XFX 4870 Replacement Cooler

T1Cybernetic · 11 Jun 2010 at 11:05

I need to replace the cooler on my XFX 4870 because the fan is dying but wasn't sure what would be a good replacement!

It's the HD 4870 1.0 GB DDR5 (HD-487A-ZWFL) (with cooler that pumps air into the case) so ideally I wanted something that
would blow hot air back out of the case from the rear but the only one I can find is the Akasa cooler that everyone seems to rate.

1# http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=HS-047-AK

Other than that the Arctic Cooling ones are looking great as always but not in stock with OcUK, Anyway, Just throwing the question out there to see what everyone else recommends

Gzero · 11 Jun 2010 at 11:14

I've just ordered one, I'll let you know.

T1Cybernetic · 14 Jun 2010 at 22:00

Gzero how's the cooling coming along?

Anyone else for that matter, My fan is in pretty bad shape but I've no cash available for a week or two so I have plenty of time to choose a cooler

Gzero · 14 Jun 2010 at 22:20

Well its got one issue, no cooling on the vrm area (just blows some air through the holes under the fan). I've asked someone for a cut up zalman strip that would fit across the vrms.

So if your getting this cooler you definitely need to get something to cool the vrms. I'll let you know if I manage it, otherwise I'll have to send this back as it doesn't cool 4870's on it's own.

phatboy · 15 Jun 2010 at 16:32

See i was considering these for the 4890's i am hopefully getting, you could just get some really thin ram heatsink and squeeze them under? then the fan + those could hopefully do the trick.

Gzero - any chance you could take a pic showing the gap between the fan and the VRM's please?

Cheers

Ben

Gzero · 15 Jun 2010 at 20:30

phatboy said:
See i was considering these for the 4890's i am hopefully getting, you could just get some really thin ram heatsink and squeeze them under? then the fan + those could hopefully do the trick.

Gzero - any chance you could take a pic showing the gap between the fan and the VRM's please?

Cheers

Ben

I've stuck back on my original stock reference heatsink, so maybe if I my think vrm sink comes I'll take pics.

It's around ~10mm clearance between the surface layer of the ram and the fan.

Pics of the cooler itself are here.

Merlin5 · 15 Jun 2010 at 22:05

I've put a Thermalright HR-03-GT on my HIS HD4870 1GB and it does a brilliant job of cooling. I also have a 120mm fan on it at over 70cfm. In winter it idles at 33c, in summer, idles around 41c. Never goes above mid to late 40's under stress, even with furmark. I would highly recommend one. It's got great clearance space on cards, and looks much nicer than the Akasa.

I also own an Akasa Vortexx NEO but couldn't get it to fit. So I sawed off a bit of metal but still couldn't get it to fit because mine is a non reference card. So if anyone wants it for free, let me know but tbh, it's missing the sticky pads now since I used them and then had to peel them off and throw them.

Gzero · 15 Jun 2010 at 22:16

Yeah but the difference is, the Akasa is like £12 and the thermalright is 80% the mtv of the card. I'd rather just buy another one and crossfire than spend that much on cooling.

phatboy · 15 Jun 2010 at 22:17

I will take it for my x1950. . Will source some pads

Merlin5 · 15 Jun 2010 at 22:23

Gzero said:
Yeah but the difference is, the Akasa is like £12 and the thermalright is 80% the mtv of the card. I'd rather just buy another one and crossfire than spend that much on cooling.

Not sure what mtv is, other than a music channel.

You say 'spend that much on cooling', but the thermalright is about £23, and a high cfm 120mm fan you can get for about £5. It;s not exactly expensive, but the performance is excellent

Merlin5 · 15 Jun 2010 at 22:38

phatboy said:
I will take it for my x1950. . Will source some pads

It's yours my friend. It's fully boxed, still has the thermal paste, not opened. A bag of plastic and metal washers, and a molex to 3 pin adapter. Here is a picture showing where I sawed off and filed down the piece of metal, just in front of the blue line up to the screw. The only thing is cost of postage, would it be a possibility of you covering it? I'll go to the post office and if it's only a couple of quid I'm not fussed, but if it comes to over a fiver, that's about half of what it costs to buy

Or, if you're down near north london at any point I could probably meet you and hand it over? Anyway, my email is [email protected]

phatboy · 16 Jun 2010 at 06:52

Gzero said:
I've stuck back on my original stock reference heatsink, so maybe if I my think vrm sink comes I'll take pics.

It's around ~10mm clearance between the surface layer of the ram and the fan.

Pics of the cooler itself are here.

ok mate, thats cool. think i have got one to gauge now very kindly provided by Merlin5 (cheers mate, email sent to you)

I am just wondering whether some of the Coolermaster sinks will squeeze in....you can but try I guess

http://www.techaddicts.net/reviews/cmramsink/cmramsink.html

Cheers

Ben

Gzero · 16 Jun 2010 at 09:47

Merlin5 said:
Not sure what mtv is, other than a music channel.

You say 'spend that much on cooling', but the thermalright is about £23, and a high cfm 120mm fan you can get for about £5. It;s not exactly expensive, but the performance is excellent

Market trade value

You get about £50 on the bay for a 4870 512mb if your lucky/unlucky.

Merlin5 · 16 Jun 2010 at 17:26

Gzero said:
Market trade value

You get about £50 on the bay for a 4870 512mb if your lucky/unlucky.

Yeah but T1Cybernetic and myself both have the 1GB 4870, not 512mb. Looking on the bay, the 1GB cards are much more than £50. More like £130 to £175. Granted, those are the buy it now prices, but I imagine the final bid prices won't be too much short of those.

Gzero · 16 Jun 2010 at 18:11

Merlin5 said:
Yeah but T1Cybernetic and myself both have the 1GB 4870, not 512mb. Looking on the bay, the 1GB cards are much more than £50. More like £130 to £175. Granted, those are the buy it now prices, but I imagine the final bid prices won't be too much short of those.

Err no, ignore the buy it now auctions, they are unrealistic shop's trying to take advantage...

Depending on the brand/type (mainly Vapor-X's) you might get £90 tops, then minus ebay's cut.

Merlin5 · 16 Jun 2010 at 18:50

Gzero said:
Err no, ignore the buy it now auctions, they are unrealistic shop's trying to take advantage...

Depending on the brand/type (mainly Vapor-X's) you might get £90 tops, then minus ebay's cut.

Ah right, fair enough.

T1Cybernetic · 16 Jun 2010 at 19:21

If that bit is all that needs chopping off to make it fit on an xfx 4870 then I mught just go ahead and buy one

I'm still searching for others with the same cooler so I can get some other pictures and fully make my mind up!

Merlin5 · 16 Jun 2010 at 19:41

T1Cybernetic said:
If that bit is all that needs chopping off to make it fit on an xfx 4870 then I mught just go ahead and buy one I'm still searching for others with the same cooler so I can get some other pictures and fully make my mind up!

Well, even after chopping that bit off, I still couldn't get it to fit properly. A black finned oblong radiator at the front of the card stopped the centre of the heatsink surface completely touching the gpu core.

If yours is a reference card, it should work. If yours is non reference like mine, you may have problems.

Quote from Akasa's site:

Our VGA coolers are designed to be compatible with all the ATI & NVIDIA reference design VGA cards we list, however occasionally some manufactures deviate from the reference design and therefore we cannot guarantee compatibility with these cards. If you not sure please contact us for help.

Gzero · 17 Jun 2010 at 01:42

I've got this on it's way to me: http://forums.techpowerup.com/showpost.php?p=1927060&postcount=5

Since he's done a bit of diy I'm hoping it should fit snuggly, otherwise I'll get the filer out or cry foul that Akasa lie

Gzero · 17 Jun 2010 at 20:42

Just an update.

I'm keeping this cooler.

It's nice and quiet.

I had mm's to spare in the gap between the fan and heatsink.

Temps are:
reminder of my card: his hd4870 512mb reference volterra card.
790/900 stock volts
~50mins of Kombustor(furmark)
gpu 72c.
vrms maximum 97c.

Pretty happy with that since it doesn't make a peep under full load.

I could mess with my mx3 to cover the vrms better, but it seems fine now.

I've got some crappy phone pics if any one's interested