1900xt replacement HSF

[LOUISSSSS]

hey i'm aware that the 1900xt stock fan is loud.. can someone recommend me a cooler that is quiet yet will keep my gpu cool? my case has good ventilation...

 

[Painman]

Do you already have the X1900XT? Make the noise judgment for yourself. I had an 1900XT that was quite loud, fan throttling constantly up and down, but it turns out that it had a contact problem betwen the HSF and the GPU, suffered damage within 2 days, and had to undergo RMA.

The replacement card has no such problem and stays relatively quiet under load. Relative to my other case fans, that is. The X1900 fan does produce a slight "growl" even at idle speed. But it isn't a jet engine.

IMO there aren't any good replacement HSFs out for the X1900 at this time, because none of them exhaust the heat to the outside of the case the way the stock HSF does. The X1900 produces a LOT of heat, and you don't want that building up inside the case. I am converting my system to watercooling, not for the X1900's sake, but it will surely benefit as a result.

 

[GalvanizedYankee]

Google Zalman VF900. It should be out in a couple months.


...Galvanized

 

[Bull Dog]

Well I'm going to put a Thermalright V1 Ultra on it. It will mount on the X18/9 cards its just that Thermalright is waiting for some special thermal pads for the mem. (yes, I emailed them) I'm planning to do a bit of modding and ducting air from the radiator part of the HS to outside the case. I will post a project log of this once I've finished (I should be receiving the V1 Ultra today).

Edit: I didn't care that thermalright didn't have the "right" thermal pads for their V1 Ultra yet. I'm quite sure I can make something that will suffice for cooling the memory.

 

[Elcs]

Originally posted by: GalvanizedYankee
Google Zalman VF900. It should be out in a couple months.

...Galvanized

If the VF900 is anything like the VF700, Zalman gets my vote.

 

[anandtechrocks]

The V1 provides better performance than Zalman and Arctic Cooling. The only downside is it is much more difficult to install than the Zalamn and AC products. I like AC better than Zalman because it blows the hot air from the GPU outside the case.

 

[bravacentauri83]

The Accelero X2 gets my vote.

Review

 

[TheNewGuy8]

but its not vented out of the case. huge drawback.

 

[Corporate Thug]

Originally posted by: GalvanizedYankee
Google Zalman VF900. It should be out in a couple months.


...Galvanized

really? i thought it was due out this month

 

[Remedy]

Thermalright V-1 Ultra

 

[Jhhnn]

I'm not sure that this will fit your card, but it'll do the job, very quietly-

http://www.sharkacomputers.com/zavfledcovga.html

Check the diagrams, compare to your card for a definitive answer, or check the zalman site...

The arctic cooling models are slightly noisier, and not much of an advantage in a well-ventilated case...

 

[Painman]

^^ Unfortunately, that wouldn't fit. X1900 has a 4 hole hole mount pattern the same as the recent high end GeForce cards.

 

[Operandi]

Originally posted by: Painman
^^ Unfortunately, that wouldn't fit. X1900 has a 4 hole hole mount pattern the same as the recent high end GeForce cards.

The entire ATi x1xxx series is on the VF-700 compatible list. I'm assuming you use two mounting holes rather then four that the stock unit uses.

 

[Painman]

Originally posted by: Operandi
The entire ATi x1xxx series is on the VF-700 compatible list. I'm assuming you use two mounting holes rather then four that the stock unit uses.

Yup, my bad. I'm looking at its mounting clip, it has 2 positions on each side for matching up to mounting holes. So I'd assume the same thing - outer holes for x1xx and inner holes for x8xx.

 

[Bull Dog]

Well my Thermalright V1 Ultra came in the mail yesterday. I spent about 6 hours customizing it. I'll be writing a "project log" like I have done in the past

 

[CosmoHorizon]

The most important aspect of the cooler is that you MUST DUCT THE HOT AIR OUT!!! It is usless if the cooler recycles the hot air around it. So, for a case like the P180, which I have, i'll use the AC ones, since they duct the hot air out... or perform some CNC mod on the side panel and add a custom side-mounting fan that will suck the hot air out of it.

Honestly, after seeing the heat generated by the new flagship videocards....i think they require a completely revolutionary design that will care for these heat monsters as they did for the CPUs

 

[LOUISSSSS]

can someone give me a comparision with the stock 1900xt fan and the NV 6800 series fans...?
and i agree we need some type of better cooling for GPU's nowadays, they run way too hot

 

[CosmoHorizon]

According to the recent Anandtech review, the HIS which runs the Silencer is the quietest whilest have the highest OC. I am more than convinced that the HIS cooler is superior because it is the quietest whilest ducks hot air outside and not having hot air piling up in your case.

The GPU waterblock that covers RAM is uber expensive and the GDDR3 Ram don't go passive at all....

To be honest, I have seen the dual slot monsters in action many times, and i currently have a 9800XT sitting on my old comp (single slot) and the hot air that builds around it don't get ducted anywhere and as soon i open the side panel, guess what? my GPU temp drops by 5~7. My new rig has a big mobo (A8N32) so that i will be able to use the dual slot cooler like the one on HIS 1900XTX, and run SLI config for the next-gen Nvidia cards whilest allow me to have a creative sound card

 

[Operandi]

Originally posted by: CosmoHorizon
The most important aspect of the cooler is that you MUST DUCT THE HOT AIR OUT!!! It is usless if the cooler recycles the hot air around it. So, for a case like the P180, which I have, i'll use the AC ones, since they duct the hot air out... or perform some CNC mod on the side panel and add a custom side-mounting fan that will suck the hot air out of it.

Honestly, after seeing the heat generated by the new flagship videocards....i think they require a completely revolutionary design that will care for these heat monsters as they did for the CPUs

That is far from the most important aspect of the cooler. While the AC cooler's venting helps its benefits are relatively minor; most of the GPU's heat stays in the case regardless. The job of the GPU HS/F is to offer the best performance with the least noise, on those terms the VF-700 is the better cooler.

 

[LOUISSSSS]

alright thanks guys i'll be back with an update on the x1900 xt

 

[CosmoHorizon]

Originally posted by: Operandi
That is far from the most important aspect of the cooler. While the AC cooler's venting helps its benefits are relatively minor; most of the GPU's heat stays in the case regardless. The job of the GPU HS/F is to offer the best performance with the least noise, on those terms the VF-700 is the better cooler.

I tend to disagree on that, it is true that the backplate act as a passive heat sink, but bulk of the hot air would be ducted outwards, I have no objection on the VF700s, they look fairly awesome, just that the residual hot air around the GPU would definately be recycled and thus reducing the cooling efficiency. I believe this has been proved in the X1900 preview whilest the stock heat sink, despite the inferior acoustic design, can not cool the board as efficiently as the HIS models.

I could be wrong, not insisting anything here, because as i said, my first experience with a dual slot card, the NV5800, was a nightmare, not only is that thing inferior, it sounds like a vacuum cleaner. Then there's vairous cases but since i do not own the cards, i cant really comment from my first hand experience.

I believe the solution to the entire GPU cooling issue revolves around 2 things
1. Can the coolers access cool air from the intake?
2. Can the residual heat be vented?

Consider the case of the CPU cooler, say, Ninja, it draws in fresh air from the front intake and then blows it towards the rear exhaust fan which takes away the residual heat, the PSU on the top (conventional cases) will also assist in getting rid of the hot air from the heat sink and remove it.

/begin rant
In the case of conventional design, where the GPU could arguably generate more heat than the CPU, they are not being handled in a way they should be, thus my objection of using high power flagship models. I would much prefer to wait for a next-gen graphic card, where the mainstream board will be comparable to the 7800s while support DX10 and Vista and has a more advanced design that lowers power consumption. I guess that is beyond the topic, but i thought i would provide my oppinion
/end rant

 

[letdown427]

Originally posted by: LOUISSSSS
alright thanks guys i'll be back with an update on the x1900 xt

Accelero X2 looks very good for x1x00 series. Almost definately your best bet.

 

[LOUISSSSS]

when will the accelerto x2 come out? and will it cool my 1900xt better than the zalman vf700?

 

[Bull Dog]

You could try doing this too. Well the ramsink part may be a little beyond most people.