ATI 4870/4890 VRM heatsink from Zalman

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thilanliyan

Lifer
Jun 21, 2005
12,040
2,254
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Okay so I decided (mostly because I was bored) to install the Zalman ZM-RHS90 VRM heatsink on my 4870 1GB (this heatsink fits the 4870/4890 reference designs).

Some pics:
http://i53.photobucket.com/alb.../thilan29/P7210085.jpg
http://i53.photobucket.com/alb.../thilan29/P7210086.jpg
http://i53.photobucket.com/alb.../thilan29/P7210087.jpg
http://i53.photobucket.com/alb...thilan29/P7220085x.jpg
Like the nice Christmas/AMDTi look? :) Those ramsinks are a kit by Zerotherm but most of them are ridiculously small so I had to double up...thankfully there were enough. Oh and the VRM heatsink uses pushpins but it seems fairly secure.

Previously I had the stock back plate cooling the ram and VRMs and it did a decent job especially considering I kept the fan at 40% max. During gaming it got to about 75C and with furmark it would get to 90C+ fairly quickly since the fan speed was so low.

Anyway after the mod the temps get to about the same in furmark but it takes longer to get there. ***Note: I don't have any direct cooling on the heatsink so all temps are with just 1 UNDERVOLTED fan about 10cm above and to the side of the heatsink so I'm sure you'd get better results with direct cooling on the sink. Also I used the TIM that came with the heatsink which looked like alumina/ceramique so maybe you can get better temps with something different.***

I just ran the Resident Evil benchmark and the VRMs didn't go above 65C and again this is with no direct airflow.

A question, would it be better to run the ram without heatsinks? I've heard some people say that before.

Any questions or suggestions?

EDIT: Just played some original Call of Juarez (pretty intensive game still) and VRMs got to 85C+. Sigh...looks like I'm gonna need some direct cooling or I may just end up switching back to the original cooler.

EDIT2: I stuck a 120mm fan blowing onto the heatsink and the ramsinks and I ran a renamed furmark session for 10 minutes at 800/1000 and the VRMs didn't break 65C whereas before within about 3 minutes it would get to about 90C and now playing CoJ it doesn't break 55C!!
 
Hauk

Hauk

Platinum Member
Nov 22, 2001
2,806
0
0
Christmas in July! Working on my list. :)

The TIM that came with it, was it in a tube that you had to apply to each VRM? If so that's always fun. Looks like some direct airflow helped. What gpu cooler are you using? I'm sure the ramsinks can't hurt. I'd leave em on..
 
B

Binky

Diamond Member
Oct 9, 1999
4,046
4
81
Damn, you beat me to it. Mine is still in transit to Los Angeles. You must be closer to the UK.

Any fit problems? I don't think you mentioned the cooler you use on that card. I plan to use it with an Accelero S1. I'll bend/dremel/adapt parts if necessary but not having to mod anything would be great.

Oh, and it's very...colorful. Almost hurts the eyes. ;)
 
T

thilanliyan

Lifer
Jun 21, 2005
12,040
2,254
126
Originally posted by: Binky
Any fit problems? I don't think you mentioned the cooler you use on that card. I plan to use it with an Accelero S1. I'll bend/dremel/adapt parts if necessary but not having to mod anything would be great.
Click to expand...

No fitting problems around the VRM sink area at all. My card is watercooled so I've got plenty of space for the whole thing to fit.

This is how it looked before with the block and stock backplate:
http://i53.photobucket.com/alb.../thilan29/P1150057.jpg

And now:
http://i53.photobucket.com/alb...thilan29/P7220085x.jpg

ANd with the fan:
http://i53.photobucket.com/alb...thilan29/P7220087x.jpg

PS. Thank you ATI for keeping the mounting holes for GPU blocks the same for a couple of generations!! This DD Maze4 has been around since my X1800XL.
 
K

kmmatney

Diamond Member
Jun 19, 2000
4,363
1
81
Sorry to dig up this old thread, but where the heck can you buy the:

Zalman ZM-RHS90 VRM heatsink

I've been looking everywhere for a place that sells it in the US.
 
K

kmmatney

Diamond Member
Jun 19, 2000
4,363
1
81
Originally posted by: kschaffner
Frozencpu.com has it for $7.95
Click to expand...

Hey thanks! SOmehow I didn't see that when I looked at their site earlier. Ordered one - should finally now be able to have a quiet HD4890.

 
T

thilanliyan

Lifer
Jun 21, 2005
12,040
2,254
126
Originally posted by: kmmatney
Originally posted by: kschaffner
Frozencpu.com has it for $7.95
Click to expand...

Hey thanks! SOmehow I didn't see that when I looked at their site earlier. Ordered one - should finally now be able to have a quiet HD4890.
Click to expand...

What GPU core cooling are you using?
 
K

kmmatney

Diamond Member
Jun 19, 2000
4,363
1
81
thilanliyan said:
What GPU core cooling are you using?
Click to expand...

I'm using this with the Accelero S1 Rev 2 on my HD4890. I finally have everything installed and am happy. I bought the MSI overclocked HD4890 a while back when it was $180 after rebate (I received the rebate, too). The problem is that I have a virtually silent PC, and the noise from the video card was killing me. I bought the Accelero S1 Rev 2 GPU cooler to quiet things down - however the HD4890 wouldn't boot after I installed it. After some troubleshooting, I finally figured out that the problem was with the lack of VRM cooling. The crappy VRM heatsinks that come with the Accelero didn't cut it. So I had to put back on the stock cooler, until I could get a VRM heatsink.

I then bought this Zalman VRM cooler, which does a great job on the VRMs. However, the Zalman VRM cooler clashes big-time with the Accelero, and I had to hacksaw a few fins off to get to things in place. Another problem was that by the time I got around to trying the Accelero again, the sticky material on the memory heatsinks weren't holding anymore, so I bought some thermal epoxy to stick them on (so I can never go back to the stock cooler now!).

After hacksawing the Zalman, and bending the Accelero a little bit (and bending my VGA card a little bit as well), I finally have my Accelero installed and working. The difference is amazing! I have a very quite fan blowing on the Accelero and the card is now whisper quiet, and idles at 36 C, and only gets to 55C max after heavy gaming (and that's overclocked!). It used to Idle over 50C with the stock cooler. I'm finally happy with my fast, and ultra-quiet video card! I'm really shocked at the difference the Accelero + Zalman VRM cooler made.
 
Last edited:
T

thilanliyan

Lifer
Jun 21, 2005
12,040
2,254
126
kmmatney said:
so I bought some thermal epoxy to stick them on (so I can never go back to the stock cooler now!).
Click to expand...

Not necessarily...I used Arctic Cooling epoxy once on ramsinks on a X1800XL when I was water cooling. I then wanted to sell the card so I stuck it in the freezer (in a ziploc bag) and the ramsinks just popped off then I reinstalled the stock heatsink.
 
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