Thermalright HR-03 Rev. A

[Synomenon]

Can the HR-03 Rev. A be installed on a 7950GT so that the heatpipes go over the top of the card so that the part with the fins is on the back of the card?

Chose the HR-03 because it's the only one I could find where you could installed it "U" shaped so that the bulk of the cooler is on the backside of the video card. Need it this way so it won't block my only PCI slot in my Shuttle.

 

[Synomenon]

Hmmm... Actually it looks like it can be installed both ways. The way I was asking is shown as "Installation Type I":

http://www.thermalright.com/a_...ion_hr03_rev_a_MCL.htm


Now, can the HR-03 be used with an EVGA 7950GT KO Superclocked?

 

[adairusmc]

Originally posted by: IsLNdbOi
Hmmm... Actually it looks like it can be installed both ways. The way I was asking is shown as "Installation Type I":

http://www.thermalright.com/a_...ion_hr03_rev_a_MCL.htm


Now, can the HR-03 be used with an EVGA 7950GT KO Superclocked?

I would assume so, Thermalrights page lists the 7900 series and the 7950GT as being compatible. Your KO superclocked version should not be an exception.

I just got one of the Plus versions of these for my 8800GTX. HUGE drop in temps. If the performance on my 8800GTX is an indication, your 7950GT KO should benefit from much lower temps.

 

[Synomenon]

Ok so the HR-03 only covers the GPU core. Are the little RAM sinks that come with the HR-03 sufficient to cool the 7950's memory chips? If not, are there RAM sinks you guys can recommend over the ones that come with the HR-03?

Finally, I noticed that all of these RAM sinks are attached using thermal tape. Is there something better than the thermal tape these RAM sinks come with? I know about Arctic Silver's epoxies, but EVGA says you void your warranty if you use that stuff.

 

[adairusmc]

I used Arctic Silver premium silver adhesive right at the beginning, just used some acetone and alcohol to clean off the included thermal pads. I dont mind about voiding the warranty on my card, I would rather have those ram sinks stay on there for good than pop off when I have the machine running.

From what I have seen with my bigger version, the ram sinks work perfectly fine.

 

[Synomenon]

Just read up on some threads about using Arctic Silver Ceramique mixed with a little bit of Crazy Glue. People say it works pretty well and isn't as permanent as Arctic Silver's epoxies. Anyone try this and does it actually work?

 

[Noubourne]

Not sure what the TR kit comes with, but I used a Zalman 900Cu on my 7900GT, and it dropped my temps by more than 20C. After overvolting to 1.5 and OCing to 700Mhz, my core was still 10C cooler than it was on stock voltage and cooling.

The RAM sinks it came with had some TIM/adhesive on them, and they stuck just fine. Generally, cooling RAM isn't going to get you much performance anyway, certainly not worth all kinds of worry. Get the heat from the core away from the card as fast as you can, and your RAM will be happy.

 

[Synomenon]

Edit:
Whoops, posted in the wrong forum.

 

[adairusmc]

Originally posted by: Noubourne
Not sure what the TR kit comes with, but I used a Zalman 900Cu on my 7900GT, and it dropped my temps by more than 20C. After overvolting to 1.5 and OCing to 700Mhz, my core was still 10C cooler than it was on stock voltage and cooling.

The RAM sinks it came with had some TIM/adhesive on them, and they stuck just fine. Generally, cooling RAM isn't going to get you much performance anyway, certainly not worth all kinds of worry. Get the heat from the core away from the card as fast as you can, and your RAM will be happy.

The need for ramsinks I think depends on the clock of the memory and the card. On my 8800GTX, they get pretty damn hot, just at stock speeds. The ramsinks that came with my HR03 Plus seem to work great though.