Opinions on AC Twin Turbo II?

[birthdaymonkey]

I just bought a secondhand reference 6950 2GB that's been flashed to a 6970. Seems to be working great with all the tests and games I've thrown at it, but it does get a little toasty--especially when idling with dual display and the fan set to 20% (I like a quiet computer).

Considering an AC Accelero Twin Turbo II, but I'm a little scared. I've never installed aftermarket GPU cooling before. Seems some people have had a hard time with the glue-on heatsinks.

How challenging is the install procedure? What if I want to take the cooler off and install the stock one again? Should I go for it?

 

[birthdaymonkey]

OK, well there were only two left in stock at NCIX so I decided to go for it. Hopefully I don't brick my card.

 

[dkm777]

I don't know about TTII, but my TT Pro had MOSFET and RAM sinks with sticky tape. I was surprised to see that myself as I was sure it will come with glue. Maybe yours will have sticky tape as well.

 

[birthdaymonkey]

I don't know about TTII, but my TT Pro had MOSFET and RAM sinks with sticky tape. I was surprised to see that myself as I was sure it will come with glue. Maybe yours will have sticky tape as well.

I'm pretty sure it's glue. they specifically note in the promotional literature for the TTII that this one comes with glue instead of tape--apparently this is a feature.

I watched some videos and read some non-newegg reviews and the glue seems to present no problems for most people as long as you allow sufficient curing time.

 

[bdunosk]

Read the instructions, but that sticky crap for the little heatsinks really does work a lot better if you prime the surface of the chips by "erasing" them first.

Honestly, every aftermarket kit I've ever dealt with is just as easy as changing your CPU's HSF.

 

[birthdaymonkey]

Read the instructions, but that sticky crap for the little heatsinks really does work a lot better if you prime the surface of the chips by "erasing" them first.

Honestly, every aftermarket kit I've ever dealt with is just as easy as changing your CPU's HSF.

Interesting tip. I assume that by "erasing" you mean rubbing them with an eraser?

 

[chimaxi83]

I started using some Arctic Silver thermal degreaser/surface purifier, and have had zero issues with the small heatsinks with thermal tape since then. I use the heatsinks for VRM and VRAM with my universal waterblock. Not sure if the type of thermal tape has something to do with it too, but I use 3M stuff I buy from FrozenCPU.

Getting the chips clean is important, else the tape/glue will have trouble sticking. Also, in my opinion, I wouldn't use glue unles you're 100% sure this is something you're going to stay with, trying to remove glued on heatsinks has taken chips off of boards lol.

 

[Stuka87]

That "Sticky tape" is actually thermal tape, and works very well at transferring heat. Plus it allows you to remove them if you ever wanted too.

 

[birthdaymonkey]

OK, I just installed the heatsinks using the supplied glue. I'm a bit nervous that it claims to require 5 minutes of mixing, but it was hard to mix effectively on a flat surface. Hopefully I mixed it well enough. Guess I'll find out when I get home from work. If it doesn't stick, I'll order some of that 3M thermal tape from FrozenCPU.

 

[birthdaymonkey]

Cooler is up and running after 24 hours curing time. One of the VRM heatsinks didn't stick well the first application, so I pulled it off and reapplied with the tiny bit of glue that I'd saved in the tubes.

So far, I couldn't be more pleased with the result. With the stock cooler on my reference 6950 (unlocked to 6970), I couldn't idle in dual screen mode (unmatched resolution, so 3D clocks all the time) without the blower getting quite noisy. (Or, alternatively, I could manually limit the fan to 20% and watch as the heat just built and built.) Now, my computer is *almost* silent at idle with the fans set at 5v.

Load temps are also excellent. With the fan at just 32-35% (auto), it keeps all temps (including VRMs) in the 70s during Furmark (75-76 core). If I set the fan to 100%, it keeps everything at or below 70 degrees.

It does throw some heat into the case and warm up my CPU a bit, so I may add a top fan to my R3. I'm currently running with only the one exhaust.

TLDR: The Twin Turbo II is a bit of a pain to set up and the glue is no fun. But the results have exceeded my expectations. Highly recommended!