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Please help cooling 4870

C

ch0rx

n00b
Joined
Dec 26, 2007
Messages
16
Hello, I am having a bit of a dilema here and I figured you guys of all people would know best. Back in december I was cleaning the dust out of my 4870, and reapplying some new thermal paste, and, like the dunce I am, I forgot to plug the fan back in. Well, I started the card up and it got blazing hot, it got hot enough to begin melting the fan, well, in a panic, I rushed it out to the garage and softley used an air compressor to cool it down allitle, throwing the rules of chemistry aside, I assume since the fan cooled down too quickly, it cracked. :(
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So here I am with this card that has barely been running for the past 4 months. I took matters into my moneyless hands and tries multiple ways of ghetto rigging it until I scrounged up enough money to afford a proper cooler for it. I went from a mini jet fan laying around the house propped up against the case to acquiring these little fans that plug into a pci slot, and blow upwards. Well, temporary fixes at best, as the card is commonly overheating again, and I'd be lucky to get a stable 10mins out of it. I now have means of properly cooling it, hoping it's not too late, and I come here to ask for your opinions. I have heard the Trad2 is the godsend of VGA coolers, but with the 4870 in specific it doesnt cool th memory off properly, and that worries me. Is there any way to fix that issue, or would you all just recommend a completely different cooler. Whatever it may be, I appreciate your input, be it a cooler suggestion or making fun of me for being a real peice of work with the card. Thanks, and I hope to hear some good suggestions! :)
 
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835118037
Zalman VF1000 - $40 + shipping. Might be able to get it cheaper elsewhere, might not. Comes with RAM heatsinks, though you may need a few more than are included, I'm not sure as I don't own the card. I do know it is compatible and capable though.

Thermalright HR-03-GT is also an option, but it does not come with a fan and is more expensive. Cools better than the Zalman though.

Arctic Cooling Accelero S1 V2 works as well, but you will have to get sinks to cover the VRMs as the ones it comes with will not fit. This too does not come with a fan, you must provide your own or buy the Turbo Module for it.
 
My vote goes to the AC Accelero S1, has been a great cooler for me running on my 3870, has been keeping it at 49C load, just slap on a 120mm fan of your choice. It's also much cheaper than the Traid2, I believe I remember seeing a review of both and the S1 held its own just fine, with the Traid2 only giving a slight gain with heavy OCing.
 
The Twin Turbo is a slightly different deal, and a good option if it fits the 4870s. I don't know if it does or not.

Yes, you would need a small sink set if you got the Accelero since the sinks it comes with don't fit on the 4870's VRMs, which you /must/ cool or the card will die. I would probably look for a set that consists mostly of the longer type sinks though, since the square-ish ones are for BGA packaged RAM and you should have enough of those that come with the Accelero already.
 
Take a look here to see what the problem is with the VRM's.

You would need something more like this, than the ones you linked, though the stock ones can be made to fit. As for the Twin Turbo, I much rather use my own 120mm fan than the ones in that setup, they could be quiet, but I didn't want to take the chance.
 
What they said ^

The Arctic Cooling Accelero TWIN TURBO Quad Heatpipe are sweet and have the best performance for your money when it comes to air cooling from all the reviews I have read.

You might also want to purchase some Arctic Silver thermal compound.
 
So if I were to go with the twin turbo, I'd want to pick up those ram sincs that fireice linked? Those wouldnt be too tall and nudge up against the gpu sinc?
 
I was wondering, what thermal compund do I need for the vram coolers? I think I'm going to re-use atis' stock strips for the Vram, but for the Voltage regulators(?) (little chips in back) ATIs strip is not taped like the vram ones are, it's is just a glob of stuff.

I was asking because the spreaders I bought (IanDHs cusstom 4870 spreaders)
yhst-65556269779593_2047_23083303


They don't come with cooling compound as far as I know. Thanks again in advance, I appreciate the help.
 
ch0rx said:
I was wondering, what thermal compund do I need for the vram coolers?...
Click to expand...

You should be able to use any kind of TIM you like, if they come in contact with the chips, I use T-C Grease 0098, it works well on my cards and its super cheap, it's also not electrically conductive.
 
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