Alright, so for "reasons" I finally gave in trying to mod the cooler on this card and replaced it outright with a Raijintek Morpehus II. Basically I got a case that is much more open than the previous one and suddently 92mm fans running at 1200 rpm were quite noticeable. Here's a bit of info some may find helpful.
First, this is the before shot of my previous Frankenbuild:
Here's a comparison of the size of the stock heatsink (which is actually REALLY tiny) and the Morpheus II. Keep in mind the perspective in the image makes them look a lot more similar in size than they actually are:
This also shows the differences in heatsink size and design - note that the stock heatsink is basically 1 heatpipe to either side of the GPU core, whereas the Morpheus II has, count them, 6 heatpipes on either side. I'd estimate the volume of the new heatsink itself to be something like triple or quadruple of the stock one as well. So we're expecting massive gains here already. Comparison:
Removing the heatsink is really easy, just pop off the screws on the bottom. However, the factory-applied thermal paste was COMPLETELY solidified, despite the card being not even 2 years old. This made it quite difficult to clean it off safely. I ended up softening it up with rubbing alcohol and a lint free rag, then gently picking the clumps on the sides off with a very fine point screwdriver and some patience. Actually, just replacing that terrible thermal paste with some Thermal Grizzly or something may yield a decent improvement in itself.
This shot shows as much of the old paste removed from the core as I could get to without risking damaging any of the components near the die. Also I added heatsinks to the DRAM chips. Note that the VRM stage comes with as pre-installed heatsink (black one on the right), which
is compatible with the Morpheus II, so that's good news. Here:
I completed the build without taking any more photos I'm afraid, but it was really straightforward. Fit the mounting screws according to the manual, fit the retention bracket on the back, and put the two together. There ARE a few components on the back of the GPU die location that stick out and interfere with the retention bracket, but I mounted it on top of them anyway (it has a soft rubber surface that does give a little). Doesn't seem to have caused any issues.
Getting the fittings on the back and the front to actually attach through the card was a bit fiddly as the screws felt slightly short (probably due to the extra spacing caused by the components on the back), but a bit of careful nudging made it work.
I'll update with a few final photos once I get the proper fans for it. I only had 3-pin Noctua NF-S12B's laying around, so no RPM controlling at the moment and having to use flow optimized fans. Right now I have it running with those two 120mm fans at 675 RPM. It's virtually silent and under
full load in Furmark I get around
58-59 C max. Idle it's somewhere mid 20's C which is only just above ambient temp in the room. Keep in mind with the old setup the fans would run at an audible 1200-1300'ish RPM and temps still be above close to 80 C at sustained full load.
Also keep in mind the Morpheus II being as large as it is may cause clearance problems depending on your case. I used the Fractal Design R6, and it does fit but barely (with the standard case layout - the alternate layout has way more space for gpu length). Have to introduce it into the case at a slight angle to get it in there, but once it's in it's completely fine. Also keep in mind it's a heavy heatsink. I built sort of a makeshift rubber bracket between the top of the fans and the bottom of the case to hold it up, so the board doesn't warp. Not sure it's neccessary but better safe than sorry here.
I've ordered some pressure optimized Noctua 120mm PWM fans to complete the build. I'll post an update once they're in with a few extra pictures and some temps.
The very best part though, is that before I got a peak GPU clock around 1890 Mhz or so and it throttled down or fluctuated fairly easily. With the new setup it sits rock steady just above 2000 MHz and possibly a bit more with some tweaking. Had it running CSGO at 2020 MHz with no FPS cap without problems. Highest I've seen it go in CSGO is 2038 MHz
I love this heatsink
Still, I figured there must be a way to strap these two to the basic Palit GTX 1070, which also has a very basic heatsink. I've managed to do it, and the results are fairly good, although you'd expect that with a larger fan that shifts twice as much CFM.
