Trying to decide between an Accelero S1 and Thermalright HR-03

[DSF]

So my girlfriend and I are celebrating our 2nd year together soon and she asked if there was anything I wanted for my computer. The only thing I could come up with was passive cooling for my 8800GT since I'm getting the urge to tinker.

Both seem good, with the HR-03 being the more expensive and slightly better performing from the reviews I've seen. Always tough to tell though, since different reviews are in different cases with different components generating different amounts of heat, etc.

Anyone have any strong opinions as far as which is better? Easier to install? Does the HR-03's performance justify its higher price? It would have to fit inside an Antec Solo with only one hard drive and no PCI cards other than the 8800GT.

I'm going to double check the XFX warranty, but I believe it covers heatsink modding, so I'm not concerned about that angle.

I may decide to overclock the card, but that's a secondary concern. My main goal is to make the computer as quiet as it can possibly be.

Edit: Those of you who've read my posts in General Hardware know that I'm not a fan of spending money for no reason. If you don't feel that the upgrade is worth it, don't hesitate to say so.

 

[bunnyfubbles]

The reviews I saw before I purchased my first S1 showed it actually being slightly better than the HR-03...although the performance difference was most often negligible, however the price factor was far from not... The HR-03 might be better designed with it comes to installing your own fan of choice, but it wasn't too hard to figure out how to figure out a way to attach my own 120mm fan to the S1 (its actually large enough to fit two fans to, but would be a waste IMO).

The S1 was also pretty easy to install, I loved how they preapplied the thermal interface (which is excellent btw, no need to remove it to install your own). The only downside might be that the tape they use on their ramsinks can be fairly finicky if you don't do the best job of cleaning off the ram before applying the sinks. Also, while the ram sinks might appear to be too loosely attached, they'll establish a better grip when heat is applied either via something like naturally running in the system or even using something like a hair dryer.

The only thing I don't know would be if it would fit in your case.

 

[zod96]

S1 all the way I have it on my GT, running passively no fan it idles at 42 and loads about 54. It took about 5 minutes to install and it cost about $25

 

[DSF]

Originally posted by: zod96
S1 all the way I have it on my GT, running passively no fan it idles at 42 and loads about 54. It took about 5 minutes to install and it cost about $25

Wow, those are pretty good temps. What fans do you have in there? If it's just the stock Tri-Cools, what speed are they at?

 

[zod96]

Here's my PC I've got only 2 120mm scythe sflex fans in their running at 800 rpm's Nice and quiet and cool http://img525.imageshack.us/my...?image=dscn1504ve5.jpg

 

[Elfear]

Another vote for the S1. Cools the same or slightly better than the HR-03 but costs a lot less. My 8800GT@780/1896/2000 loaded at ~51C when I had an S1 on it.

 

[imported_Champ]

I'm using the HR-03 on my 8800GTS and it was 100% worth the cost...it lowered my idle from 63C to 48C load from 88ishC to 63ishC and the memchips and ambient on the card are always below 40C and raised my highest OC alot on the GPU

I have no experence with the S1 but either way you go it is the best investment for graphics...besides buying a new card

 

[james1701]

Where is the best place to buy either one in the US? I have started using my 8800GT for folding and in an Antec 900 case with the fans on low my temps run 80C with the cards fan at 100%. Its kind of anoying when the rest of your system is almost dead silent.

 

[x2 3600 rules sazakky]

get the s1 with some crazy ass thermal paste ceramique shit

 

[bunnyfubbles]

Originally posted by: x2 3600 rules sazakky
get the s1 with some crazy ass thermal paste ceramique shit

The S1 comes with an excellent TIM already applied, there is absolutely no reason to change it.

 

[DSF]

Elfear and Champ, were you guys using the coolers passively or with fans?

@james1701: I don't know where the best place is per se, but I was planning on buying mine from www.frozencpu.com because I've had good experiences with them in the past. (On the other hand, I just did a little comparison shopping while I was typing this, and it's considerably cheaper at www.xpcgear.com and www.svcompucycle.com.)

Thanks for the input everyone.

 

[Elfear]

Originally posted by: DSF
Elfear and Champ, were you guys using the coolers passively or with fans?

@james1701: I don't know where the best place is per se, but I was planning on buying mine from www.frozencpu.com because I've had good experiences with them in the past. (On the other hand, I just did a little comparison shopping while I was typing this, and it's considerably cheaper at www.xpcgear.com and www.svcompucycle.com.)

Thanks for the input everyone.

I had a pair of 120mm fans strapped onto mine. I've seen other people run them passively with great success (bunnyfubbles IRRC).

 

[bunnyfubbles]

Considering the insane temps that the reference single slot cards such as the 8800GT and 4850 are supposed to work with (~90C), the S1 will certainly outperform such horrible solutions with ease. Some of the worst case passive operation I've seen was something around the high 60s to low 70s C, obviously well under 90...but the better the airflow in your case the lower your temps will be.

 

[BassBomb]

Go with the S1 since it is cheaper

If you want to use a 120mm fan on the HR03GT (warranty approved way) get 120mm wire clips from the TR ULTRA120 (cost about 2$) and you can strap it on

HR03GT will perform slightly better, but for the price the Accelero is a steal imo, I would have bought that had I known about it when I purchased my HR03GT.

My card can run passive at a load of about 75

Right now its mounted upwards with a pull config of the 120mm fan and it hits 58 load

 

[DSF]

Cool, sounds like I'll go with the Accelero.