2008
- Messages
- 969
Whats out there?
Follow along with the video below to see how to install our site as a web app on your home screen.
Note: This feature may not be available in some browsers.
Thermalright Shaman, Arctic Cooling Accelero Extreme Plus, Zalman VF3000
Those seem to be the best ones going right now.
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.
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.
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.
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:
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.
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.
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.
Could somebody do us all a favour and outline what has to be heatsinked on this card?
Are there any efficient dual-slot and crossfire friendly coolers for this card other than the obvious stock solution?
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.