Aftermarket heatsinks for 5870 crossfire

[ginobili1]

Hi,

I am running two 5870 in crossfire (no overclock) and the fan on one of those (the top card - primary) starts making a funny noise when the speed increases. I guess its almost at the end of its life cycle. So I am thinking about replacing the heatsinks on both of them. They also get really hot ~79C when playing some of the graphics intensive games ex: The Witcher 2, GTA4 (ICEnhancer mod) etc. I was wondering if you guys can help me decide on a great cooling option which will not only lower the temperature but be long lasting as well.

I must tell you that I have 3 GPUs currently on 3 PCIe slots on my ASUS P6T. The last one is a nVidia 8800GT for Physx. I plan to keep all three GPUs there so I need a solution which doesn't imply 3 PCI slot options. I hope you guys have some cool ideas.

Thank you in advance.

 

[Cygnus x-1]

Not sure if they will fit, but I have a Zalman VF3000a on my overclocked 5870 and it idles at 29c in a 80F room and gets up to a toasty 45c while playing Bad company 2, lol. they're quite wide, taking up three slots so I don't know if it will fit in crossfire, but can't hurt to look into it. You might be ok if the GT is one slot.

If you do go this route I highly recommend not using the stock thermal tape. Get a sheet of 3m, it will transfer heat better and stick a 100 times better.

 

[ginobili1]

Not sure if they will fit, but I have a Zalman VF3000a on my overclocked 5870 and it idles at 29c in a 80F room and gets up to a toasty 45c while playing Bad company 2, lol. they're quite wide, taking up three slots so I don't know if it will fit in crossfire, but can't hurt to look into it. You might be ok if the GT is one slot.

If you do go this route I highly recommend not using the stock thermal tape. Get a sheet of 3m, it will transfer heat better and stick a 100 times better.

Thanks for the suggestion, But the cards themselves are 2 PCIe slots wide, so I am looking into something that could fit in the same space. If the fans are 3 PCIe slots wide, plus throwing air out, instead of through the back then it would be really hard to fit in.

Are there any solutions out there which occupy the same space as the stock one, and have the same kind of architecture as stock (throwing air through the back) but with better fans so that the heat never gets trapped.

Thanks.

 

[Cygnus x-1]

It takes up 2 in the back where you screw the card to the case. The heatsink is a bit wider than the usual 2 slot card so that's why I said three slots. I don't think crossfire will be a problem but the physics card you have may or may not fit with them installed. You can always contact Zalman and ask.

 

[apache_lives]

79ºc is fine for a video card i wouldnt worry about anything

if you want you can set the fan speeds up a little but seriously there fine

i wouldnt stray from the reference designs

 

[ginobili1]

79ºc is fine for a video card i wouldnt worry about anything

if you want you can set the fan speeds up a little but seriously there fine

i wouldnt stray from the reference designs

Thanks, its a relief to know that 79C is not bad. But then again, one of the cards' fan is making this clicking noise, which I believe means the EoL for it. That's the reason I am looking for a newer design to kill two birds with one stone.

 

[ginobili1]

Its nice to know that 79C is not bad, but is there any other heatsink that I can use with 3 cards? Using my setup?

Thanks.