7970/50 Arctic Accelero Users

[LtMatt]

5c or so worse temps using the supposedly better Peter vrm sinks. I was shocked and appalled. Luckily i had just enough adhesive to refit back to my old setup which looks like this.




That is the best possible cooling setup you can have with the accelero. As you can see i have one peter heatsink on the final right vrm.

The accelero L shaped heatsinks are better because they provide more cooling surface area as far as i can tell. The grass is not always greener folks.

 

[LtMatt]

Well spotted. Yes its a tight fit but it does fit safely. I lost one of my insulation strips (the second one on the right) but mine works ok. If you have two strips on the right and cut one small peice to protect the left vrm (top left) you will be fine.

 

[LtMatt]

Uncle petey how do you rate the adhesive that came with yours? I'm about to reseat my sinks. How long does the peter adhesive take to cure? I also have some Arctic permanent stuff & some thermal pads. I was thinking of using the pads for ram & permanent for vrm's?
What you reckon?

The arctic adhesive and the peter adhesive is the same stuff. Use the arctic stuff on the vrms, it will be provide a secure fit. I wouldn't bother with thermal pads. You should only use those if you're screwing a heatsink down on to the vrms.

 

[LtMatt]

Anyone know of some good cheap thermal pads i can get off Ebay? Themal pads with good head conductivity? i found these http://www.ebay.ca/itm/Blue-100mmx100mmx1-5mm-GPU-CPU-Heatsink-Cooling-Thermal-Conductive-Silicone-Pad-/170880116826?pt=US_Thermal_Compounds_Supplies&hash=item27c93fa85a&_uhb=1#ht_2005wt_1037 and i don't know if they are good/bad or what. What's the metric used for this stuff anyways? What numbers show what is good and what is bad?

What you're looking for is the W/MK rating. The higher the better. The best thermal pads you can get are Fujipoly. Phobya also make good thermal pads but they have a lower W/MK than Fujipoly. Its very hard to get Fujiploy pads here in the UK.

 

[LtMatt]

Whats the Mk? and whats average? Fujupoly aren't on ebay i think.

Found this, don't know if it's a real thermal pad

http://www.ebay.ca/itm/FUJIPOLY-150...ain_0&hash=item4abf40c79a&_uhb=1#ht_500wt_923

Well anything 5.0W/MK or over is good as far as i know.

 

[LtMatt]

Matt should have an update for you next week if I can manage to drag myself to the post office; )

When are you going to come play some Dirt Pete and stop playing hard to get ? Afraid young Matt and Old Tommy/Scotty will show you a lesson?

 

[LtMatt]

I beat you in some of the races last night young Matt.

Only because i let you old timer.

 

[LtMatt]

Sorry mate, I've had the pc half in bits while I'm sorting out the loop stuff.
I'm posting on the phone right now.

Aside from that, I've only had less than an hour on this horrible game since I got it
Am I gonna need to upgrade the crap out of the cars to get a fighting chance?

How dare you slate dirt Peter!!

Nah you'll be fine on the stock cars, that's what most of us use. You can upgrade cars if you like though. It doesn't make too much difference so no matter what you do i will destroy you. I'm sure you can't be any worse than Scotty though. (sorry scotty )

 

[LtMatt]

One of my Ramsinks just fell off my 7970 when I picked it up. So much for Arctics permanent glue....

If it is the same stuff as Matt and myself have been using, I call pebcak
If it's G1, then fair enough
Just use some Akasa tape mate. Far less messy.

+ 6 million.

It has to be G1. The permanent adhesive doesn't just fall off. It takes serious elbow grease to get that stuff off.

 

[LtMatt]

It's Arctic silver permanent adhesive. Comes in two tubes.

This one..

http://www.arcticsilver.com/arctic_silver_thermal_adhesive.htm

That is supposed to be impossible to remove once you apply. That is not the stuff that ships with the accelero. I'm shocked.

 

[LtMatt]

Damn, i think i killed my card Q.Q

Gotta go to work now, but so far the PC turns on with no signal detected. Its an intel 2500k so i think the only reason the PC turns on is because of the integrated card. I got the gelid part, sanded it down, cleaned the vrms placed tape on any areas where it would touch anything conductive and basically covered all my bases but alas no signal detected.

It did this once before, basically what happened was i forgot to firmly push the PCIE cable in and until i did that it wouldn't post but i double checked the cables this time and still nothing.

Anyways, after proper testing tomorrow i will have a firm answer... but what a crappy way to start my work day hours before Infinite launches too...

Oh dear. Are you 100% sure the gelid sink did not touch the AC main heatsink? This puts me off doing it with mine. Heard a few reports that the Gelid heatsink is killing gpu's left right and center.

 

[LtMatt]

well i got the beast to work once more turns out the i screwed something on too tight. Either the Arctic sink, the Gelid sink, or the two screws that hold the PCB into the PCIE slot.

Problem is i killed one of my VRM sensors :/ LOL how ironic... anyways GPU-z reports VRM2 at 0c all the time.

Problem is, i only fiddled with the area where VRM 1 was located, never even touched VRM2... I don't know if GPUz is reading VRM2 as VRM1 or if VRM1 is indeed VRM1 and that sucks...

For all i know VRM1 could be at 100c when i'm reading 80c in GPUz.

So you reckon screwing the gelid down onto the vrms damaged one of the vrms or all of them? Vrm 1 is the long line of vrms isn't it?

 

[LtMatt]

Spoke too soon.. I saw smoke Q.Q it's definitely dead this time.

Cleaning it up now and going to attempt an RMA - worst they can say is no.... I'm at a loss for what to do. I have a 570 i can use until i come up with something. No new cards coming out soon right? Thinking about grabbing 2 GTX670s and calling it a day. The reason i bought the accelero is because the 7970 is so damn loud. If i get a replacement - BIG if- i will come with the loud stock cooler and i won't risk another install of the accelero.

So maybe buy a 670 now, wait for RMA results and if i get a working one i sell it and get another 670 - less power draw, and less noise than a 7970 CFX, for about 10-20% less performance.

Oh dear god. Must have been a short. But how?

 

[LtMatt]

My VRM temps were higher than before and i figured it was because it was too loose, so being the genius i am i tightened it up little by little testing to see if it would post and then i guess i went half a rotation too many and away she went....

I don't recommend this VRM heatsink basically you're playing a dangerous game trying to find out "how tight is tight enough". Very sad, this month my Headphones broke, Laptop Charger stopped functioning, My GPU blew up...

Yeah i really want to try it but it sounds fraught with danger. What i really need is a tommy or a petey to try it but i fear that will never happen.

 

[LtMatt]

That's horrible news mate. I really feel for you

Sorry Matt, never gonna happen. Even if I wasn't going for WC, the beast is the only one for me on air

Just don't tighten it down too much if you do try it.

But how tight is too tight? I'm starting to think this is a bad idea.

 

[LtMatt]

I took my accelero apart today and removed the back plate. Lowered temps a few more C due to better core contact. In return that's lowered vrm temps a bit as well strangely enough.

 

[LtMatt]

Yes i have bent the fins slightly but that was originally to make way for a copper heatsink.

 

[LtMatt]

How long ago did tommy tell you to do that matt?

Yes well today i was bored so listened to your previous advice.

 

[LtMatt]

Nervous, Ordered the Accelero, just waiting for OCuk to stock them. After reading the new posts. I'm thinking of canceling. The VRMs on my ref 7970 never go over 65ish. But after reading peoples reports. I really dont want to have to keep taking it apart to trial and error the VRM temps. Hmmmm

What is the average rise in temps expected on a ref board?

IF you use the proper permanent thermal adhesive (looks like glu in a single tube, should be included unless they ship G1 (two sachets) with your cooler which is not permanent) and the best possible heat sink combo like me (see picture below) then you will get better vrm temps than reference. If you have a exhaust fan near the accelero on the side of your case that will greatly help vrm temps. You just need to get some decent airflow over the vrms from your front fan and have the accelero at 100% fan speed and you'll be fine.

Best possible Accelero heatsink Combo below - Note the black heatsink is from the Peter GPU cooler. However you can use one of the long thin Accelero heatsinks here instead. Only 1-2c difference tbh.

 

[LtMatt]

patience is a good thing aswell,leave atleast 24 hours for the glue to go off fully

I still have my cooler here ready to fit,ill probably get round to fitting it but not rushed atm

If you use the proper permanent adhesive you only need to wait 10 minutes. No word of a lie. If you want to play it safe, wait 30 minutes.