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XFX 5850 cooler change

Because it's a better cooler than the reference design and it's about time the AIB started making their own solutions.

The older models of 5850 and 5870 were all just reference cards from the same factory with XFX stickers put on it.
 
They did something VERY similar to their HD4890s. Ended up using a cheaper PCB with cheaper components, less OC potential.

Looked hella sexy, though:
 
hmm so I wonder which is actually better. Will be interesting to see some testing results.
 
Same thing happened to 5770 series, the change from reference had a better cooler but also used a cheaper PCB with one less CF bridge but still a decent card.

For me, quietness in idle is more important to me than overclocking. I've had it with trying to overclock cards on stock cooling. The end result is never enough to justify the heat/fan noise. This fan and heatsink setup looks cooler and quieter.

I'll probably just go for the 5870 version of this.

I love XFX but really hate their ATI colorscheme though. Red accents with purple and green artwork? Awful!
 
Humbug -- the reference 5850 cooler is plenty quiet. At idle it's about as quiet as my SSD. At load it's about as quiet as my CPU fan (which is a 92mm that goes up to about 1500RPM under load).
 
friend'scatdied said:
Humbug -- the reference 5850 cooler is plenty quiet. At idle it's about as quiet as my SSD. At load it's about as quiet as my CPU fan (which is a 92mm that goes up to about 1500RPM under load).
Click to expand...

I can't live with a reference design card that has the blower at one end blowing everything out the back. Terrible experiences with them and I don't like that design.

I will probably get the new one and tape up the back vent, I want all the hot air blowing into my case.

Either this, or the Gigabyte model:
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125316&cm_re=5870-_-14-125-316-_-Product

gvr585oc1gdcolourboxs1.png
 
Spare-Flair said:
Same thing happened to 5770 series, the change from reference had a better cooler but also used a cheaper PCB with one less CF bridge but still a decent card.

For me, quietness in idle is more important to me than overclocking. I've had it with trying to overclock cards on stock cooling. The end result is never enough to justify the heat/fan noise. This fan and heatsink setup looks cooler and quieter.

I'll probably just go for the 5870 version of this.

I love XFX but really hate their ATI colorscheme though. Red accents with purple and green artwork? Awful!
Click to expand...

For the record the new egg shaped 5770 cooler was tested to work better than the original by quite a margin. I don't remember the site that did it but it was a professional comparison.
 
They're copying Sapphire's design I see, also some Nvidia cards are using that these days.
Downside is, some of the hot air goes out the wrong side (back into the case).
 
UtopiA said:
They're copying Sapphire's design I see, also some Nvidia cards are using that these days.
Downside is, some of the hot air goes out the wrong side (back into the case).
Click to expand...

Is there some definitive test that shows the "exhaust out the back" style coolers really keep the interior of a case that much cooler? I remember my feeling HD4870 radiating a shitload of heat back into my case regardless of its exhausting-out-the-back stock heatsink design.
 
I will probably get the new one and tape up the back vent, I want all the hot air blowing into my case.
Click to expand...

Why would you EVER want to blow the hot air into your case?
 
hot air is not a problem with an antec 900 or 300 w/fans. The hot air doesnt stay in there. My question would be, why do you buy a case with crappy airflow?
 
Spare-Flair said:
I can't live with a reference design card that has the blower at one end blowing everything out the back. Terrible experiences with them and I don't like that design.

I will probably get the new one and tape up the back vent, I want all the hot air blowing into my case.

Either this, or the Gigabyte model:
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125316&cm_re=5870-_-14-125-316-_-Product

Click to expand...
Wait, so you haven't even tried or heard a 5850 with reference cooling, but you're going to denounce it? Despite how it's universally known to be one of the quietest reference designs ever? And you'd also like to prevent whatever card you buy from venting properly? Wow, just wow.
 
Sonofa.... Now Amazon really will never fill all their preorders for the ZNFC version.
 
jojospcs said:
For the record the new egg shaped 5770 cooler was tested to work better than the original by quite a margin. I don't remember the site that did it but it was a professional comparison.
Click to expand...

That's what I said. They changed from reference to a better cooler.

That said, the PCB had visibly less components, one less CF bridge, etc. and was obviously cheaper to manufacture but there's no real info on whether or not that impacted reliability/overclockability.
 
Mr. K6 said:
Wait, so you haven't even tried or heard a 5850 with reference cooling, but you're going to denounce it? Despite how it's universally known to be one of the quietest reference designs ever? And you'd also like to prevent whatever card you buy from venting properly? Wow, just wow.
Click to expand...

Axial fans are always better than radial/blower/squirrel cage designs. I cannot stand radial/blower/squirrel cage fans. Every single videocard, cooler, case fan, etc. I have ever had with this design has been terrible for me. The reason I have not bought a 5XXX series card until now is I was waiting for AIB to get rid of the reference cooler and to produce one that will exhaust into the case instead of out the back where it will get sucked right back in and blown back onto the card by my reverse airflow setup. I'm even going to tape over the rear vent on the dual PCI bracket because it's right next to a primary intake on my case because everything intakes through the back of my case and exhauts out the front.
 
Spare-Flair said:
Axial fans are always better than radial/blower/squirrel cage designs. I cannot stand radial/blower/squirrel cage fans. Every single videocard, cooler, case fan, etc. I have ever had with this design has been terrible for me. The reason I have not bought a 5XXX series card until now is I was waiting for AIB to get rid of the reference cooler and to produce one that will exhaust into the case instead of out the back where it will get sucked right back in and blown back onto the card by my reverse airflow setup. I'm even going to tape over the rear vent on the dual PCI bracket because it's right next to a primary intake on my case because everything intakes through the back of my case and exhauts out the front.
Click to expand...
Axial fans and radial fans are different designs meant for different purposes. For instance, good luck creating the pressure of a radial fan with an axial fan. In the scope of your setup, getting an inward exhausting fan makes sense.
 
I suppose I should qualify that in terms of air pressure/air flow to noise ratio, axial fans are better for quiet computing. They spin at a lower RPM and have less turbulance to push the same amount of air. I've had plenty of blower fans for everything from HDD cooling, slot intakes, videocards, etc. and I have never been a fan. Blowers are good for pushing air horizontally if you have a limited profile like when you have to keep a videocard cooler down to 2 slots thickness.
 
Check out how much better the Powercolor non-reference version is than the reference cooler! It's more than 10 decibels quieter at load and dBa is a logarithmic scale which means it's a hell of a lot quieter!

fannoiseload.gif


This is one of the main reasons why I cannot buy a reference design. It's not worth it.
 
I like the reference a lot more since they're not cutting corners. Notice the back plate is absent in the new coolers much like the GTX 260 216sp revisions. I guess I like getting more material for my buck.

edit: Sorry my mistake, I thought this was about the HD 5870 which does contain the back plate on the reference model.
 
pedophilekiller said:
I like the reference a lot more since they're not cutting corners. Notice the back plate is absent in the new coolers much like the GTX 260 216sp revisions. I guess I like getting more material for my buck.

edit: Sorry my mistake, I thought this was about the HD 5870 which does contain the back plate on the reference model.
Click to expand...

It's believed the reference design uses a different PCB layout with higher quality components as well. As happened in the 3000 and 4000 series, changes to non-reference resulted in cheaper boards and deletion of features (5770 has one CF bridge deleted it seems). It seems that many of the axial center fan 5870s actually have no software voltage control which is a drawback for overclockers.

The best middle ground is probably the original reference card with aftermarket cooling but that's often another $50-$60 in cost on top.
 
Spare-Flair said:
It's believed the reference design uses a different PCB layout with higher quality components as well. As happened in the 3000 and 4000 series, changes to non-reference resulted in cheaper boards and deletion of features (5770 has one CF bridge deleted it seems). It seems that many of the axial center fan 5870s actually have no software voltage control which is a drawback for overclockers.

The best middle ground is probably the original reference card with aftermarket cooling but that's often another $50-$60 in cost on top.
Click to expand...

Worst thing about it is that non-reference designs often cost the same for much cheaper components.
 
Spare-Flair said:
I may just do that. Do the ramsinks on the twin turbo pro kit work fine for 5850/5870?
Click to expand...


you wont use the ram sinks on a 5850. You will reinstall the stock plate, its much more effective than the ram sinks.

If its a 5870, you have to use the sinks because stock plated is welded to the shroud.

I personally would use the thermalright v3/v4/v5 on the vrms if using the 5870, but then its getting expensive.

Best value is the TTPro on a reference 5850, reusing the stock plate.


you can see how i put mine on here.


http://www.hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1495889
 
Last edited:
bradyapba said:
you wont use the ram sinks on a 5850. You will reinstall the stock plate, its much more effective than the ram sinks.

If its a 5870, you have to use the sinks because stock plated is welded to the shroud.

I personally would use the thermalright v3/v4/v5 on the vrms if using the 5870, but then its getting expensive.

Best value is the TTPro on a reference 5850, reusing the stock plate.


you can see how i put mine on here.


http://www.hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1495889
Click to expand...

I just priced matched a $440 reference design to the non-reference $400 model and bought an Accelero Twin Turbo (unfortunately $50 is the lowest price in Canada) so we'll see how it goes. The Twin Turbo's two fans plug right into the header on the card right?
 
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