AzenX Blitztorm - anyone used this for cooling vrm, ram chips?

[francisA]

Since I installed the HR-03 GT, the 4850 seem to have refused to work 100% stable at my previous oc settings of 690/1138 {which I had with the stock 4850 cooler}.

After some analysis on GPU-Z's temp data, the GPU itself is cooled well enough, only topping off between 70-72 after about 2hrs of Crysis. It's the MEM or maybe even VRM chips that goes well above 80C for a sustained period of time.

My guess is, the troubles I'm seeing are caused by the memory going hotter than they used to as there's no fan blowing on the sinks and the fact that the ram chips now have those tiny, low-profile sinks. And to make it worse, the heat pipes sit in very close proximity to them. I also think that hot air is trapped between the 4850 and the bottom of the case.

The temps above are with a 120mm fan blowing cool air in from the side.

While searching the forum for a solution, I came across the Blitztorm which has one blower (out) and tilt-adjustable fan. Was thinking this might be a good dual-purpose solution as it can direct the cool air coming from the side panel over to the 4850 and the blower will suck out hot air trapped underneath.

Is this a good solution? Has anyone used it and have seen good {or even bad} results? I'm also short of hacking a stock 4850 cooler and just leave the part with the fan and sink over the vrm and ram chips.


Thanks in advance.

 

[Nafets]

I doubt it's the memory that's giving you a problem, it's the VRMs. If you're trying for passive/semi-passive you need a very generous heatsink over the VRMs, properly secured and in contact via either thermal tape or TIM.

Also, from what you write you're OC'ing while running semi-passive. This is a tough one for a HD4850. I could see it working properly at stock settings during load and gaming, but somewhat difficult while OC'ed.

The GPUs on ATI's HD48xx series are easily and effectively cooled with most aftermarket coolers, but it's usually the VRMs that will give you fits if not very well heatsinked and cooled...

 

[francisA]

Thanks for the confirmation on the VRMs Nafets. I honestly thought it wasn't the GPU as the temps seem controlled even OC'd.

The VRMs right now have the Thermalright sinks on them and though the side fan is blowing perpendicular to the 4850, the air might be deflected and not really blowing on the face of the VRM sinks so it's not effectively cooled. That's why I'm thinking of the Blitztorm or even simply the Vantec Spectrum

Heck, I probably would even do a ghetto DIY on a 80mm fan blowing directly over the VRMs.
Maybe an idea I saw here in the forum or while doing search is to hack the stock cooler to cool the VRMs. hmmmmmmmmmmm

The HR-03 GT is great for the GPU but bad for the VRMs and RAM chips.

 

[francisA]

Just to update my op.

I ended up buying a stock ATI cooler for the 4850, hacked the heatsink so the VRMs and the adjacent chips {don't really know what they are - shader cores maybe} are all cooled by 1 solid piece of heatsink. Then hacked the plastic cover so the fan can pull air in and distribute over the heatsink.

So far it's working well. I still have my 4850 oc'd per my sig and no glitches nor have seen artifacts after running artifact detection for 4hrs.

Btw, the mod was based on inspiration from a fellow anandtech member on a 4870 as well as research results from google