Installing an Arctic Accelero Xtreme IV to Sapphire 290

Beerbaron · 11 Feb 2014 at 10:42

I am trying to fit the above heatsink to a 290 but other than a missive heatsink that fits to the back of the card there are no VRAM heatsink coolers. Surely the card will just overheat with this. Has anyone successfully installed one of these?

The website and documentation included says its compatible with the 290 and 290x.

I assume i can post a link to the item as different countries and own they OcUK.
http://www.caseking.de/shop/catalog/Arctic-Accelero-Xtreme-IV-VGA-Kuehler::26095.html

Thanks

Beerbaron · 11 Feb 2014 at 11:39

I have ordered some Alpenföhn Passive DRAM / VRAM Chip Coolers.

The Arctic Accelero Xtreme IV is a new cooler which is pretty poor to remove the VRAM coolers from this model. If I had known I would have purchased something else. Its not even worth me returning it as would need to send it to Germany. It cant be any worse than the ref cooler

Beerbaron · 11 Feb 2014 at 16:20

Rasch said:
Whats that big black plate btw?

Apparently it cools the PCB whilst the VRAM chips catch fire

SiDeards73 said:
tbh Beer, you woulda been better off using the money for the cooler and vram sinks / tape etc and selling your 290 for a decent amount and just buying an AIB 290, thats what im doing, its less hassle and the AIB's are generally better than the ref ones too.

I was actually going to wait for a non ref card when the deals were on at Xmas but was told they weren't going to be available for a while and would be expensive. I will see how this goes once i have installed it.

Beerbaron · 11 Feb 2014 at 19:01

I have a similar set of instructions but without the water cooling bit. What is actually on the back of the card?

Beerbaron · 11 Feb 2014 at 21:49

I do have that back plate. Looks like his temps are good. I wonder if adding the DRAM / VRAM Chip Coolers will make more of a difference.

Beerbaron · 12 Feb 2014 at 18:16

I needed the card for gaming so couldn't risk it over heating. My DRAM / VRAM Chip Coolers arrived today from OcUK so will give it a try tonight or tomorrow.

Beerbaron · 12 Feb 2014 at 18:22

Let me start with the first and most important comparison

Beerbaron · 12 Feb 2014 at 19:40

OcUK had none in stock so going the use the thermal paste that came with them.

Beerbaron · 12 Feb 2014 at 21:25

I have removed the ref cooler

Gave it a quick clean and laid out the heatsinks.

I need to get a Dremel tomorrow to cut a heatsink.

I think the larger ones will actually fit under the cooler.
EDIT: Need to use the smaller coolers

Beerbaron · 13 Feb 2014 at 12:18

I have cut the cooler to size with the Dremel. Just need to stick the coolers on now.

I am unsure of the instructions for the large heatsink on the back. Where should i stick the thermal strips on the back of a 290? The diagram is for a different card.

Instructions:

My 290:

Thanks.

Beerbaron · 13 Feb 2014 at 13:28

Rasch said:
There you go mate : http://extreme.pcgameshardware.de/a...cooling-hybrid-ii-ist-angekommen-imag0555.jpg

Excellent, thanks.

Smudge said:
And remember that if your using the thermal glue you need to leave it for at least a few hours to cure before plugin it in.

I heard it was a minimum of 1 hr but over night was best. It took me 20 -25 mins to stick them all on. I finished about 12.30 so will leave it until this evening.

Beerbaron · 13 Feb 2014 at 15:59

I had to grind down half of one of the small coolers. Just waiting for this to cure before i can test. The thermal paste goes like rubbery glue so easy enough to remove the coolers although it does stick them pretty well still.

I did need the small coolers at the top of the card.

Beerbaron · 13 Feb 2014 at 16:03

Rasch said:
There you go mate : http://extreme.pcgameshardware.de/a...cooling-hybrid-ii-ist-angekommen-imag0555.jpg

I got less thermal adhesive than this chap so had to use less in some places.

I completely chopped up the sheet of plastic as well more than the instructions showed.

Beerbaron · 13 Feb 2014 at 18:46

I had to grind the heatsink cooler down a little further as i thought the GPU cooler was sitting on it.

I have switched on my PC to confirm the card still has life but havent tested it yet due to wanting the 1 grinded heatsink cooler to finish curing.

Excuse the bad iPhone pics.

Beerbaron · 13 Feb 2014 at 18:58

Smudge said:
edit - what's the score with all that paste on the GPU? I thought the cooler came with pre applied TIM? Did you clean off the cooler and use some better stuff on the GPU then?

see this http://extreme.pcgameshardware.de/at...n-imag0555.jpg

I used the thermal paste that came on the GPU cooler.

LtMatt said:
What's cooling the vram and dram chips? I assumed the black heatsink was cooling those, not acting as a backplate.

Alpenföhn Passive DRAM / VRAM Chip Coolers on the chips and the large black cooler on the back of the card.

Beerbaron · 13 Feb 2014 at 19:11

No VRM heatsinks. I had to buy them separately. Apparently the PCB cooler is fairly good.

Thermal putty like this but i got less putty than this chap. The big black cooler sits over this.

Beerbaron · 13 Feb 2014 at 19:36

These are my idle temps

Beerbaron · 13 Feb 2014 at 19:41

I'm getting there....slowly

Just wanted to run the PC for a few minutes first to make sure it wasn't going to get hot whilst idle.

I will test it shortly with Tomb Raider and probably BF4 later tonight.

Beerbaron · 13 Feb 2014 at 19:59

10 minutes of Tomb Raider. Whats regarded as good VRM temps?

Beerbaron · 13 Feb 2014 at 20:01

Smudge said:
I checked my 290 at stock and have pretty much exactly the same idle temps with the ref cooler (your vrm2 is 8c higher than mine, could be case airflow or anything though).

My case has the side panel off. Corsair Obsidian 650d using stock front and top fans.