How badly do I need an aftermarket cooler?

[WaterCannon]

I've been running rthdribl for over an hour and I think I've got a conclusive reading on my 4850 load temps. With the fan on 60%, I get 93 degrees Celsius. Idling at around 50 C.
How badly do I need an aftermarket cooler? The only shop in vicinity selling a 4850 compatible cooler only has a DuOrb on sale. If I got an aftermarket cooler, this would be it.
But the question is: Do I need it? Are the temps dangerously high?
I know ATI has said that these temperatures are normal, but I want my card to last without cranking up the fan til my ears bleed. When the fan is at it's normal setting (25-30%) I get load temps of over 105 C...
How hard would it be for me to change the cooler on my own? I managed to build the system in my rig just fine. And lastly, How big is the chance of screwing something up, rendering the card useless?

 

[footballrunner800]

Its not that hard to put an aftermarket hsf, you just have to have pacience. If youre getting those temps at 60%; you have very high ambient temps or you need better airflow in your case. Remember that the 4850 is dumping all its hot air inside the case so it heats everything up. You should try to put some fans to remove the hot air.

 

[mpilchfamily]

Temps are a bit high. Before you go replacing the cooler try improving the ariflow in your system. Also you will want to install Rivatuner and up the GPU fan top 100%.

 

[WaterCannon]

I added a couple of 120x120 fans in my case yesterday - no change. Ambient temps are low, possibly even below 20 C, it's cold in my room .The case I have is very large and it has so little hardware in it. I honestly don't believe it's the case temps. Running the case open with a large fan to create a bit of airflow reduces the temps by 2-3C max...
EDIT: Currently im using RivaTuner to increase my fan speed and monitor my temps.

 

[disports]

Lol. I used to have my 4850 run with the fan at like 30%, idling at 80 C. It's not that hard to install an aftermarket hsf on the video card. I was really worried when I did it, but it was fine. Usually idles around 45 C, 38C right now cause it's cold in my room.

 

[will889]

If you're withing the return time allotment I would just return it. It sounds to me like you may need to simply re-seat the stock HSF and reapply thermal grease. the HSF itself my not be seated correctly on the die of the chip thus giving you high temps, but to avoid voiding your warranty I would just return it and get a replacement. The 4850's with the stock reference HSF should be much lower temps with the fan @ 60%.

 

[WaterCannon]

I ran case opened, my load temps were 80 C @ 57%. I guess it was the heat being dumped in the case =). I don't see how I could increase airflow, as all of my fan slots are in use. Well, think I'll take my chances and put a new HSF on there. But would my case temps still cause problems as the same amount of heat is being generated but just moved faster away from the chip?

 

[nRollo]

Originally posted by: WaterCannon
I added a couple of 120x120 fans in my case yesterday - no change. Ambient temps are low, possibly even below 20 C, it's cold in my room .The case I have is very large and it has so little hardware in it. I honestly don't believe it's the case temps. Running the case open with a large fan to create a bit of airflow reduces the temps by 2-3C max...
EDIT: Currently im using RivaTuner to increase my fan speed and monitor my temps.

Heh- you could try my hillbilly supercooling method when I was seeing how cool 3 way SLi "could" run- a KMart box fan next to the open case!

Seriously, if the heat bothers you, I'd just look for an aftermarket solution with external exhaust, or switch to a card that has it.

 

[fastman]

Originally posted by: will889
If you're withing the return time allotment I would just return it. It sounds to me like you may need to simply re-seat the stock HSF and reapply thermal grease. the HSF itself my not be seated correctly on the die of the chip thus giving you high temps, but to avoid voiding your warranty I would just return it and get a replacement. The 4850's with the stock reference HSF should be much lower temps with the fan @ 60%.

+1

 

[WaterCannon]

I think I'm going to go the route of getting a new HSF. Arctic Cooling S1 rev.2 just came in and on what I've read, it should be fairly easy to install. Doesn't cost too much either.

 

[error8]

Originally posted by: nRollo


I'd just look for an aftermarket solution with external exhaust

Nobody makes those anymore. The best aftermarket coolers with external exhaust were the NV Silencer series,if I remember right, but there aren't any other solutions right now. I guess videocards today are producing so much heat that it's impossible to create a heatsink that has a large heat exchange surface and that it can also exhaust the hot air outside, being quiet at the same time. Sad....

 

[nRollo]

Originally posted by: error8

Originally posted by: nRollo


I'd just look for an aftermarket solution with external exhaust

Nobody makes those anymore. The best aftermarket coolers with external exhaust were the NV Silencer series,if I remember right, but there aren't any other solutions right now. I guess videocards today are producing so much heat that it's impossible to create a heatsink that has a large heat exchange surface and that it can also exhaust the hot air outside, being quiet at the same time. Sad....

That's strange as heck. All my recent cards exhaust outside the case, I wonder why Arctic isn't selling Silencers for new cards?

 

[BlueAcolyte]

I guess you could just use some cardboard and duct an Accelero... Not that i have.

 

[Zap]

Originally posted by: nRollo
I wonder why Arctic isn't selling Silencers for new cards?

I think it is because they didn't sell particularly well. Most fansinks these days are somewhat universal, while the AC Silencer series were for very particular cards due to their design. This caused confusion and I'm sure resulted in a certain number of returns due to incompatibilities.

I did like them though, and owned an NV Silencer modded to fit my 7900 GT (was for 7800 GT).

Originally posted by: BlueAcolyte
I guess you could just use some cardboard and duct an Accelero... Not that i have.

I thought the same thing. Cheap and easy, and won't void warranties.

 

[LordGestle]

Originally posted by: nRollo

Originally posted by: error8

Originally posted by: nRollo


I'd just look for an aftermarket solution with external exhaust

Nobody makes those anymore. The best aftermarket coolers with external exhaust were the NV Silencer series,if I remember right, but there aren't any other solutions right now. I guess videocards today are producing so much heat that it's impossible to create a heatsink that has a large heat exchange surface and that it can also exhaust the hot air outside, being quiet at the same time. Sad....

That's strange as heck. All my recent cards exhaust outside the case, I wonder why Arctic isn't selling Silencers for new cards?

I believe Akasa sells a version that exhausts out the back that supports the 4800 series:
Akasa Vortex Review and Driverheaven on a different card.

I was on the edge of buying a Accelero myself but I had a Thermaltake AMG AT1 (Artic Cooling designed these cards) that I held onto when I had a X1900 card. This is a dual slot exhausting cooler (clone to the AC Silencers but with a heat pipe) that I decided to mod as by stock it's half inch to long on the plastic exhaust, required a corner of the copper block to be cut out to allow for the 2 caps on the board, and a smal square section cut out to allow the middle HDTV connector to sit within the plastic exhaust. Total time was about 30 minutes with a dremel but well worth it to me.

At idle I was sitting at the typical 80 degrees and I never even checked during load. Having only a 2*120mm fan setup I could tell the rest of my setup, case and cpu fans contolled by temp within the bios, were kicking up after load allot more often compared to my HD3870 IceQ I had prior. That and the side and rear of my case where the HD4850 sat I could feel the diffence in temp moving my hand around that area. Now with the AMG AT1 I'm sitting at 40-45 degree and just via autotune I never saw it reach over 55 degrees during detect overclocks. Most importantly it's all exhausting my case so the rest of my fans don't speed up as much to compensate for all the heat getting thrown into the case and I also can't feel a temperature difference running my hand along the case where the ATI card sat.

I wouldn't recommend going out and purchasing a AMG AT1 just for the HD4850 as you have other options that don't require modding for a similar price.

 

[error8]

Originally posted by: LordGestle

Originally posted by: nRollo

Originally posted by: error8

Originally posted by: nRollo


I'd just look for an aftermarket solution with external exhaust

Nobody makes those anymore. The best aftermarket coolers with external exhaust were the NV Silencer series,if I remember right, but there aren't any other solutions right now. I guess videocards today are producing so much heat that it's impossible to create a heatsink that has a large heat exchange surface and that it can also exhaust the hot air outside, being quiet at the same time. Sad....

That's strange as heck. All my recent cards exhaust outside the case, I wonder why Arctic isn't selling Silencers for new cards?

I believe Akasa sells a version that exhausts out the back that supports the 4800 series:
Akasa Vortex Review and Driverheaven on a different card.

I was on the edge of buying a Accelero myself but I had a Thermaltake AMG AT1 (Artic Cooling designed these cards) that I held onto when I had a X1900 card. This is a dual slot exhausting cooler (clone to the AC Silencers but with a heat pipe) that I decided to mod as by stock it's half inch to long on the plastic exhaust, required a corner of the copper block to be cut out to allow for the 2 caps on the board, and a smal square section cut out to allow the middle HDTV connector to sit within the plastic exhaust. Total time was about 30 minutes with a dremel but well worth it to me.

At idle I was sitting at the typical 80 degrees and I never even checked during load. Having only a 2*120mm fan setup I could tell the rest of my setup, case and cpu fans contolled by temp within the bios, were kicking up after load allot more often compared to my HD3870 IceQ I had prior. That and the side and rear of my case where the HD4850 sat I could feel the diffence in temp moving my hand around that area. Now with the AMG AT1 I'm sitting at 40-45 degree and just via autotune I never saw it reach over 55 degrees during detect overclocks. Most importantly it's all exhausting my case so the rest of my fans don't speed up as much to compensate for all the heat getting thrown into the case and I also can't feel a temperature difference running my hand along the case where the ATI card sat.

I wouldn't recommend going out and purchasing a AMG AT1 just for the HD4850 as you have other options that don't require modding for a similar price.

Well that Akasa cooler looks and seems to behave amazing. I wonder if it can cope with the 4870 heat output. :laugh:

 

[WaterCannon]

Wanted to let you know that I SUCCEEDED! w00t, Idling at 34C loads temps 52C. The installation was fairly easy. Cutting the VRM/Mosfet heatsinks to proper size took HOURS however. God I wish I had found that dremel. Anyways, "Great Success"!

 

[mancunian]

Originally posted by: WaterCannon
Wanted to let you know that I SUCCEEDED! w00t, Idling at 34C loads temps 52C. The installation was fairly easy. Cutting the VRM/Mosfet heatsinks to proper size took HOURS however. God I wish I had found that dremel. Anyways, "Great Success"!

:thumbsup:

Good stuff!

And I don't care what anybody says, it is a fact that electronics run more efficiently the cooler they are, regardless of what GPU manufacturers say their chips can withstand.


The peace of mind is worth it, my 4850 is now idling at 27c and loading at 40c now that it's October in the UK.

 

[disports]

LOL, yeah I had a problem with some of the heatsinks being too tall, but lucky for me, I bought a set of zalman heatsinks which were smaller and it works fine.

 

[SolMiester]

Originally posted by: mancunian

Originally posted by: WaterCannon
Wanted to let you know that I SUCCEEDED! w00t, Idling at 34C loads temps 52C. The installation was fairly easy. Cutting the VRM/Mosfet heatsinks to proper size took HOURS however. God I wish I had found that dremel. Anyways, "Great Success"!

:thumbsup:

Good stuff!

And I don't care what anybody says, it is a fact that electronics run more efficiently the cooler they are, regardless of what GPU manufacturers say their chips can withstand.


The peace of mind is worth it, my 4850 is now idling at 27c and loading at 40c now that it's October in the UK.

Yeah, I agree...I find it incredible that so many people have to go out and buy suitable aftermarket cooling solutions for these cards....My biggest gripe about ATI cards....

 

[mancunian]

Originally posted by: SolMiester
Yeah, I agree...I find it incredible that so many people have to go out and buy suitable aftermarket cooling solutions for these cards....My biggest gripe about ATI cards....

I take your point totally, no matter how good the cards performed at launch, the fan speeds and card temperatures were shambolic.

Still, that's what I got for being an early adopter and the card was dirt cheap even then.


Plus, fitting the cooler was a good learning process.