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Suggestions Regarding 3850

Andromeda1983

Andromeda1983

Andromeda1983

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Joined
21 Oct 2004
Posts
2,308
Location
Wales
Having recently purchased a 3850 512mb from PowerColor I have noticed that this card pretty much is the loudest graphics card I have ever owned. Having to replace my previous G80 320Mb 8800GTS due to the PC itself being sold, I am really kinda gutted. I mean dont get me wrong the performance of the card is not in question, its perfect for the games I play.

My question is, whats the best after-market cooler for this GPU.... ive read reviews about then Thermalright HR-03-GT and would love to run it passively.... although the powercolor 3850 is pre-overclocked so i dont know if it will work as well. Could I use this cooler and get away with the card being passively cooled, I have plenty of room in the case so space isnt a problem. What do you guys suggest?
 
Andromeda1983 said:
Having recently purchased a 3850 512mb from PowerColor I have noticed that this card pretty much is the loudest graphics card I have ever owned. Having to replace my previous G80 320Mb 8800GTS due to the PC itself being sold, I am really kinda gutted. I mean dont get me wrong the performance of the card is not in question, its perfect for the games I play.

My question is, whats the best after-market cooler for this GPU.... ive read reviews about then Thermalright HR-03-GT and would love to run it passively.... although the powercolor 3850 is pre-overclocked so i dont know if it will work as well. Could I use this cooler and get away with the card being passively cooled, I have plenty of room in the case so space isnt a problem. What do you guys suggest?
Click to expand...

Get one of those Akasa Neo Vortexx coolers. Heard loads of good about them and they're fairly cheap too. :)
 
Looks good...and it would mean i wouldnt have to worry about buying a fan heh........anything is gonna be better than the cooler that came with this card.. Dont get me wrong, this thing hasnt even touched 50oc on load so its doing its job but MY GOD its a loud sonva.....
 
i almost bought one of those powercolor cards but did a quick search and found out beforehand that they were very loud...... :D
 
Update: as much as i hate to upset the balance i have with the cooling setup I have in this case, I have decided to sacrifice one of my 120mm low-noise fans so I can replace the cooler on this 3850. Fact is when I ran the system without the card, to see the difference in noise, the change was so dramantic I was taken back. Without this zalman 2-pin ripoff fan and heatsink connected to the GPU...... the difference was day and night, I could hardly register any noise with the panels securely put on. But with the cooler from the graphics card connected, its like a boeing 747 getting ready to take off...like its constantly in a state of sonic boom lol.... So nows the decision.....passive cooled thermaltake or the Akasa Neo Vortex? :D
 
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Coolers that fit the 3850 are:
thermaltake DuOrb
Zalman VF900 Cu
Artic Cooling Accelero S1 revision2 (note the S2 does not fit)
 
Went ahead and ordered the Akasa Vortex after, it was the cheaper alternative and looks a good cooler, i wont see the nice blue glow because i dont have a side panel with perspex but I will notice the difference in sound, i cannot wait till friday
 
I'm guessing you had the zalman style addition? You could have modded the fan and put a small variable resistor in there to sort it, which would have saved you money and space.

Matthew
 
I've got the same noise problem with my 3850 (branded 'XpertVision'). I'm going to go with the Artic Cooling Accelero S1 revision2. I like the idea of the silent, passive cooling. Plus I have an intake fan on my case to blow a bit of air in that direction anyway.

I've never changed the HSF unit on a GPU before though. Will I need anything else? Such as some decent thermal tape? Or some TIM cleaner? Or will I have everything I need with the Artic Cooling Accelero S1 revision2?

Thanks,
Wightpants.
 
TIM cleaner, some lint free cloth. You can go ahead and get some AS5 as well. Normally the kits come with some sort of thermal paste but its hardly ever good quality. I used AS5 on my new Themralright HR-03-GT but that cooler did come with its own full tube of thermal paste. My one bit of advice to you is, dont put too much pressue onto the card when installing your cooler. The S1 is quite easy to fix, just remember like all GPU/CPU coolers to take your time and not rush
 
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