GTX 280 stock cooling...

TidusZ

Golden Member
Nov 13, 2007
1,765
2
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I haven't been able to find much about this through forum search and google. I'm wondering whether the stock dualslot cooler is sufficient for good overclocking of the geforce gtx 280, or whether I'd benefit from an aftermarket cooler.

I've just purchased the BFG gtx 280 oc, and I'm hoping to overclock it as much as safely possible. My current card is an 8800 gt and I have an accelero s1 with 2 fans on it, which brought temps WAAAAY down from stock and helped with overclocking. I'm hoping the massive stock cooler on the 280 is sufficient. I dont need ice cold temps, and I have a Coolermaster HAF 932 case so lots of airflow.

Also, anyone know what sort of overclocks to expect? Thanks to all for reading.
 

ArchAngel777

Diamond Member
Dec 24, 2000
5,223
61
91
Originally posted by: TidusZ
I haven't been able to find much about this through forum search and google. I'm wondering whether the stock dualslot cooler is sufficient for good overclocking of the geforce gtx 280, or whether I'd benefit from an aftermarket cooler.

I've just purchased the BFG gtx 280 oc, and I'm hoping to overclock it as much as safely possible. My current card is an 8800 gt and I have an accelero s1 with 2 fans on it, which brought temps WAAAAY down from stock and helped with overclocking. I'm hoping the massive stock cooler on the 280 is sufficient. I dont need ice cold temps, and I have a Coolermaster HAF 932 case so lots of airflow.

Also, anyone know what sort of overclocks to expect? Thanks to all for reading.

Difficult to know what to expect, especially if BFG are binning these chips. Anyway, if you are willing to increase the heat dissipation (turning the fan up) the stock heatsink/fan combo is just fine. The reason some people go with aftermarket heatsink/fan combo is generally noise related and at the same time, the same or slightly better cooling performance. You can jack up the fan speed to 100% on that 280GTX stock cooler and it will cool it nicely, but it will also be LOUD. Just something to consider.

 

chizow

Diamond Member
Jun 26, 2001
9,537
2
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Your overclock will depend on the chip, but generally speaking GTX 200 overclocks have been very good. An OC in the 650/1350/1200 range is pretty safe to shoot for.

The stock cooler is made by Cooler Master and is the best in the industry when it comes to stock cooling. Not only does it cool extremely well, but it also vents hot air out of the case and remains relatively silent below ~60-70% fan speed.

Personally I wouldn't bother with after-market cooling. There's been numerous reports from 4800 users that the tiny ramsinks or whatever comes with them is simply not enough to cool the VRMs. This PCGH review corroborates this for the GTX 200 series also:

PCGH GTX 280 Cooler Comparison

You can see very clearly that the HR-03 does a great job cooling the core but completely fails at cooling the VRMs. The SilenX looks great on paper but completely fails at both core and VRM cooling. The stock cooler does a pretty good job at both and those 80-85C temps under load overclocked are what you can expect with a good air cooled case like that HAF932.

The review also covers what kind of temps you can expect if you reapply thermal compound, which I thought was a nice touch.
 

TidusZ

Golden Member
Nov 13, 2007
1,765
2
81
Thanks a lot. I think I'll look into replacing the TIM and keeping the stock cooler. Crossing my fingers for a beasty overclocker.
 

cmdrdredd

Lifer
Dec 12, 2001
27,052
357
126
I don't know, see EVGA probably bins their chips too for their SC, SSC, and FTW cards. I have the vanilla reference part and got it to 670/1404/1215 easily. No sweat.