cornelious0_0
[H]F Junkie
- Joined
- Apr 6, 2003
- Messages
- 12,783
First off, I'd just like to say that I am very pleased with my new Inno3d 6800GT I picked up locally a couple days ago. Upon close inspection of the card (while I was taking it apart to add AS5) I realised that the stock cooler is leaving a LOT to be desired. What I found myself looking at was an aluminum heatsink no more then 15-20mm high covering up the core.....and that single "strip" of black aluminum in contact with the ram, with a heatpipe running along it. I am actually very surprised after seeing this that I am able to take this card up to Ultra clock speeds and still BARELY break 70C under load. I am certain that my overclock is not being limited by hardware capabilities ATM, because if I do the overclocking right off of boot (instead of when the GPU is under load) I can get it MUCH higher.....about an extra 20-30MHz on the core actually. Obviously though, as soon as the card hits the 60C mark it starts to get flaky, and that "idle overclock" doesnt hold up for very long. What I am proposing here is a couple fairly creative cooling mods for my new GT that I'm hoping will really help the card shine, and help me attain a more attractive overclock.
** First, obviously the entire stock cooler will be removed from the card.
** Second, even though the surface area of that black aluminum is greater then individual ramsinks will provide, I have a feeling that these ramsinks will still do a better job with some direct airflow, because that aluminum heatsink on the ram ATM just doesn't feel like it has much to it.
** Thirdly (this is where it gets interesting) I plan to replace the stock cooler with a rather extravagent, MUCH more capable heatsink.....the Thermalright SLK947U.....coupled with a 36cfm TMD fan by YSTech.
Now you might be asking yourself how in the world am I going to get that thing on there....well....I've got a fairly good idea. Seeing as the SLK weighs in at just short of 600g I am going to be making use of the existing brace on the back of the video card. Measured out, the holes on the back brace are exactly 55mm apart.....and luckily, the SLK is about 59mm wide on its smallest side. What I'm thinking of doing here is getting some longer screws (the same thread as the ones being use to secure the backplate ATM) then what are included with the card, and drilling 4 holes up through the base of the SLK.....allowing me to bolt the cooler onto the card, and have a form of stability already present with the stock backplate brace on the card.
I had originally considered going with an SP94 to make use of its heatpipe design.....but I'm afraid that drilling through the base of it may "puncture" one of the pipes, and I'm not sure if it's worth taking the chance.
Once I can find some screws and a drill bit the right size this shouldn't actually be too much of a chore.....I just have to make sure that the screws will make it through the SLK's copper base AND through the backplate on the card.
Considering that all the card is toting out of the box is a little blower fan and a flimsy aluminum heatsink, I've got a funny feeling that these mods are going to do great things for my temps and overclock.
For active cooling on the copper ramsinks I already have a Vantec Spectrum Fancard in place that is long enough that it is blowing on all 8 ram chips.....and at 40cfm it'll do a fairly nice job at helping out those copper 'sinks.
I'm actually measuring things out right now, and with a combined height of 60mm (the 45mm tall SLK and the 15mm TMD fan) the new cooler will be a bit to large for me to keep my Sound Blaster Audigy2 in place. Because this mods is (hopefully) going to be doing great things for my card (not to mention that it's gonna look damn cool) I'd be willing to move to onboard audio, because my Fancard will have to occupy my very bottom PCI slot to fit under the SLK setup, and still provide active cooling for those ramsinks.
To top it all off, I've already got a 120mm aluminum fan mounted on my side panel that will be blowing 85cfm onto the side of the SLK, feeding cool 20C air to the TMD fan, and half of the ramsinks.....further aiding in the cooling of my card.
If anyone has any questions or comments about what I'm proposing to do here please let me know. I'm not sure EXACTLY when I'll be able to make the purchases (it'll actually only be a $120 order in the end) on the HSF combo and ramsinks, but I'm hoping to get it done soon enough to have the mods completed for a LAN I'm attending on the 17th of September.....and hopefully get featured on the front page of [H].
** First, obviously the entire stock cooler will be removed from the card.
** Second, even though the surface area of that black aluminum is greater then individual ramsinks will provide, I have a feeling that these ramsinks will still do a better job with some direct airflow, because that aluminum heatsink on the ram ATM just doesn't feel like it has much to it.
** Thirdly (this is where it gets interesting) I plan to replace the stock cooler with a rather extravagent, MUCH more capable heatsink.....the Thermalright SLK947U.....coupled with a 36cfm TMD fan by YSTech.
Now you might be asking yourself how in the world am I going to get that thing on there....well....I've got a fairly good idea. Seeing as the SLK weighs in at just short of 600g I am going to be making use of the existing brace on the back of the video card. Measured out, the holes on the back brace are exactly 55mm apart.....and luckily, the SLK is about 59mm wide on its smallest side. What I'm thinking of doing here is getting some longer screws (the same thread as the ones being use to secure the backplate ATM) then what are included with the card, and drilling 4 holes up through the base of the SLK.....allowing me to bolt the cooler onto the card, and have a form of stability already present with the stock backplate brace on the card.
I had originally considered going with an SP94 to make use of its heatpipe design.....but I'm afraid that drilling through the base of it may "puncture" one of the pipes, and I'm not sure if it's worth taking the chance.
Once I can find some screws and a drill bit the right size this shouldn't actually be too much of a chore.....I just have to make sure that the screws will make it through the SLK's copper base AND through the backplate on the card.
Considering that all the card is toting out of the box is a little blower fan and a flimsy aluminum heatsink, I've got a funny feeling that these mods are going to do great things for my temps and overclock.
For active cooling on the copper ramsinks I already have a Vantec Spectrum Fancard in place that is long enough that it is blowing on all 8 ram chips.....and at 40cfm it'll do a fairly nice job at helping out those copper 'sinks.
I'm actually measuring things out right now, and with a combined height of 60mm (the 45mm tall SLK and the 15mm TMD fan) the new cooler will be a bit to large for me to keep my Sound Blaster Audigy2 in place. Because this mods is (hopefully) going to be doing great things for my card (not to mention that it's gonna look damn cool) I'd be willing to move to onboard audio, because my Fancard will have to occupy my very bottom PCI slot to fit under the SLK setup, and still provide active cooling for those ramsinks.
To top it all off, I've already got a 120mm aluminum fan mounted on my side panel that will be blowing 85cfm onto the side of the SLK, feeding cool 20C air to the TMD fan, and half of the ramsinks.....further aiding in the cooling of my card.
If anyone has any questions or comments about what I'm proposing to do here please let me know. I'm not sure EXACTLY when I'll be able to make the purchases (it'll actually only be a $120 order in the end) on the HSF combo and ramsinks, but I'm hoping to get it done soon enough to have the mods completed for a LAN I'm attending on the 17th of September.....and hopefully get featured on the front page of [H].