Arctic cooler on Powercolor X850XT?

[Steve Evans]

The stock fan on these cards is fairly noisy, so I'm thinking of
replacing it with an AC 5 rev2. Looking at the card, it seems that
there is a heatsink for the gpu and an additional bolt-on strip for
the memory chips, making things a little more complicated than my
current 9800 cooler.
Does anyone have experience of fitting one of these coolers, and any
potential problems that may arise, before I plough in and come
unstuck?

Cheers

-
steve AT steveevans DOT org
-

 

[Dirk Gross]

I just installed one on my x800XL and there's no problems. Just unscrew the
old one and screw on the new one. You can complicate it if you don't like
the heat pads that come on the AC. Also, for me, the x800XL AGP is longer
than the typical x850XL or the PCIE versions, so I fabricated an extension
for the fan outlet housing to get it to the back of the case. By the way, I
got mine at Directon since it was almost $10 cheaper than Newegg.

Dirk

 

[pigdos]

I do. I bought an Arctic Cooler 1 rev. 2 for my 9800 Pro. I figured the shim
would protect the GPU, but it didn't. Somehow I managed to crack the core
when I installed the Arctic Cooler 1 rev. 2. Personally, I don't have the
money to risk on my X850XT w/another aftermarket cooler for my X850XT. I
did, however, mod my X850XT cooler somewhat (I think it's the same as the
cooler on your X850XT). The rear plate blocks airflow so I removed it and
cut out part of my case so that the rear duct has no obstructions blocking
the exit of air. I have my X850XT at 588/576 and it never goes above 61
degrees celsius.

 

[Wad]

The stock fan on these cards is fairly noisy, so I'm thinking of
replacing it with an AC 5 rev2. Looking at the card, it seems that
there is a heatsink for the gpu and an additional bolt-on strip for
the memory chips, making things a little more complicated than my
current 9800 cooler.
Does anyone have experience of fitting one of these coolers, and any
potential problems that may arise, before I plough in and come
unstuck?

Cheers

-
steve AT steveevans DOT org
-

I bought the AC 5 rev2 but the clicking noise from the fan was enough
to make me pull it out. AC claims the problem was fixed with rev2 but
its not. In the end I switched to the Zalman and like it much better.

Regards,

Wad

 

[First of One]

There's... no shim on the 9800 Pro. The white plastic shroud sits below the
top surface of the GPU die - you can see this with the naked eye. On my VGA
Silencer rev. 3, there were two rubber spacers beneath the nuts, and I
stopped tightening once the spacers were fully compressed.

On the 9700 Pro it was the other way around, and a flat-based heat sink
wouldn't contact the die unless there's a thick thermal pad in there like
with the stock ATi cooler.

 

[GinTonix]

There's... no shim on the 9800 Pro. The white plastic shroud sits below the
top surface of the GPU die - you can see this with the naked eye. On my VGA

My 9800Pro AIW has a shim. It's the chrome-colored (metal, no plastics
here) square around the core. I'm about to install Arctic Cooler as well
and I checked the height - almost zero difference between the core top
and the shim top, the core top being just a little higher. IMO this shim
only helps if you succeed in rocking the cooler in a way that it'd break
the core. It won't help if you use yous muscles and squeeze the screws
as tight as you can.

Silencer rev. 3, there were two rubber spacers beneath the nuts, and I
stopped tightening once the spacers were fully compressed.

On the 9700 Pro it was the other way around, and a flat-based heat sink
wouldn't contact the die unless there's a thick thermal pad in there like
with the stock ATi cooler.

Or, like in the later revisions, the bottom of the heat sink was
modelled so that the HS could make contact with the core.

 

[farmuse]

I bought the AC 5 rev2 but the clicking noise from the fan was enough
to make me pull it out. AC claims the problem was fixed with rev2 but
its not. In the end I switched to the Zalman and like it much better.

Regards,

Wad

no problems here with noise, much cooler than stock cooler