Modding Radeon 8500?

[Theslowone]

I have a blue orb and just ordered 8 small fin hs for the ram. Have any of you added extra cooling yet, and if so what effect did it have, how much further could you oc?

 

[sc0tty8]

I got tin plated ram sinks on the way. I am still deciding what I want to put on the GPU. I am thinking a low profile cpu heat sink for rackmount servers. I wanna do 300/300 with mine. Maybe a pelt on the gpu:Q Then you could do the volt mod....

 

[Daovonnaex]

<< I got tin plated ram sinks on the way. I am still deciding what I want to put on the GPU. I am thinking a low profile cpu heat sink for rackmount servers. I wanna do 300/300 with mine. Maybe a pelt on the gpu:Q Then you could do the volt mod.... >>


What would a stannic plating (tin plating) on the cupric ram sinks (copper ram sinks) accomplish? It seems like that would actually make cooling worse.

 

[Theslowone]

are you putting the ramsinks on front and back of ram, or just the front?

 

[tazdevl]

<< What would a stannic plating (tin plating) on the cupric ram sinks (copper ram sinks) accomplish? It seems like that would actually make cooling worse. >>



Tin coating prevents the copper from oxidizing. It's for looks. If the tin layer was a few MM thick, it might affect cooling. But it isn't, so it doesn't.

I put a Crystal Orb on instead of a Blorb. Crystal orb has a copper base and if you read the multitude of reviews out there, generally comes in 2-4C lower than a Blorb.

RAMsinks on all chips. doesn't make much sense to not do all of them. They all run @ the same speed.

 

[Theslowone]

RAMsinks on all chips. doesn't make much sense to not do all of them. They all run @ the same speed.

If that was to the question I asked, it wasn't putting them on all chips(i realize that) but putting it on both sides of the ram? but that is what i am going to do anyway.

 

[SpeedTester]

I put ram sinks on my Radeon 8500. I chickened out and used thermal tape since epoxy would
void my warrantee. The only problem I had was one of the sinks would hit my memory if I used it
in slot 1, So I moved both sticks to 2 and 3. The Sinks help alot, the chips would get pretty hot
@ 310mhz but now they stay nice and cool.

 

[Theslowone]

I am using thermal tape too, cause i am a lazy. And don't feel like all the trouble, plus i heard it was easier to remove.

 

[sc0tty8]

I am going to epoxy the sinks on mine. I am going to put silicon over the ram pins, and then I am going to lap the ram chips and sinks. I will be using ASII epoxy, and then since I am moving and need ot get everything scored away with the credit cards(change address/phone) I am going to pull out the corb for now, but I am eying a 60x60x25heat sink from new egg, going to rip the fan off, and then put a bigger one. Then I am going to get me a pair of 120mms for case exhaust/intake to go with the 3 80mm's. The 120's will be volted@7. It will be great. I need to find the volt mod for the radeon.

If you think you will need to RMA your card, do not attempt to put on sinks or overclock it. I get tired of hearing people RMA stuff they fried. Its stupid, it is not the reseller's fault or the manufactures fault you have HUA.

 

[Daovonnaex]

<< I am going to epoxy the sinks on mine. I am going to put silicon over the ram pins, and then I am going to lap the ram chips and sinks. I will be using ASII epoxy, and then since I am moving and need ot get everything scored away with the credit cards(change address/phone) I am going to pull out the corb for now, but I am eying a 60x60x25heat sink from new egg, going to rip the fan off, and then put a bigger one. Then I am going to get me a pair of 120mms for case exhaust/intake to go with the 3 80mm's. The 120's will be volted@7. It will be great. I need to find the volt mod for the radeon.

If you think you will need to RMA your card, do not attempt to put on sinks or overclock it. I get tired of hearing people RMA stuff they fried. Its stupid, it is not the reseller's fault or the manufactures fault you have HUA. >>

ASIII is almost out.

 

[sc0tty8]

Man oh man, you like follow me everywhere

Oh well, that means you want to be my friend


Tell me more about the ASIII.....as opposed to the ASII. I am intrigued.

 

[tazdevl]

I wouldn't use ASIII. It's conductive. Good way to fry your card. ASIII just came out. It's a new compound from AS that yields temps that are ~2-5C degrees lower than ASII. Not many reviews out there yet.

Buy Arctic Silver Alumina Epoxy. It performs as well as ASII, but isn't conductive nor capacitative. That way you don't have to worry about shorting out your card.


You won't void your warranty if you cut the epoxy with some thermal compound. It decreases the bonding strength so it isn't permanent. Put it in the freezer and pop the RAMsinks off if you need to RMA it. Little alcohol to clean and voila. No trace.

 

[sc0tty8]

<< I wouldn't use ASIII. It's conductive. Good way to fry your card. ASIII just came out. It's a new compound from AS that yields temps that are ~2-5C degrees lower than ASII. Not many reviews out there yet.

Buy Arctic Silver Alumina Epoxy. It performs as well as ASII, but isn't conductive nor capacitative. That way you don't have to worry about shorting out your card.


You won't void your warranty if you cut the epoxy with some thermal compound. It decreases the bonding strength so it isn't permanent. Put it in the freezer and pop the RAMsinks off if you need to RMA it. Little alcohol to clean and voila. No trace. >>




First off, if you want to RMA your card, do not over clock it or alter the card in any way. That voids the warranty.

Second off, Artic alumina is LESS thermal conductive, and does not transfer as much heat.

Third, I am not going to RMA a piece of hardware I killed. When you over clock, you take the chance of frying something, and overclocking will void your warranty.

Forth, The moral is, if you are concerned on RMA'n your card, you should not be reading a post called "Modding Radeon 8500".


I also said I was going to be coating the ram pins with silicone to ensure they so not get covered with ASII epoxy. I have fried 2 cards in the past. I did not RMA them, and the reciept is setting right here......

 

[WA261]

Crystal orb & tin coated copper sinks on all of the chips (top & bottom)...going to do the vmod soon... I used asii epox on all of my sinks...just be careful....

 

[Theslowone]

I don't plan on rma mine if i screw it up, besides it is a le flashed to regular. Right now it runs at 280/280 hopefully i can get it around 300/300 with my mod job.

 

[tazdevl]

<< First off, if you want to RMA your card, do not over clock it or alter the card in any way. That voids the warranty.

Second off, Artic alumina is LESS thermal conductive, and does not transfer as much heat.

Third, I am not going to RMA a piece of hardware I killed. When you over clock, you take the chance of frying something, and overclocking will void your warranty.

Forth, The moral is, if you are concerned on RMA'n your card, you should not be reading a post called "Modding Radeon 8500". >>




1) It's difficult to tell the difference between and OC'd card that burnt out and a card that just plain burnt out.
2) What I said was Alumina Thermal EPOXY (not compound) performs as well as AS Epoxy.
Alumina Compound is within 1-2C of ASII. Not a huge deal that can be attributed to the application. Read a few of the reviews below, education is good for the soul. It puts AS Alumina ahead of ASII in come cases and slightly behind in others.
Here is a comparison.
Here is a comparison of all 4 AS thermal compounds.
Here is another review that puts AS Alumina Compound right next to ASII.
Here is a comparison on a video card instead of a CPU.
Here is another one.
Here is yet another.
And another

3/4) I agree... some people do.

I was providing you with an even safer alternative since it seems you've had bad luck in your previous attempts. For all you know, you'll lay on too much silicone and end up with the ramsinks not making contact with the chips. Not the best way to cool the RAM. By the way be sure to buy silicone that is non-corrosive and preferrably low odor. Not good on the leads nor the PCB.

The other reason for cutting the thermal epoxy is if you want to change to a different memory cooling solution @ some point in the future. It's pretty much impossible if you don't.

If you think this is some sort of competition, it helps if you get your facts straight.

 

[Theslowone]

Okay all, i just wanted opinions, thanks all for your advice and recommendations.

 

[Brodde]

Is the voltage lower on the OEM cards?

I just picked up a "PowerMagic" Radeon 8500,
Installed it using latest unleaked drivers. And Rage3D-tweak.

Both GPU and Ram is running at 250Mhz, and when I press the "Default Settings" button under "Overclock" it freezes immediatly.

Will it help flashing it regular 8500 BIOS?

Can anyone please send me the reg. bios and flashutil. btw?

 

[WA261]

yes, go to rage3d.com....there you can read how to flash to retail speed

 

[Theslowone]

Mine wouldn't go to retail levels when it had the le bios, but now that i flashed it it goes there with no problem.

 

[Killrose]

If the ram voltage is too low, then it may or may not flash successfully. Some cards crash and lock-up durring the flashing process because the voltage to the ram chips is to low to suddenly support the 275/275 default of the retail bios.

Mod the ram voltage first, then flash it.

 

[sc0tty8]

How ya do the volt mod?

 

[Brodde]

My card is still labled ATI =)

They have just put "powermagic" stickers on top of them. And the PCB is ATI made.

I'll try flashing it, if I dont post again in a couple of days, I have probably fried it, or atleast flashed it badly

well well....

here goes...

 

[Brodde]

No sweat =)

Many thanks to John Hoek for a superb flasher...

Out of curiosity, what is the "Improved R8500 BIOS" ?