Installing an Arctic Accelero Xtreme IV to Sapphire 290

Beerbaron · 12 Feb 2014 at 18:22

Let me start with the first and most important comparison

Smudge · 12 Feb 2014 at 19:06

Beerbaron said:
Let me start with the first and most important comparison

now get on it!

Are you going to use thermal tape to stick them down?

Looking forward to the pics, impressions and results. Good luck with the install.

Beerbaron · 12 Feb 2014 at 19:40

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

Smudge · 12 Feb 2014 at 20:23

i'll probably go with some tape pending your results as I want to be able to slap on the stock cooler if I had to RMA.

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.

Rasch · 13 Feb 2014 at 12:54

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

Smudge · 13 Feb 2014 at 13:05

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.

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.

Smudge · 13 Feb 2014 at 17:47

Really looking forward to the results now Beerbaron!

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?

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.

LtMatt · 13 Feb 2014 at 18:47

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

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.

LtMatt · 13 Feb 2014 at 19:06

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

So the black thing is just a back plate? Didn't the accelero come with any heatsinks?

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.

LtMatt · 13 Feb 2014 at 19:15

Well im amazed. Will be fascinating to see what your vrm temps are like.

Beerbaron · 13 Feb 2014 at 19:36

These are my idle temps

LtMatt · 13 Feb 2014 at 19:37

Without wanting to sound like Rusty on poppers, show us your load. (temps)