After market GPU cooler

[hawthorne]

My 7950 is hot and loud. Wondering what my options are.

 

 

EDIT: Lots of NZXT G10 recommendations, due to limited room in my case it would be hard to route tubes and mount rad. The hard drive case is welded into place infront of my from intake and apart from that i only have 2x120 mounts on my case and 2x120 mounts on my side pannel. 

[nixproducer]

you could water cool it with a NZXT Kraken G10

[mapegl]

try getting an arctic accelero 7970 on ebay. You have to get the 7970 because of the 45°rotation of the gpu.
I had a hot and loud 7950, now it is cool and quiet.

 

If you can't get the accelero 7970, there is a new one for the 280x. That one should fit aswell, because it is a rebranded 7970 (mostly) and has the rotated gpu as well.

 

all other solutions are watercooling or like 4-slot solutions.

 

edit: http://www.arctic.ac/de_en/products/cooling/vga/accelero-xtreme-iv-280-x.html

seems like it has gotten thicker than 3 slots....

 

but again, look for the accelero 7970, got mine for 35EUR on ebay.

[lani100]

http://www.arctic.ac/eu_en/products/cooling/vga.html?___from_store=eu_en

 

Or the nzxt bracket with watercooling

[ace2k8]

I recommend the NZXT kraken G10. I have a spare aio water cooler laying around and the bracket is only 30 it's a great choice to keep your GPU cool I'm getting one for my 7970

https://www.nzxt.com/product/detail/138-kraken-g10-gpu-bracket.html

[Sharif]

try getting an arctic accelero 7970 on ebay. You have to get the 7970 because of the 45°rotation of the gpu.

I had a hot and loud 7950, now it is cool and quiet.

 

If you can't get the accelero 7970, there is a new one for the 280x. That one should fit aswell, because it is a rebranded 7970 (mostly) and has the rotated gpu as well.

 

all other solutions are watercooling or like 4-slot solutions.

 

edit: http://www.arctic.ac/de_en/products/cooling/vga/accelero-xtreme-iv-280-x.html

seems like it has gotten thicker than 3 slots....

 

but again, look for the accelero 7970, got mine for 35EUR on ebay.

why not this its newer and better but........$$$$

[mapegl]

I think the Kraken G10 is great, but if you want to carry you rsystem around like I do, aircooling makes more sense. And depending on the AIO you are using with th Kraken is is still not really quiet, but very cool. Oh and, still I would like to have the Kraken myself, but it is expensive. You have to get the Kraken G10 AND an AIO.

[mapegl]

why not this its newer and better but........$$$$

Becuase overkill? you could save money! Not saying it is not better. But I also think about value. Oh and the accelero 280x is new as well.

[DrunkAssassin]

I recommend, the NZXT G10 with an AIO water cooler. I have one on my 7950 and the temps are around 10C-20C better than my terrible XFX cooler. If you do get the NZXT G10 remember you need to get a copper shim like THIS it's the first item in the universal section, you need it otherwise the cooler will not make correct contact with the chip.

[Sharif]

Becuase overkill? you could save money! Not saying it is not better. But I also think about value. Oh and the accelero 280x is new as well.

he didn't mention the price

so that's why i recommended that

  walking away

[mapegl]

I recommend, the NZXT G10 with an AIO water cooler. I have one on my 7950 and the temps are around 10C-20C better than my terrible XFX cooler. If you do get the NZXT G10 remember you need to get a copper shim like THIS it's the first item in the universal section, you need it otherwise the cooler will not make correct contact with the chip.

Thats 's why arctic's coolers are good for 7950/70. They are actually made for this "weird" design. They are not the best, but for these two GPUs definitely up there.

 

Those shims alway increase heat and lower efficiency of your cooling solution because the heat has to actually go through the shim first. This might lower your cooling performance. Not saying it has to, but it might!

 

he didn't mention the price

so that's why i recommended that

  walking away

Touché! ;-)

[hawthorne]

you could water cool it with a NZXT Kraken G10

Look for an air cooler, not that many fan mounts on my case.

try getting an arctic accelero 7970 on ebay. You have to get the 7970 because of the 45°rotation of the gpu.

I had a hot and loud 7950, now it is cool and quiet.

 

If you can't get the accelero 7970, there is a new one for the 280x. That one should fit aswell, because it is a rebranded 7970 (mostly) and has the rotated gpu as well.

 

all other solutions are watercooling or like 4-slot solutions.

 

edit: http://www.arctic.ac/de_en/products/cooling/vga/accelero-xtreme-iv-280-x.html

seems like it has gotten thicker than 3 slots....

 

but again, look for the accelero 7970, got mine for 35EUR on ebay.

So if i bought an actic cooler it would fit on my 7950 fine?

I recommend, the NZXT G10 with an AIO water cooler. I have one on my 7950 and the temps are around 10C-20C better than my terrible XFX cooler. If you do get the NZXT G10 remember you need to get a copper shim like THIS it's the first item in the universal section, you need it otherwise the cooler will not make correct contact with the chip.

Looking for an air cooler. 

[hawthorne]

Lots of NZXT G10 recommendations, due to limited room in my case it would be hard to route tubes and mount rad. The hard drive case is welded into place infront of my from intake and apart from that i only have 2x120 mounts on my case and 2x120 mounts on my side pannel. 

[mapegl]

It is important too look for one that is supported.

So either a used arctic accelero 7970, (They are not sold in Germany anymore, don't know about other countries.) OR an arctic accelero xtreme IV 280x.

One thing you should check first: You graphics card will be triple-slot and around 320mm long. Don't know how much that is in inches.

 

And you might be able to leave your current VRM and RAM heatsinks on. I did that with my MSI 7950 and it works great.

[hawthorne]

It is important too look for one that is supported.

So either a used arctic accelero 7970, (They are not sold in Germany anymore, don't know about other countries.) OR an arctic accelero xtreme IV 280x.

One thing you should check first: You graphics card will be triple-slot and around 320mm long. Don't know how much that is in inches.

 

And you might be able to leave your current VRM and RAM heatsinks on. I did that with my MSI 7950 and it works great.

The triple slot thing is not a big deal, did you buy the accelero 7970 or the accelero xtreme IV 280x

[mapegl]

Got the accelero 7970.

 

 

As you can see the heatsink from MSI is still on. I had to use my Dremel to make it happen, but this way I am still able to put the original cooler back on.
If you can leave your heatsink on too, it is really easy. If not, you will have to glue little heatsinks to all RAM chips and VRMs.

[hawthorne]

Got the accelero 7970.

 

 

 

As you can see the heatsink from MSI is still on. I had to use my Dremel to make it happen, but this way I am still able to put the original cooler back on.

If you can leave your heatsink on too, it is really easy. If not, you will have to glue little heatsinks to all RAM chips and VRMs.

Ok thanks for the info, also what case is that. 

 

Glue ? Can you take them off again. 

I don't think i have heat sinks on the ram or vrm chips, the heat sink on my card is very small and only covers the gpu.

[mapegl]

Ok thanks for the info, also what case is that. 

 

Glue ? Can you take them off again. 

I don't think i have heat sinks on the ram or vrm chips, the heat sink on my card is very small and only covers the gpu.

1.) It is the Bitfenix Prodigy M. It just barely fits the card, but it works and stays cool.

 

2.) Thermal adhesive. http://www.arcticsilver.com/arctic_silver_thermal_adhesive.htm

That should come with the cooler, as well as all the heatsinks you will need. You should know that these will probably not come off after you have "glued" them on. So be sure you want this. That's why I left my heatsink on the card.

[hawthorne]

1.) It is the Bitfenix Prodigy M. It just barely fits the card, but it works and stays cool.

 

2.) Thermal adhesive. http://www.arcticsilver.com/arctic_silver_thermal_adhesive.htm

That should come with the cooler, as well as all the heatsinks you will need. You should know that these will probably not come off after you have "glued" them on. So be sure you want this. That's why I left my heatsink on the card.

So when you say you have left the heat sink on the card you mean you have only removed the fan and the shroud and then placed the new cooler on top?

[mapegl]

http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2259333&page=44

 

There are some pictures of how it can be done. That's how I got the idea.

If that is possible with your card, it takes like three minutes to change the cooler.

[mapegl]

if you have space, you can also go with the mk26 from prolimatech. that also fits your gpu. they have an adapter.

 

http://www.tweaktown.com/reviews/4993/prolimatech_mk_26_video_card_cooler_review/index6.html

 

I just remembered that I looked at that thing too, but the accelero was just too good of a deal.

[hawthorne]

if you have space, you can also go with the mk26 from prolimatech. that also fits your gpu. they have an adapter.

 

http://www.tweaktown.com/reviews/4993/prolimatech_mk_26_video_card_cooler_review/index6.html

 

I just remembered that I looked at that thing too, but the accelero was just too good of a deal.

 

That cooler looks better however i will need to measure it and see if it fits in my case. I think the arctic cooler is too long by a bit.