Gigabyte 6800GT DH a good idea?

[midnight growler]

I might be getting a 6800GT (pci-e) and I've been looking around at the different models. I saw this Gigabyte version. It has a passive heatsink on the top with an LED fan on the bottom so you can see it when its installed. The few reviews I've seen don't really reccommend it though because the heatpipes have bad connections to the GPU itself. Is this a common problem? And if it is, would applying some Artic Silver 5 in there work any better?

(edited for a mistake)

 

[keeleysam]

Thats a good card. My freind has it and it easily unlocked and overclocked to an ultra.

 

[Soccerman06]

The only thing you need to be careful about with passively cooled GPUs is if your CPU is also passively cooled. Because the passively cooled GPUs use the air current made by the CPU's fan to aid the cooling. Some people have done this and reported that the GPU overheats within 30 minutes of use, out of the box, using the ultra. Otherwise its a good choice 🙂.

 

[midnight growler]

Well its not completly passively cooled, but its not cooled normally either. The card is 'upside-down' so the fan is right next to the cpu fan. Normally that would leave the underside of the card uncooled but I think a pci slot fan would take care of that. My CPU is going to be an Athlon 64 3500+ so I'll definitly have a fan on that of course.

At this point, I'm concered about the actual GPU/heat pipe connection, as I've heard its not done too well. Would it void my warrenty if I were to replace the thermal pads that connect the GPU to the heatpipe with some Artic Silver?

 

[JEDIYoda]

In a single word---YES!! warranty vioded!!

 

[deathwalker]

I just dont think I can buy into that card...these 6800GT cards run a bit hot and I have seen a few reports of excessive heat buildup with that Passive cold card.

 

[midnight growler]

Yeah Ive decided to forget about it and get an eVGA 6600GT instead, then in two months' time I'll step up to a 7800GT.