Stunned! 3870 plus fanless Accelero S1

[Mucker]

Although the HSF for the 3870 is effective, at a speed of 40% it begins to whine and at 100%, it's a hairdryer.

Today I replaced it with an Accelero S1 and I am simply blown away with how effective it is. Nice thing about putting one on a 3870 is that the stock ram and voltage sinks do not need removed.

I cleaned off the stock thermal paste on the S1 and cleaned the gpu core. Then applied a thin layer of AS5 to the gpu and mounted the S1. No fan was installed.

After 10 minutes of 100% gpu utilization (COD4), the temp never rose above 47C in 70F ambient, idle of 33C. Temp delta of only 14C. Did I say this was without a fan? :Q Heck, the stock ATI sink idled at 52C.

Also, the card is overclocked to 825/2400 from 777/2250.

I don't think I've seen a better piece of cooling gear for the price, this thing is amazing!

My case is an Antec 900 so there is a good breeze inside even with the fans set to low. The S1 looks cool as heck when mounted too.

Pretty COOL experience, best $25 spent in a long time

 

[Yooper]

How does it compare to the stock cooler in size? Will it fit on a Uatx board or a SFF system?

 

[Mucker]

Thickness is nearly the same without a fan (maybe a bit thinner), and height of 1+7/8 inches fom the edge od the card. Length same as the card.

 

[shabby]

The stock heatsink on the 3870 isnt really that big , sure its two slots tall but its width is smaller then the fan itself. Not sure why ati didnt use a heatsink thats at least twice as wide. There's a lot of unused space there.

 

[Butterbean]

I just got a Accelero S1 in the mail today. My new GT 8800 isn't that loud but I came from a fanless card and miss the dead silence I am used to. If it works as it should the 24 bucks is more than worth it.

 

[TC777]

I had debated on getting this for my 3870 also. But I would bet it would void my warranty (I have a sapphire 3870).

My fan currently is making a very low, almost grind noise. I only hear it at a certain fan speed though.

 

[Avalon]

Originally posted by: tcool93
I had debated on getting this for my 3870 also. But I would bet it would void my warranty (I have a sapphire 3870).

My fan currently is making a very low, almost grind noise. I only hear it at a certain fan speed though.

Well, your warranty is only a year for the sapphire card. Chances are slim for a video card to die in between the first week of use and one year. It's usually either within a few days or a few+ years. I'd just go ahead and do it.

Now, if you break the card putting it on, that's another story
But installation looks easy enough.