need a good GPU cooling for OC

IC3 · 29 May 2013 at 11:14

Hi, I need a new cooler for my his iceq 7950 that will allow me to OC the card further with less noise. Will I loose my warranty if I change the cooling? Is the thermal paste that comes with GPU cooling better then thermal paste dedicated for cpu, such as IC diamond 7c?

My budget is 60 pounds.
No size limitations, as I have an antec p280. Which is a big case

Drangueos · 29 May 2013 at 11:24

Well you can try this one, but I don't think you should replace your cooler:
http://www.arctic.ac/en/p/cooling/vga/502/accelero-xtreme-7970.html

but don't use the "glue", you can use some for the heatsinks:
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=TH-001-AK

What is the clocks that you are getting now? the Iceq 7950 cooler is good, you should be able to run the core at 1100 without problems.

Usually replacing the thermal paste helps, but with His I think you will void the warranty.

LtMatt · 29 May 2013 at 11:56

IC3 said:
Hi, I need a new cooler for my his iceq 7950 that will allow me to OC the card further with less noise. Will I loose my warranty if I change the cooling? Is the thermal paste that comes with GPU cooling better then thermal paste dedicated for cpu, such as IC diamond 7c?

My budget is 60 pounds.
No size limitations, as I have an antec p280. Which is a big case

Yes its a decent cooler, better than stock and much quieter. However it won't be enough for exotic clock speeds that's for sure. Whilst there are no vrm sensors on this card, the vrm cooling looks decent and the fan is sat right on top of the vrms. The core cooling is the weak part of this cooler though.

Is there any warranty void if cooler removed stickers? I can't see any on the back of mine. Changing the paste might buy you a few more C.

Do you have the Boost version IC3?

IC3 · 29 May 2013 at 12:04

LtMatt said:
Do you have the Boost version IC3?

Sadly I have to say yes

LtMatt · 29 May 2013 at 12:09

IC3 said:
Sadly I have to say yes

Why sadly?

The accelero will definitely give you more room to overclock, but by how much depends on the card. With the accelero you improve core cooling but sacrifice a little on the vrms. In my opinion the core is actually slightly more important as the vrms can handle higher temps without losing stability.

IC3 · 29 May 2013 at 12:32

LtMatt said:
Why sadly?

The stable OC I got on this cooling was 1200/1600 1.18v
But for everyday use 1100/1500, the noise and temps were much more bearable.
On the non boost bios from what I heard is that you get much better results then on boost edit.
Not sure if it's true... :confused:

LtMatt · 29 May 2013 at 12:36

IC3 said:
The stable OC I got on this cooling was 1200/1600 1.18v
But for everyday use 1100/1500, the noise and temps were much more bearable.
On the non boost bios from what I heard is that you get much better results then on boost edit.
Not sure if it's true...

Does it have a bios switch? I've not even checked. Wonder if they're both the same bios. You should try flashing the non boost bios and see how it works.

Drangueos · 29 May 2013 at 13:01

They do have a bios switch.

I think 1100/1500 is a good overclock for gaming, I would use more than that only for benchmarks, actually it is what I do with my msi cards.

LtMatt · 29 May 2013 at 13:10

1100/1500 does sound like a good balance that should give you 7970ghz crossfire speed.

IC3 · 29 May 2013 at 15:19

But if I could put the temp below 71c and 60% fan speed, I would be more happy.

[WU-TANG]GZA · 29 May 2013 at 15:46

Waste of money imo mate.

IC3 · 29 May 2013 at 16:31

[WU-TANG]GZA;24360625 said:
Waste of money imo mate.

I guess you are right

LtMatt · 29 May 2013 at 16:49

60% is fairly quiet i see why you like that speed. I think you will need to use HIS Tool to undervolt the card to around 1.175v or lower to keep the temps at 71c or lower at 60% fan speed. Alternatively if you use vsync and an fps limiter of 1 below vsync you will have no problem keeping those temps at that fan speed, you could probably even lower it further.

IC3 · 29 May 2013 at 19:13

35 min of bf3 120fps noshar canals

I did use HIS tool before but it was very glitchy...

RSRAVI · 29 May 2013 at 19:17

are standard coolers no good then

LtMatt · 29 May 2013 at 19:20

IC3 said:
35 min of bf3 120fps noshar canals

I did use HIS tool before but it was very glitchy...

Impressive.

I must be seeing higher temps than you because of xfire i suppose. What quality settings are you using to maintain 120fps? I refuse to play bf3 on anything but ultra preset these days. Even with a mild overclock 7950 xfire barely dips below 70fps at 1440p Ultra preset (and im talking about those huge explosions around tank which kill fps) with x4 AA and this is using a gimped x4 pci-e lane as well.

IC3 · 29 May 2013 at 19:42

LtMatt said:
Impressive.

I must be seeing higher temps than you because of xfire i suppose. What quality settings are you using to maintain 120fps? I refuse to play bf3 on anything but ultra preset these days. Even with a mild overclock 7950 xfire barely dips below 70fps at 1440p Ultra preset (and im talking about those huge explosions around tank which kill fps) with x4 AA and this is using a gimped x4 pci-e lane as well.

Low with 8x as its much better for me. Ultra I only use while playing single, I dont see much difference... My next aim is to buy a 120hz monitor :cool:

Even on 64 maps I get most of the time constant 120fps which drop to 110 ;]

Usefull comment which will not loose out on quality but give roughly 3fps is renderdevice.forcerenderaheadlimit 1

LtMatt · 29 May 2013 at 19:45

That command should be a crossfire users best friend tbh. Killing 95% of microstutter since invention.

I pity the fool that plays bf3 on low. Ultra all the way baby.

EDIT

Real men play at ultra, none of this low detail, 120fps, i can spot enemies easily malarkey. There i said it.

Tonester0011 · 29 May 2013 at 19:47

What benefit is there to running 120fps without a 120hz screen? Is it like CoD where 270fps is a benefit?

What CPU are you running to manage 120fps on 64 man servers?

LtMatt said:
That command should be a crossfire users best friend tbh. Killing 95% of microstutter since invention.

I pity the fool that plays bf3 on low. Ultra all the way baby.

I can barley tell the difference between low and ultra

Never been much of a graphics whore though, i prefer my games smooth rather than looking pretty.

IC3 · 29 May 2013 at 19:51

LtMatt said:
That command should be a crossfire users best friend tbh. Killing 95% of microstutter since invention.

I pity the fool that plays bf3 on low. Ultra all the way baby.

Yep, but my statistics went from 29:19 to 51:20. I can see campers much clearer then before on ultra. The quality during gaming is not seeable, but while doing a CO-OP with my friend I turn on ultra settings.
Its probably a habbit I got from CS nearly 2k hours on that game if they didnt ruin it with an update, I would probably hit that 2k hours. :rolleyes: