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4850 Cooling Opinions?

YOyoYOhowsDAjello

YOyoYOhowsDAjello

Moderator<br>A/V & Home Theater<br>Elite member
Hi guys.

I recently got this build running
http://forums.anandtech.com/me...=2207566&enterthread=y

Sonata III
E8400
ASUS P5Q Pro
Mushkin 2x2 gig DDR2 800
ASUS 4850
etc.

I have everything put together
http://pics.bbzzdd.com/users/Y...Ajello/Sonata_Fit1.jpg
(just barely managing to get the power connection on the 4850 to fit)

On advice from my original thread, I also bought and Arctic Cooling ACCELS1 Rev 2 cooler for the 4850
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16835186016
Reports were that the 4850 reference ATI design and fan speed resulted in really high temps.

Indeed the temps were high with the default configuration. I was getting 65C on the 4850 just sitting in Windows XP.

I used the CCC fan speed fix and played around with some different speed settings to try to see what kind of results I could get without installing the ACCELS1 cooler. I found a good balance of loudness vs. cooling at 45% fan speed.

The 4850 is no louder than my case fans / PSU fan at that point and I'm getting temperatures of under 50C under load (3200x1200 on Supreme Commander) for the 4850.


So... at this point I'm wondering if I should even bother with the ACCELS1 cooler. Although it does indeed look like a good deal for a cooler, the comments about the ramsinks being easy to knock off have me a bit worried. Aigomorla suggested http://www.sidewindercomputers.com/akthadtaak80.html in the other thread as an alternative to the adhesive that comes with the ACCELS1 ramsinks.

Any opinions on what I should do?

I didn't read any fine print at all, but I can only assume that I'm voiding my warranty taking the default cooling solution off my ASUS card. Is that correct?

I'm pretty satisfied with my temps already with the 4850. Below 40C idle and below 50C load is pretty good for a 4850, right?

From my other thread:

I guess now I have to decide what to do about the cooler.
My options are
1. return it (I don't think shipping fees + restocking fee is going to make that worth it)
2. install it anyway (I'm a bit worried about the ram heatsinks falling off)
3. sell it
4. install it on my 6600gt with the moaning fan of death, which is the loudest thing in the case... I've actually stopped watching movies a couple of times to figure out if one of my speakers was making the noise only to realize that the 6600gt fan had decided to get even louder and more annoying (eventually might get this rig up and running again for the gf... just need new peripherals + monitor + optical drive)

Opinions from you guys?
 
I would try Crysis demo and use that to stress the card and see what you get (because Supcom isnt the most graphically intensive game)

I think it would be a waste on the 6600GT

Here is what I would do:

Check crysis for temps, see what you get

If unacceptable with stock cooler use the s1

If acceptable sell it
 
Originally posted by: RallyMaster
Sell it and get an Accelero S2 for the 6600GT.
Click to expand...

I should sell a $30 cooler for some amount less than $30 and order a $20 cooler?

I don't get it... what am I missing?
 
Originally posted by: BassBomb
I would try Crysis demo and use that to stress the card and see what you get (because Supcom isnt the most graphically intensive game)

I think it would be a waste on the 6600GT

Here is what I would do:

Check crysis for temps, see what you get

If unacceptable with stock cooler use the s1

If acceptable sell it
Click to expand...

Will do.

The ATI overclocking tab (where I was pulling the temp figures) was showing 90% + GPU utilization with Supreme Commander, but you're right that it probably isn't the most intense test for this.
 
Using any kind of permanent adhesive on video card would void the warranty. I dont trust the longevity of any newer cards from nvidia or ati enough to do something like this.

EVGA and maybe XFX seems to be about the only seller that accepts RMA for cards used with aftermarket cooling.
 
You don't need any kind of special adhesive tape. The stock ones on the ramsinks work just fine. If people are finding that they're falling off, then they've done a poor job of cleaning the adhesive residue from the stock heatsink before applying the ramsinks.

If you're neurotic about both heat and noise like I am, the S1 is definitely worth it. To get the temps I was satisfied with using the stock cooler on the 4870, I had to run the fan loudly enough that I could hear it even with circumaural headphones on.

And yes, I'm pretty sure that with most if not all of the ATI vendors, using an aftermarket heatsink will void the warranty. Oh well 😀...

Picture of the ramsinks on my card -- as you can see, they're doing just fine.
 
AmberClad, what did you use to clean off your old ram chips?

I'm not really neurotic, but I really dislike whining fan noises. A lot drone of low RPM fans and air movement is 100% ok. I'm ok with the noise of the 4850 fan up to about 50%, but above that it's where it starts to get irritating.

I'm going to try the crysis demo tonight when I get home from work so see if 50% or lower on the 4850 fan is decent enough.

Does anyone have a temperature for me that they would say is acceptable?

At what point should I be worried?
 
iso 90% because of how fast and clean it drys. If you can get some Di Chloro Methanol, that would be even better, but 😛

Use coffee filter to clean your ram sinks, as its the best lint free tissue you'll have, unless your a scientist and have kimwipes around. Then you should be using the DiChloro Methenol. 😛
 
I used ArctiClean. Isopropyl alcohol might work also - I think it'll require a bit more effort and time. I tried IPA at first, but after a bit of rubbing, I could still see the criss-crossing pattern of the residue.
 
Originally posted by: YOyoYOhowsDAjello
AmberClad, what did you use to clean off your old ram chips?

I'm not really neurotic, but I really dislike whining fan noises. A lot drone of low RPM fans and air movement is 100% ok. I'm ok with the noise of the 4850 fan up to about 50%, but above that it's where it starts to get irritating.

I'm going to try the crysis demo tonight when I get home from work so see if 50% or lower on the 4850 fan is decent enough.

Does anyone have a temperature for me that they would say is acceptable?

At what point should I be worried?
Click to expand...

Acceptable IMO would be ~85 on stock cooler when you are limiting the fanspeed

I hit 90s with my 8800GT stock cooler locked @30% speed (because of bios issue)
 
The 4800 series is rated to run anywhere up to 105C from what I have read. If you are like me, once you get into the 90's, its not a panic but you think that there needs to be something done. So as long as you stay under 95C, theres no problem with the board although you may have a lot more heat dumped into your case etc.

Run Furmark. A wonderful little freeware program that will toast your GPU and stress it beyond the means of normal games. The Stability Test I believe it is called will run indefinately until you tell it to stop and will also display the temperature in the top left hand corner of the screen.

In my opinion, if the temperatures with Furmark reach 90C with the highest fan speed you can tolerate and continue to rise then I would recommend using your aftermarket cooler. If temps and noise stay within the comfortable range, then you can either sell it or use if on your 6800... that is your choice alone.
 
GF is watching Stargate on the projector, so I turned off the air conditioner to lessen ambient noise in the room... so idle temperature on the 4850 climbed to 40C

Results:

1600x1200 Crysis

45% Fan Speed --> temp seemed to max out at about 72C

60% Fan Speed --> temp seemed to max out at about 65C

I'll test out FurMark now 🙂
(gladly it's not a 4 hours download for me 😛 )

EDIT:

Well Furmark wasn't quite as exciting at Crysis, but things did get hotter 🙂

45% Fan Speed --> I stopped the test when it hit 90C

60% Fan Speed --> It seemed to top out at about 86C

Guess I have some thinking to do 🙂

Thanks.
 
Will do. The ATI overclocking tab (where I was pulling the temp figures) was showing 90% + GPU utilization with Supreme Commander, but you're right that it probably isn't the most intense test for this.
Click to expand...

CCC can show GPU utilization now? thats cool

is it similar to the bars in windows task manager?
 
Originally posted by: LOUISSSSS
Will do. The ATI overclocking tab (where I was pulling the temp figures) was showing 90% + GPU utilization with Supreme Commander, but you're right that it probably isn't the most intense test for this.
Click to expand...

CCC can show GPU utilization now? thats cool

is it similar to the bars in windows task manager?
Click to expand...


Its a non-graphical realtime representation. It updates the % it displays every few seconds but does not provide you with a graph. Slightly disappointing tbh.
 
Originally posted by: The Odorous One
Slap the S1 on it Soundman and then you'll be really bored because you'll never have to look at 4850 temps again.
Click to expand...

Actually, I agree with this notion. Battlefield 2 makes my HD4850 temps go up to 55C at load. That's pretty damn good considering it's running passively.
 
Originally posted by: RallyMaster
Originally posted by: The Odorous One
Slap the S1 on it Soundman and then you'll be really bored because you'll never have to look at 4850 temps again.
Click to expand...

Actually, I agree with this notion. Battlefield 2 makes my HD4850 temps go up to 55C at load. That's pretty damn good considering it's running passively.
Click to expand...

For reference, my HD4870 790/1000 with HR-03 GT hits 70-75C under load, running passively during Age of Conan gaming.

With your HD4850 hitting those kinds of temperatures under Furmark, I think The Odorous One and RallyMaster hits the nail on the head with the "install it" notion.
 
I'm going to have to wait until I can get some supplies to clean off the residue from the old hsf but once I have that I'll go ahead and try it.
 
Q-tips work great for cleaning the gpu paste, you don't need any solvent during this step. They always apply way too much paste which gets pushed off the core and over the edge. Using the Q-tips works great and the surface is polished so you can get it nice and shiny after it's all cleaned up. I wouldn't bother with solvent at all, it'll just make one gooey mess. Try it dry first time, you'll be glad you did.

When it's all clean and shiny you can use a Q-tip with alcohol on the core but it really isn't necessary because the shine you get from the dry method will be every bit as good.

For the ram I do the same. The pads come off cleanly but leave a small residual film behind. Again q-tips with rubbing alcohol do the trick nicely. I've never had a ram sink fall off using this method and I've done it more than a few times.
 
Whoops, guess I should have read a few 4850 installation threads and figure out I needed to either

1. Saw the end of the stock cooler off to get the voltage regulator portion cut off to reuse
2. Install some other heatsinks to the voltage regulator components (I don't have any)

Guess it's time to go to the hardware store and pick up some new dremel cutting wheels for my immitation dremel tool 😉

EDIT:

My $10 fake dremel paid for itself again 😛

Stealing the voltage regulator portion of the old heatsink
http://pics.bbzzdd.com/users/Y...DAjello/Before_Cut.jpg
http://pics.bbzzdd.com/users/Y...Voltage_Regulators.jpg
(Cut enough of it off to get 3 points to secure it to the board rather than just 2)

Cleaned off the ram chips as best I could + placed in the trimmed one
http://pics.bbzzdd.com/users/Y...lo/Trimmed_Ramsink.jpg

Then installed the rest of it
http://pics.bbzzdd.com/users/Y...Ajello/Installed_1.jpg
http://pics.bbzzdd.com/users/Y...Ajello/Installed_2.jpg

Results...

Idle 25C

Furmark topped out at 53C 🙂

Thanks for the help everybody
 
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