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Ramsinks w/ Accelero S1

Jschmuck2

Diamond Member
So I have an Accelero S1 Rev 1 that I didn't realize I could mount on my XFX 8800gt.

Yay!

Sadly for me, the thermal-tape on the Ramsinks is totally dead.

Boo!

What's the best course of action here? Buy some AS5 adhesive, dilute it and prosper? Buy more thermal tape? New ramsinks? Skip the ramsinks altogether?

Your thoughts?
 
The thermal tape that came with my Accelero was pretty crappy as well. I used a blowdryer to heat up the sinks and tape, then applied them to my 8800GT with a bit of force.

It took several times for a few sinks to stay in place, but none have fallen off with 6 months of heavy use. If you aren't overclocking the 8800GT, then you might be able to get by without the ramsinks. Personally, I'd find some way to get them to stick. 😉
 
I would not skip the heat sinks. You can grab some new thermal tape at places like FrozenCPU, NCIX, etc. Just be sure to clean both the heat sinks and memory modules thoroughly before installation. I had absolutely no problem installing the heat sinks included with the S1 (using the factory applied thermal tape) on my 7900GS. After a thorough cleaning with 99% isopropyl alcohol adhesion was not an issue.
 
Yes, they are necessary... I don't know how other cards run without them, but a big 120mm fan strapped to my 8800GT can't cool it down without ramsinks. 825mhz mem for the lose.
 
the card is passive.

I made the mistake of ordering a S2 and realized they wouldnt fit on my funky XFX.

As of right now, im not happy with XFX using non reference design.

Anyhow im sure the S1 that you have will fit. Then i made the mistake of getting full height ram sinks, Bah.

In the middle i got pissed and pulled out my box of old watercooling parts. And just watercooled it.


But These guys will work really well. I dont like ALU. Well, even in air cooling i dont like ALU. 😛

http://www.sidewindercomputers.com/enbcbmlowprf.html

There half height of the regular, and will fit even under the Barbs on the DD maze4 GPU.

That itself means they will fit on ANY air sink which doesnt completely cover the ram.


Just to let you know, you still need air over the sink and fins. Just cuz the surface area is large, doesnt mean it doesnt need any air movement.
 
Originally posted by: Jschmuck2
I have the turbo module 🙂 Thanks Aigo!

ack seeing how sw doesnt carry them.

Try shoppts.com

I dont think jab-tech has them, but you can try. Jab-tech is actually my first store.

Also try performance-pcs.com also svc.com

And heatsinkfactory.com


If none of them have it. Yell at Andre in china, for shipping them to use too slow. 😛
 
How about some permanent double sided tape? I use this stuff and swear that it is identical to some of the stuff that RAMsinks come with.

Alternately, mix some adhesive (epoxy?) with some thermal paste, or get some Arctic Alumina/Silver/Ceramique Adhesive (and dilute it if you want).
 
Originally posted by: aigomorla
Originally posted by: Jschmuck2
I have the turbo module 🙂 Thanks Aigo!

ack seeing how sw doesnt carry them.

Try shoppts.com

I dont think jab-tech has them, but you can try. Jab-tech is actually my first store.

Also try performance-pcs.com also svc.com

And heatsinkfactory.com


If none of them have it. Yell at Andre in china, for shipping them to use too slow. 😛

Nono, like, I already own one 😀 It's great, very quiet and it knocked a few degrees off of my x1900xt when I had it on there.
 
Originally posted by: Jschmuck2
Nono, like, I already own one 😀 It's great, very quiet and it knocked a few degrees off of my x1900xt when I had it on there.

oh then i think im lost in your question.

LOL, your looking for tape? or your looking for the ram sinks?

The alu comes with tape preapplied. You just attach and stick.


😱H i think i know what your talking about now. The RAM's on XFX cards have a funky OILY substance ontop. It makes attaching ram sinks near dayam impossible.

How i did it, and it will void your warrenty, however i dont think XFX honors warrenty after you removed the sink.

What i did was first wipe the ram with ISO. Then i gave the ram a light sanding with 2000grit sp.

:X
 
My original question was: "Is it necessary to have ramsinks on a video card if I'm using an Accelero S1?"

Since the answer to that was a resounding "yes," my next question was, "what is the best way to attach those ramsinks?"

I ordered some thermal tape from Sidewinder, so that should do the trick.

And FYI, replacing the stock HSF on an XFX card specifically does NOT void the warranty 🙂
 
I've not seen any conclusive evidence that they are necessary, more specifically with the airflow from the large fans we mostly tend to use on these suckers, but it's better to be safe than sorry. For the original tape on the sinks, it requires the chips to be adequately cleaned using strong solvent with scrubbing and half a minute of pressure on the sink for application. Most of the stories of them falling off are likely because there were contaminants from the stock TIM and lack of pressure during application. From the protective backing of the adhesive, it is the 3M type 467 which is a general purpose adhesive so its thermal conductivity is questionable, but I don't think it matters for such low output ICC.

As far as replacement adhesive options, for these small heatsinks you can apply small dots of superglue near the corners and a dollop of your grease of choice in the center for thermal conductivity. When using a new TIM, even your tape from SWC, clean the bottom of the sinks to maximum bonding and thermal conductivity.
 
Originally posted by: Jschmuck2
My original question was: "Is it necessary to have ramsinks on a video card if I'm using an Accelero S1?"

Since the answer to that was a resounding "yes," my next question was, "what is the best way to attach those ramsinks?"

I ordered some thermal tape from Sidewinder, so that should do the trick.

And FYI, replacing the stock HSF on an XFX card specifically does NOT void the warranty 🙂

the RAM does indeed get hot.

You need sinks ontop. I noticed if your a heavy gamer with crap ambients, those sinks do matter in your gpu going haywire.

This is why i love full cover blocks more then core only blocks.

As i said the XFX ram's have a funky coating on it that makes it dayam near impossible to adhere the tape too. I dont know why XFX is the only company that has this funky oil.

You need to clean them very well with rubbing alcohol, and then make sure the surface is immaculate otherwise your tape will just fall off, and you got yourself the same scenario all over again.
 
Well, I got my thermal tape in the mail from Sidewinder (although it did take four days to get here) and it went on fairly easily. Since the aluminum ramsinks that came with the S1 originally still had leftover thermal tape on them, I soaked them in acetone nail polish remover for an hour or so and scraped the tape off with a scrubby sponge.

Then I used 91% isopropyl to clean off the RAM on the card itself (you were right Aig, it had some kind of oil on it - gross) and stuck the ramsinks on with some stiff pressure and they haven't moved yet...knock on wood.

Mounting the actual heatsink on my card really did wonders. I'm really glad that I picked it up when it first came out for $19 🙂 It brought my idle temps down from 58C to about 42C and my load temps, which usually were around 73C now don't go past 54C. Awesome!
 
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