expansionsss
n00b
- Joined
- Aug 29, 2005
- Messages
- 58
EDIT3: Added pics, scroll down!
This is a work in progress, but I wanted to give you guys the lowdown on my very much WIP of modding a Corsair H60 watercooler (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835181015) to work on my 6870 MSI Twin Frozer II (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127545).
Pics and more precise details will come later, but I'll explain what I did for now.
First, I removed the fan and heatsink assembly of the 6870. There were ~12 screws on the back retaining everything, as well as two on the side by the DVI-out retaining the heatsink assembly. There was thermal tape sitting on the ram chips underneath the heatsink assembly, and of course your standard block on the GPU itself. Cleaned the paste off (which btw after just a year of use had become very brittle and "burnt" looking)
With all that off, I unpacked my H60 and tried to figure out how-the-hell I was going to attach this cooler to the board and get good contact. After consulting with a coworker of mine (who's got a bit more of a fabricating and "mechanic" background) we decided we *might* be able to drill some new holes on the stock Brackets (shown in the pics on newegg) to line up two of the four holes. I decided against this though as I would be blocking the majority of the ram chips, preventing me from putting any kind of heatsink on them.
What to do then? Well, having given up on using the stock bracket (the holes do not line up in any way shape or form), I dug through my 15 years of pc parts for some kind of misc bracket, standoff, ANYTHING that I might be able to attach to the board, which then could attach to the cooler. No dice. Everything was either too long or too short, or could only line up one or two of the holes at best.
So, deciding that "I'm a risk taker", I went with one of the world's best solutions for making stuff stay stuck to other stuff (nope not duct tape this time), ZIP TIES.
Yep, ZIP TIES. I ended up placing ties from the furthest screw holes to the diagonal opposite, then did the same in a cross pattern, and finally a third at a skewed angle. I had to readjust and retighten them several times, and in the end I don't believe the GPU to Block is perfect, but it "looks OK". ( I will edit later with good pics on this as describing the setup is clearly insufficient. )
After putting this in place, I did a mock seating of the card to see how I would need to rotate the tubing coming off the block to the rad. I found that no matter what I did, it would be partially blocking the ram chips, so more mods were in store. Using some ramsinks (these, plus others of two different sizes http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835708012) and some thermal compound (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835100013) I attached sinks to all the open ramchips. The ones that were blocked or partially blocked, I bent the prongs of the ramsinks such that they were free, again checking and re-checking to ensure that they would fit under the tubing of the block as well as the kinked angle of the block itself. (Pics coming to clarify). I found that on 4 of the chips I did not have 100% coverage of the ramchips, which kind of worries me, but in the end I feel is better than the thermal tape trash that was on them before under than heatsink assy that was there before. I would love some feedback on how safe this is.
Anyways, with it all set up, I threw it all in my system which is currently:
i5 655k @ 4.0ghz (soon to be upgraded to an i7 830)
A P55 Asus (don't have model atm)
inside NZXT Phantom case (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811146068)
6870 x 2 (this MSI one, plus an ASUS one, both with non-stock coolers)
I could not use the H60's included fan, as it is a 4pin CPU fan, so I used a standard one with similar holes and it all matched up just fine (as expected, they're all pretty much the same). I haven't found a place for the rad/fan yet, so at the moment it's just sitting on my floor with the case lid off.
Everything booted fine, and temps at idle were 40C on the modded card and 47C on the asus one.
Under load (BFBC2 @ 1920x1200 with nearly maxed image qual settings) my temps were 70-74C on the modded card and 84C on the ASUS. Previously, the MSI was hitting 104C *no matter what i did to improve airflow aside from removing the other card* and the ASUS hitting 89C. This would cause the msi to downclock itself and give me massive stuttering.
I believe that the temps on the MSI were either incorrectly reported or something is/was wrong with the card itself. I had previously taken off the msi cooler and put new thermal compound on it, but that did not help the heat issues. I had also attempted to put a fan rigged inside the case near/inbetween/beside the two vid cards but to no avail. Maybe a 1deg reduction. So i'm still wary about why it was getting this hot, but I'm happy that this cooler is "working".
My plans are to 1. redo the zipties (as I have a distinct fear they will warp and stretch) in the short term 2. Try to find a solution as to why my temps were so high and still are pretty high on this card, 3. Decide on a good location for the rad/fan (i haven't had time, i'm thinking inside a HD cage on the case) and finally 4. Fabricate a bracket so that I can actually attach the cooler correctly.
I'm just really wondering why Corsair hasn't made a universal bracket for ATI / Nvidia cards, as I'm certainly not the only one to ask for it.
Feedback appreciated !
edit 1: I didn't put this in the "ATI Flavor" sub-board as I feel like the exact same procedure could be done to an nvidia card, as it is a hack-job at the moment
edit 2: I just realized while proofreading this over a second time that I did not put any sinks on my mosfets. I better do that when i get home from work!
This is a work in progress, but I wanted to give you guys the lowdown on my very much WIP of modding a Corsair H60 watercooler (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835181015) to work on my 6870 MSI Twin Frozer II (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127545).
Pics and more precise details will come later, but I'll explain what I did for now.
First, I removed the fan and heatsink assembly of the 6870. There were ~12 screws on the back retaining everything, as well as two on the side by the DVI-out retaining the heatsink assembly. There was thermal tape sitting on the ram chips underneath the heatsink assembly, and of course your standard block on the GPU itself. Cleaned the paste off (which btw after just a year of use had become very brittle and "burnt" looking)
With all that off, I unpacked my H60 and tried to figure out how-the-hell I was going to attach this cooler to the board and get good contact. After consulting with a coworker of mine (who's got a bit more of a fabricating and "mechanic" background) we decided we *might* be able to drill some new holes on the stock Brackets (shown in the pics on newegg) to line up two of the four holes. I decided against this though as I would be blocking the majority of the ram chips, preventing me from putting any kind of heatsink on them.
What to do then? Well, having given up on using the stock bracket (the holes do not line up in any way shape or form), I dug through my 15 years of pc parts for some kind of misc bracket, standoff, ANYTHING that I might be able to attach to the board, which then could attach to the cooler. No dice. Everything was either too long or too short, or could only line up one or two of the holes at best.
So, deciding that "I'm a risk taker", I went with one of the world's best solutions for making stuff stay stuck to other stuff (nope not duct tape this time), ZIP TIES.
Yep, ZIP TIES. I ended up placing ties from the furthest screw holes to the diagonal opposite, then did the same in a cross pattern, and finally a third at a skewed angle. I had to readjust and retighten them several times, and in the end I don't believe the GPU to Block is perfect, but it "looks OK". ( I will edit later with good pics on this as describing the setup is clearly insufficient. )
After putting this in place, I did a mock seating of the card to see how I would need to rotate the tubing coming off the block to the rad. I found that no matter what I did, it would be partially blocking the ram chips, so more mods were in store. Using some ramsinks (these, plus others of two different sizes http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835708012) and some thermal compound (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835100013) I attached sinks to all the open ramchips. The ones that were blocked or partially blocked, I bent the prongs of the ramsinks such that they were free, again checking and re-checking to ensure that they would fit under the tubing of the block as well as the kinked angle of the block itself. (Pics coming to clarify). I found that on 4 of the chips I did not have 100% coverage of the ramchips, which kind of worries me, but in the end I feel is better than the thermal tape trash that was on them before under than heatsink assy that was there before. I would love some feedback on how safe this is.
Anyways, with it all set up, I threw it all in my system which is currently:
i5 655k @ 4.0ghz (soon to be upgraded to an i7 830)
A P55 Asus (don't have model atm)
inside NZXT Phantom case (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811146068)
6870 x 2 (this MSI one, plus an ASUS one, both with non-stock coolers)
I could not use the H60's included fan, as it is a 4pin CPU fan, so I used a standard one with similar holes and it all matched up just fine (as expected, they're all pretty much the same). I haven't found a place for the rad/fan yet, so at the moment it's just sitting on my floor with the case lid off.
Everything booted fine, and temps at idle were 40C on the modded card and 47C on the asus one.
Under load (BFBC2 @ 1920x1200 with nearly maxed image qual settings) my temps were 70-74C on the modded card and 84C on the ASUS. Previously, the MSI was hitting 104C *no matter what i did to improve airflow aside from removing the other card* and the ASUS hitting 89C. This would cause the msi to downclock itself and give me massive stuttering.
I believe that the temps on the MSI were either incorrectly reported or something is/was wrong with the card itself. I had previously taken off the msi cooler and put new thermal compound on it, but that did not help the heat issues. I had also attempted to put a fan rigged inside the case near/inbetween/beside the two vid cards but to no avail. Maybe a 1deg reduction. So i'm still wary about why it was getting this hot, but I'm happy that this cooler is "working".
My plans are to 1. redo the zipties (as I have a distinct fear they will warp and stretch) in the short term 2. Try to find a solution as to why my temps were so high and still are pretty high on this card, 3. Decide on a good location for the rad/fan (i haven't had time, i'm thinking inside a HD cage on the case) and finally 4. Fabricate a bracket so that I can actually attach the cooler correctly.
I'm just really wondering why Corsair hasn't made a universal bracket for ATI / Nvidia cards, as I'm certainly not the only one to ask for it.
Feedback appreciated !
edit 1: I didn't put this in the "ATI Flavor" sub-board as I feel like the exact same procedure could be done to an nvidia card, as it is a hack-job at the moment
edit 2: I just realized while proofreading this over a second time that I did not put any sinks on my mosfets. I better do that when i get home from work!
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