Best 7850 for use with Accelero Twin Turbo II?

[terpstra]

I asked this on silentpcreview, but then I realized it's probably not the right forum for questions like "which vendor cut corners on capacitors, regulators, etc". So...

I am putting together a new system and so far it's mostly inaudible and low power. I aim to keep it that way, but it still lacks a graphics card!

I've mostly settled on the HD 7850 which appears to have the best performance/watt in my price range (~210EUR). From reading other forums and reviews, it seems the best way to make a GPU quiet is to load an Arctic Accelero Twin Turbo II (TTII) on the card (~30EUR). Since I am replacing the cooler anyway, I don't care at all about the stock cooler of the card, nor do I care about it's factory-default frequency.

I've read that the TTII needs to have a reference board layout, but there don't seem to be any reference 7850s available. Which cards can fit the TTII cooler and connect its 3-pin power plug? Do any vendors use poor quality components I should avoid? Are there any other things I should consider when picking a model? Obviously, I want the cheapest card with no build quality pitfalls (other than poor cooler).

I know I want a TTII and a 7850.
The question: Which 7850?

PS. I will be using this system under both Windows and Linux. Also, I live in Germany, so the cards available to me are more-or-less those on geizhals.de.

 

[hjalti8]

I asked this on silentpcreview, but then I realized it's probably not the right forum for questions like "which vendor cut corners on capacitors, regulators, etc". So...

I am putting together a new system and so far it's mostly inaudible and low power. I aim to keep it that way, but it still lacks a graphics card!

I've mostly settled on the HD 7850 which appears to have the best performance/watt in my price range (~210EUR). From reading other forums and reviews, it seems the best way to make a GPU quiet is to load an Arctic Accelero Twin Turbo II (TTII) on the card (~30EUR). Since I am replacing the cooler anyway, I don't care at all about the stock cooler of the card, nor do I care about it's factory-default frequency.

I've read that the TTII needs to have a reference board layout, but there don't seem to be any reference 7850s available. Which cards can fit the TTII cooler and connect its 3-pin power plug? Do any vendors use poor quality components I should avoid? Are there any other things I should consider when picking a model? Obviously, I want the cheapest card with no build quality pitfalls (other than poor cooler).

I know I want a TTII and a 7850.
The question: Which 7850?

PS. I will be using this system under both Windows and Linux. Also, I live in Germany, so the cards available to me are more-or-less those on geizhals.de.

the msi power edition is the best 7850 you can get http://geizhals.de/784674

but I am not sure if the accelero will fit but it looks like it judging these pictures:

refrence:

msi power edition:

If it fits the accelero and the power edition would make an excellent pair



EDIT: it will definitely fit on reference cards like this: http://geizhals.de/751991 but if you are going to overclock it I would go with the power edition since it has more power phases and such. Here is a guy putting the twin turbo on a reference 7850 : http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showpost.php?p=21918191&postcount=1222

 

[bigsnyder]

The power edition carries an extra price premium plus a cooler that already works well. I would recommend the cheapest 7850 you can find if you are going through the trouble of changing coolers. The PowerColor models might be a good candidate.

 

[terpstra]

Thank you very much for your well linked reply!

it will definitely fit on reference cards like this: http://geizhals.de/751991 but if you are going to overclock it I would go with the power edition since it has more power phases and such.

Where did you find that the MSI has more power phases? The PowerColor PCS+ is sold factory clocked at 1GHz so that card must have the power too.

The power edition carries an extra price premium plus a cooler that already works well. I would recommend the cheapest 7850 you can find if you are going through the trouble of changing coolers. The PowerColor models might be a good candidate.

I suspect our definitions of a cooler that works well might differ. That's too thumbs up for PowerColor. Unless I hear differently in the next day that's what I'll go with.

I suppose the PCS+ might have better binned chip for 7EUR (and more power?). However, the dimensions are slightly different and the DVI ports are located differently. That suggest a different PCB layout than the one hjalti8 found successfully replaced.

That fellow who replaced his cooler didn't even put the accelero heatsinks on the voltage regulator and memory chips and he still got those fine results. Should be great!

EDIT: I just noticed that 555BUK fellow is installing his 7850 into the exact same case as mine. We even both removed the drive cage. Hah! =D

 

[buklau]

Instead of going for the cheapest 7850 + accelero cooler on top, have you think about just getting the Asus 7850? I have one of these and it runs at about 71c full load at OCCT GPU test stock setting, fan spin at around 50% and its pretty noisy. As soon as I replace the stock TIM with arctic cooling mx-2, the load temperature is now 63c (OCCT GPU) with fan spinning at 35%, really quiet. If I wanted to make it more quiet, I can always use Asus GPU tweak with custom fan profile and keep it under 30% at all temperature until it pass 85c. Now that with it overclocked to 1100mhz core 5500mhz memory @ 1.155v, idle is like 28c with load at 61c in games with fan spin no more than 30% speed, pretty quiet.

 

[terpstra]

Instead of going for the cheapest 7850 + accelero cooler on top, have you think about just getting the Asus 7850?

I have nothing against the Asus card. In fact, when shipping is considered it only costs 7EUR more than the PowerColor. However, as good as the stock cooler might be, it is almost certainly much louder than anything else in my case. So I am flexible on the card, but not on the cooler.

If I wanted to make it more quiet, I can always use Asus GPU tweak with custom fan profile and keep it under 30% at all temperature until it pass 85c.

This fan profile software is Asus specific? That sounds +7EUR useful to me.

Found these pictures of the ASUS HD7850-DC2-2GD5 PCB:

EDIT: If I'm not mistaken, that looks like a 4-pin fan connector. That's one of my bigger worries (e.g. HIS has only 2-pin). Would you mind confirming that your Asus card has a 4-pin power connector for the cooler please?

 

[hjalti8]

Where did you find that the MSI has more power phases? The PowerColor PCS+ is sold factory clocked at 1GHz so that card must have the power too.

As you can see on the picture the power edition has 6 phases for the core while a ref. 7850 has 4. I think the PCS+ uses a 7870 pcb wich has 5 phases.

 

[terpstra]

As you can see on the picture the power edition has 6 phases for the core while a ref. 7850 has 4.

How many are on the Asus card (I'm not sure exactly what to look for on the PCB)? Are you counting the chokes? If so, looks like only 4 on Asus. :-(

I don't intend to push the 7850 clock up very high---I want to keep the power draw low enough not to push the fans above silent. If there is some wiggle room with the TTII that I can use without increasing the power/noise too much, though, I will use it.

Being able to set rules like "keep fans silent unless dangerous temperature, in which case ramp them up to full to warn me (and cool)" would be great, though.

 

[3DVagabond]

The "7850 Reference" model doesn't exist. Since they are claiming 7850 compatibility, they should have a list of cards they've tested it on. I have a feeling all that will matter is the height of the components (capacitors, mainly, I would guess.). That said, I've seen reports of splendid results with the most basic of 7850's with the AC TTII. Sickbeast, a member here bought a basic Powercolor or HIS (can't recall exactly) and rocked it with the AC TTII.

 

[buklau]

The fan profile can be set to auto, manual or user define. In user mode, you can change the fan speed at your desirable temperature from 0-100%. My asus 7850 does have a 4 pin fan connector and then you can always plug your after market cooler fan to the motherboard and control the temperature from there.

I'm also very picky about keeping my computer quiet. I have the current followings.

i5 2500k @ 4.5ghz 1.336v
coolermaster hyper 212 evo with mx-2 (stock fan with synthetic motor oil on bearing set to level 1 = 1250RPM - silent 30-35c idle, 60-63c full load)
antec 300 with stock fan (both rear and top exhaust fan set to lowest with rubber gasket mounts plus synthetic motor oil on the bearings- silent)
asrock p67 pro3 board
16gb samsung 30nm ddr3-1600 @ 1866 9-9-9-24 1T 1.425v
60gb corsair force 3 ssd / 1tb wd blue
lg dvdrw sata
corsair cx400 power supply with modded fan with synthetic motor oil (silent at idle and load)
asus radeon 7850 with mx-2 & xbox 360 ram sinks on VRM (fan with synthetic motor oil on bearings @ auto usually hover at 30-35% speed in gaming - silent)

http://www.ebay.com/itm/NEW-Xbox-36...t=Video_Games_Accessories&hash=item35aa0a3577

Initially I was thinking about getting an arctic cooling accelero s1 plus heatsink with a low 800 RPM 120mm fan to reduce my noise since the video card is the loudest in my system as soon as the fan spin pass 40%. But once I add up the cost of the heat sink plus 120mm fan, I realize it's like $50. That accelero twin turbo 2 may be silent, but definitely not at 2000 RPM with 2x 92mm fan, proably you might need to take it down to around < 1400 RPM to be silent. Again, if you are very concerned about noise, I'd suggest you to get the accelero s1 plus with a 800RPM 1x120mm fan instead.

http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/coolers/display/arctic-accelero-s1-plus-turbo-module_4.html#sect2

 

[terpstra]

Now that I know what to look for (chokes):

Club3D -- 4 phases
PowerColor -- 4 phases
HSI -- 4 phases
GIGABYTE 'WindForce x2' -- 4 phases
XFX -- 4 phases
HIS IceQ -- 4 phases
Sapphire -- looks like 5?
MSI twin frozr -- also 5?
PowerColor PCS+ -- 5
MSI power edition -- 6 <== the only one of the bunch! (but +21EUR=10% over the PCS+)

The "custom fan profile" setting is a feature of catalyst, not Asus. So no reason to prefer the Asus card. All of the boards seem to have solid caps, so no advantage there either.

At the moment I think I'm back to what hjalti8 said in the first place: either the MSI power edition or a cheapo card like the PowerColor. Since the PowerColor PCS+ is like +7EUR and comes with a chip guaranteed to run stable at 1GHZ, ... I think that sounds like the best buy for my fan replacement plans.

EDIT: I found a nice high-res photo where one can also easily see the 4-pin fan connector. Perfect. PowerColor HD 7850 PCS+:

 

[Kristijonas]

As you can see on the picture the power edition has 6 phases for the core while a ref. 7850 has 4. I think the PCS+ uses a 7870 pcb wich has 5 phases.

What are those phases and what difference do they make? Why doesn't everyone just add more of them on the cards and market it, if they are something good?

 

[terpstra]

What are those phases and what difference do they make? Why doesn't everyone just add more of them on the cards and market it, if they are something good?

I found this site explained it very well for me: Everything you need to know about the motherboard voltage regulation circuit.

 

[hjalti8]

What are those phases and what difference do they make? Why doesn't everyone just add more of them on the cards and market it, if they are something good?

if you add too much voltage to the core on a card with few/bad-quality power phases something might blow up even though the core is properly cooled. Adding more power phases costs money and 99.9% of people dont know what a power phase is so they will just buy a cheaper card. But there are always some quality cards out there for enthusiasts like this lightning:

I found this site explained it very well for me: Everything you need to know about the motherboard voltage regulation circuit.

excellent explanation!