Would anyone recomend using Antec Spot Cool to cool vid card

[redboy]

I'm thinking of using this Antec Spotcool to cool down my 2 ATI Radeon x1950pro vid cards, i havent actually bought any parts yet for my first build, just doing some planning. These are my propsed system specs:

Intel D975XBX2 board /Intel Core 2 Duo E6600/ 1st Choice: OCZ 2GB dual module kit DDR2 800 PC2-6400 OCZ2A8002GK ATI Certified, 2nd Choice: mushkin eXtreme Performance 2GB DDR2 800 PC2 6400 with EPP, part#996523/ 2x ATI Radeon x1950 pro/ 150 GB WD Raptor/ 250 GB Seagate Barracuda / Creative SB X-FI Extreme Gamer Fatal1ty Pro / Creative Inspire P7800 7.1 Speakers/ OCZ 700W GameXStream OCZ700GXS/ Lite-On SATA DVD Burner/ Asus SATA DVD-ROM/ Gigabyte 3D Aurora 570 case

The reason i cant get those cards with coolers or buy anaftermarket cooler like a Zalman VF 900 is because i cant afford to lose a PCI slot, i may be getting a PCI wireless card and second slot will be taken up by an X-FI card which i already own. So for now i just wanted to explore this option as well in case i do get that wireless card, so my question is this, will Antec Spot cool do a decent job of cooling those cards? or can anyone suggest another way of cooling?

 

[tool_462]

So you aren't even going to use the stock cooling? I am somewhat confused as to what you are going to do with the Antec fan.

Those are really hot running cards, the stock cooling is quite loud at full speeds on most manufacturers cards. Especially since you are going to be running CF.

Why not get a single 8800GTX or GTS? Or wait a month and see what ATI comes out with and wait for the rest of the 8 series from Nvidia to come out and let prices settle.

 

[redboy]

I'm not sure what you mean by stock cooling, but x1950 pro cards come in 2 varieties: 1 with an oversized aftermarket cooler like Zalman or AC and those are made by Powercolor and Sapphire and 1 without that aftermarket cooler attached like ATI's version. It does have a fan but afraid it wont be enough, so i'm thinking of using Antec Spot Cool, it is made to cool vid cards and hard drives and things like that, like i said i'd like to know how efective this thing is for cooling the cards down.

In regards to getting an 8800, i dont like nvidia and their cards, i had ATI cards all my life, only had 1 geforce card and like ATI better. However, i cant wait until June when ATI releases their R600 cards, i'm ordering the parts next week cause i need a computer soon. I figure they'll last me a year to 15 months, them i'll get the other new ones.

 

[IcY18]

Regardless of your bias towards ATi there is no reason to crossfire the X1950Pros, for cheaper money and lots more performance you can get a 8800GTS 640mb or even for only $299 you can get the 320mb. if you dont like either of those ideas, ditch the X1950Pros and get a X1950XTX...there is no reason to get dual X1950pro's...mind you no matter what you get its not going to be the best price/performance vs. getting nvidia's product at this point

 

[stefx]

Regardless of your bias towards ATi there is no reason to crossfire the X1950Pros, for cheaper money and lots more performance you can get a 8800GTS 640mb or even for only $299 you can get the 320mb. if you dont like either of those ideas, ditch the X1950Pros and get a X1950XTX...there is no reason to get dual X1950pro's...mind you no matter what you get its not going to be the best price/performance vs. getting nvidia's product at this point

+1 on that
Crossfired 1950Pros are not a cost effective solution at all

Oh and the Antec spot cool could cool... a spot on the vid card.
You can't cool a whole card with that cooler.

 

[redboy]

Regardless of your bias towards ATi there is no reason to crossfire the X1950Pros, for cheaper money and lots more performance you can get a 8800GTS 640mb or even for only $299 you can get the 320mb. if you dont like either of those ideas, ditch the X1950Pros and get a X1950XTX...there is no reason to get dual X1950pro's...mind you no matter what you get its not going to be the best price/performance vs. getting nvidia's product at this point

I appreciate your suggestion, however i already thought this through. I cant get a x1950xtx because i will lose 2 slots on the mobo per card, these cards are huge. This is what i'm trying to avoid doing, thats why i'm getting x1950pro. Furthermore x1950xtx is way too expensive and they would be overkill to get for now not to mention that it would be foolish to drop $800 on 2 of those monsters at this point, Some of my friends run x1950pro in Xfire and they work great, native xfrire is great and games run fantastic. Getting a single x1950xtx is not good either since 2 x1950 pro will beat that single card.

Anyway, i dont want to come off as rude or condescending but i dont want to turn this into a discussion on the cards, i'm just looking for some cooling suggestions for the vid card like the abovementioned spot cool. if anyone has any experience using that kind of cooling please tell me.

Edit: i see that while i was typing a suggestion regarding spot cool came in, so its not that good, huh? May be pointing a fan onto those cards would be better or something like that?

 

[tool_462]

What they were saying was to get a *single* x1950xtx vs. two 1950 pros. Here is a review comparing a single x1950xtx to two x1950pros in CF.
http://www.rage3d.com/reviews/video/atix1950pro/index.php?p=4

Look at all the benches, focus on the resolution you play at. Does the pain of having two cards help you enough to justify the struggle? Many times the x1950xtx outperforms the pair of pros.

But if you are set on the Pros, I dont think you are going to find a single slot cooler for both cards, but you can use the stock single slot cooler for the bottom card (gets better flow) and if the temps are too high on the top card you can pick up a:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16835186002

 

[stefx]

Anyway, i dont want to come off as rude or condescending but i dont want to turn this into a discussion on the cards, i'm just looking for some cooling suggestions for the vid card like the abovementioned spot cool. if anyone has any experience using that kind of cooling please tell me.

Don't worry, no offense is taken.

It's not about their opinion vs yours. It's just a simple fact that there are single-card solutions that would be cheaper and better performing than your Xfired 1950Pro setup

Single cards (less money, more performance):
-Consume less power
-Produce less heat
-less buggy than xfire setup
-Easier to cool
-If buying an aftermarket cooler, only needs one ($$ again)

Dual 1950Pro (costs more, less performance)
-Memory is not doubled (FYI)
-Consumes more power
-produces more heat
-Challenging to cool
-If buying an aftermarket cooler, needs two (more $$ again)
-Xfire not perfect, still some bugs and issues

Antec spot cool produces a tiny narrow airflow... not very useful. Some could use it to cool a northbridge or memory chips, but then again fixing the case airflow should be the solution, not implementing remedial localized ventilation.

 

[redboy]

all right guys, i just spent about 20 min typing a reply to all the the comments but i accidentally pushed a wrong button and lost the whole IE screen where i was typing. I dont really have the time right now to argue about this right now, but basically what i was trying to say is yes, i'll think about getting a single x1950xtx,no it still doesnt outperform 2x1950pro, though the pro doesnt beat x1950xtx by a lot on average, thats from the review suggested by 1 of the posters, and other reviews on the web. None of my friends running xfire experienced series problems and the cost of 1 x1950xtx and 2x1950pro with aftermarket cooling is about the same, may be $60-$80 difference, but when i'm going to spend $2500 on a new system its negligeble.

Anyway, i'm trying to make this brief, thanks to all who have made suggestions, i guess i got my question answered afterall, no to antec spot cool, yes to aftermarket cooling (AC accelero X or Zalman VF900both recomended by x1950 club at techpowerup.com) so i have to rethink my setup and get rid of PCI wireless card if i get x1950pro.

 

[stefx]

on newegg.com...

sapphire x1950pro 512MB
210$ each

sapphirex1950xtx 512MB
370$

50$ savings, save another 30$ on avoiding to buy a second aftermarket cooler, and save antoher 30$ because you can buy a less powerful power supply. 110$ total savings.

 

[redboy]

you are right about PSU, and sapphire x1950pro 512MB sounds tempting for $210, i should definately research more before making a final decision, thanks!

 

[stefx]

good luck in your setup... come back to tell us what you ended up buying!
Cheers

 

[redboy]

oh, beleive me i will, i already got advice on this forum before and will continue to do so in the future. So you will see the sytem i'll wind up getting and i'll tell you how it works out, i'll have to brag about my first build

 

[Mondoman]

...d get rid of PCI wireless card....

Speaking as someone who has used one, do NOT get a PCI wireless card. Reception will be terrible with the antenna right behind your metal case (and probably down on the floor), it will be a pain to upgrade to newer WiFi standards, etc. Instead, get a wireless access point. I got the Buffalo Air Station Turbo G High Power, and it works great. Just connect it to your PC's ethernet port. It has a built-in Ethernet hub, so you can connect up to 4 computers to it.
Here's an Amazon link: http://www.amazon.com/Technology-AirStation-Wireless-Converter-WLI-TX4-G54HP/dp/B000BNDEZY

 

[redboy]

...d get rid of PCI wireless card....

Speaking as someone who has used one, do NOT get a PCI wireless card. Reception will be terrible with the antenna right behind your metal case (and probably down on the floor), it will be a pain to upgrade to newer WiFi standards, etc. Instead, get a wireless access point. I got the Buffalo Air Station Turbo G High Power, and it works great. Just connect it to your PC's ethernet port. It has a built-in Ethernet hub, so you can connect up to 4 computers to it.
Here's an Amazon link: http://www.amazon.com/Technology-AirStation-Wireless-Converter-WLI-TX4-G54HP/dp/B000BNDEZY

My friend, thanks for a suggestion, i was looking not to get it anyway for the reasons described above, so i guess i got one more. Right now i'm simply deciding whether to go with wireless connection or cable connection. If i do go with wireless i'm probably going to get an access point like you said or get something like this:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16833124010

This thing has 3 devices in 1, access pioint, wireless G router and built-in 4-port full-duplex 10/100 Switch to connect your wired-Ethernet devices.
Besides i like the Linksys brand so we'll see.