Best cooler for a X1900XT-X

xknight2000 · 15 Mar 2006 at 16:04

What is the best cooler to replace the stock cooler with on an ATI X1900XT-X?

PinkFloyd · 15 Mar 2006 at 16:15

I would wait until the Zalman VF900 comes out and see how that is.
It seems that no aftermarket cooler can cope with the heat they kick off at the moment. (unless you are water cooling)

Whappers · 15 Mar 2006 at 16:15

Hey there,

I believe the Zalman FS-V7 Fatal1ty Copper VGA Cooler is quite good. I have heard very good things about it. But I'm sure someone more experienced will come along shortly and confirm this or not.

Whappers

PinkFloyd · 15 Mar 2006 at 16:24

I have seen somewhere that once the temps build up under load that the current Zalman coolers keel over.
Dunno about you but I would trust want that near my card.

Saying that though, I havent seen any conclusive results for either arguement

chovi · 15 Mar 2006 at 17:01

ive an accelero x2 on my card which reduced temps by 10/12 degrees load and 4/5 degrees idle, and of course is nigh on silent !!!

fornowagain · 15 Mar 2006 at 20:16

xknight2000 said:
What is the best cooler to replace the stock cooler with on an ATI X1900XT-X?

At the moment the best cooler is the stock one, once its been lapped, long thread on [H] . I've read that the AC cooks your motherboard (DFI anyone?) and ups the case temps (reports on XS of it killing a card). The vf700 can't handle the x1900 wattage, loads of reports of the temps going up. Wait for the vf900 see how that gets on, does look a bit small tbh. Water's about the only real option at the moment, 150w full load is a lot to dissipate with air without a cpu sized HSF (which has also been done.)

chovi · 15 Mar 2006 at 21:35

fornowagain said:
At the moment the best cooler is the stock one, once its been lapped, long thread on [H] . I've read that the AC cooks your motherboard (DFI anyone?) and ups the case temps (reports on XS of it killing a card). The vf700 can't handle the x1900 wattage, loads of reports of the temps going up. Wait for the vf900 see how that gets on, does look a bit small tbh. Water's about the only real option at the moment, 150w full load is a lot to dissipate with air without a cpu sized HSF (which has also been done.)

disagree totally with what you said, ive not noticed any changes in my temperatures what so ever! anyone else ?

fornowagain · 15 Mar 2006 at 22:10

chovi said:
disagree totally with what you said, ive not noticed any changes in my temperatures what so ever! anyone else ?

All that heat pumped into the case and not out the back and it doesn't change your case temps? No thanks, just what you need 150w dumped on the northbridge.

chovi · 15 Mar 2006 at 22:15

125 but thats nit picking. Unless you have one installed in your machine your not exactly in a position to say if its right or wrong.

fornowagain · 15 Mar 2006 at 22:30

chovi said:
125 but thats nit picking. Unless you have one installed in your machine your not exactly in a position to say if its right or wrong.

Its 150w overclocked (approx), nitpick all you like. It's simply a bad design, I don't need to buy it to see that its going to push hot air on my boards chipset fan. I've been following cooling options since the day x1800's were released. I think yours maybe the only report that I've seen (where they took readings) so far where it hasen't increased the PWN/NB temps. Still every rig is different, wonder what will happen if the ambients go up. All that heat energy has got to go somewhere, must be great case air flow.

http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?t=91422

Still don't like it. I think the stock fan has some production issues tbh. Mine never goes of 72C or 65%. Maybe some are flatter than others? For the sake of trying, lap the stock cooler if you have temp problems, its cheaper.

chovi · 15 Mar 2006 at 23:03

well i have pleny of ventiliation and know my case is up there the the best of them ( kandalf ). maybe your right maybe i am one of the lucky ones., and yes each rig will be different of course but i think you`ve still got to try things for yourself from time to time rather than read differing opinions of others.

fornowagain · 15 Mar 2006 at 23:08

chovi said:
well i have pleny of ventiliation and know my case is up there the the best of them ( kandalf ). maybe your right maybe i am one of the lucky ones., and yes each rig will be different of course but i think you`ve still got to try things for yourself from time to time rather than read differing opinions of others.

Lol, I'm more than able to buy something untested if I like the design. I'm an Engineer I've designed heatsinks for cathode heat dissipation in the Kilowatt range, 2MW rated glass production lines. Believe me, it doesn't take a genius to see the limitations of that awful Accelero design. They could have vented the air anywhere (out?) but down, daft.

But hey come on in the water's luvly.

And just for the record, I've had three AC coolers, two died, one killed an x800xtpe when the fan stopped. And the third is running on my 6600GT. I prefer Zalman, given the choice. And I'm not about to risk a £400 card without reading up on it, ta.

chovi · 15 Mar 2006 at 23:32

er, i wasn`t having a dig in that last post btw!! I think the original thread starter has left the building !!!!!!!!!!!

Goksly · 15 Mar 2006 at 23:35

agree with whats being said. Zalman VF700 cant take it and the aero thingy.... thats just a bad design.

fornowagain · 15 Mar 2006 at 23:36

chovi said:
er, i wasn`t having a dig in that last post btw!! I think the original thread starter has left the building !!!!!!!!!!!

chovi · 15 Mar 2006 at 23:41

ok ok, ive retired from further cooler discussion !!! time to celebrate Boro`s great result in Italy, and i don`t mean the 3 fans who got stabbed !!!

Bennah · 15 Mar 2006 at 23:42

This stuff about the mobo getting cooked because of the AC, thats rubbish tbh. I dont believe that one bit. The extra heat going into the case and what not. Thats what case air flow is for. Intake and outtake. What about heat produced by HD's and CD / DVD drives? Does that cook the mobo...

It may seem that the heat from the gpu is going over parts of the mobo and such like, but isnt this the same for heatsinks like the SP-120 then? The fan ontop sucking air onto the heatsink to cool, then the hot air coming out the sides of the heatsink around the socket on the caps and such like. Dont see this cooking the mobo.

That is one case, you have listed. That does'nt mean the same for all of them. Every situation is different.

The stock cooler on the cards is ok, but I would get a AC Silencer tbh. a lot better and pretty quiet. Good performance.

fornowagain · 15 Mar 2006 at 23:52

Bennah said:
This stuff about the mobo getting cooked because of the AC, thats rubbish tbh. I dont believe that one bit.

Stick your hand behind an X1900XTX on full burn after running for 30min and you will loose your skin. Now aim that at the northbridge. At least it does on an Ultra-D.

Bennah · 16 Mar 2006 at 00:06

Im not saying it wont get hot. Im just saying that one example doesnt count for them all. Good air in a case would help a lot. Would be blowing air over the nb sink anyways. Having said that, have you seen the nb sink. Its not exactly good its self. So it wouldnt be drawing much heat out anyways. They dont get that hot tbh. So added heat onto it wont make a matter, I dont think.

fornowagain · 16 Mar 2006 at 00:10

Bennah said:
Im not saying it wont get hot. Im just saying that one example doesnt count for them all. Good air in a case would help a lot. Would be blowing air over the nb sink anyways. Having said that, have you seen the nb sink. Its not exactly good its self. So it wouldnt be drawing much heat out anyways. They dont get that hot tbh. So added heat onto it wont make a matter, I dont think.

Its the amount of heat over a given area (and air velocity). The air flow for the SP-120 moves through 120x120. What's the area for a the GPU slot cooler? 1/5? And how close is the exhaust exit to the board. On some boards its going to raise the temps enough to lower stability. And down by the bottom of the Accelero where is the case flow, out the PCI slots? Not without help. The NB area is already heat loaded, its not designed to have more heat poured on top of it. What's sad is that its so easily designed better and they should know from the last gen of coolers.

It does make a difference. On the back of my XTX I've a flat air deflector. Next to the GF card is a fan pulling air in from outside. This simple flap stops the inlet air mixing with the exhaust. Its worth 3C for a bit of plastic.