Should I upgrade the cooler on 480 GTX's?

[hv43082]

So I am thinking of upgrading my 2 480GTX's cooler with:

-Accelero Xtreme Plus.

-2 of these mounting kits.

-Double sided thermal tape since the the stuff Arctic Cooling provides is more like permanent glue. Any recommendation on the tape?

Total cost would be around $140. I do have 2 additional slots between the two PCI-E's. Both cards are at low 90C when gaming and of course rather noisy. My question is, is this worth it? Would the money be better spent on upgrading future graphic cards?

 

[va4leo]

I had the AXP on my 480. When i got the 580 via Step-Up, I used Sekisui Thermal Tape 5760 to replace the vRam heatsinks. Don't use the stuff that came with the heatsinks, bloody hard to get off.

Here is the result on my 480 without an overvolt. This is only the 11minute run. The hour long run went fine as well with the same low temps.

 

[xbonez]

I use a Zalman VF3000f on my EVGA 470, and if you can afford the 140 bucks, absolutely go for it. 480s run hot, and since yours are already running in the low 90s, it leaves you without much (any) room for OC. if you get the cooler, you can squeeze a good amount of performance from them. Also, these aftermarket coolers at 100% fan speed make as much noise as the stock fan at about 40%.

 

[hv43082]

My one concern is that since this is 3 slot cooler, the GPU will be right next to each other with little to no room in between. Would it affect the performance since this cooler is blowing wind upward to the cpu instead of the traditional exhaust?

 

[xbonez]

it possibly will affect the cooling to a certain extent but I'm certain it will still be better than the stock cooler.

 

[yogurt_21]

480 is plenty of power but the cooler sucks, so I vote yes.

edit: wait 140$? shoot seems like the start of a watercooler to me. check fleabayfor 480 waterblocks seen them go for as cheap as 40$.

 

[micropage7]

it depends on the card, if you just run on stock, i prefer tweak the stock hsf, like thermal paste, lap the hsf, raise the fan speed.
New hsf is nice it would help give your card lower temp
i guess it return how you gonna use the card, upgrade is nice option, but if you just use it on normal level, tweak it could be considered

 

[hv43082]

I use those cards for gaming. I think the stock cooler is just not good enough especially if you are running SLI. The cheapest water block for the 480 gtx is like $100. The $40 block is a no name block from Taiwan. Would not trust it.

 

[micropage7]

I use those cards for gaming. I think the stock cooler is just not good enough especially if you are running SLI. The cheapest water block for the 480 gtx is like $100. The $40 block is a no name block from Taiwan. Would not trust it.

have u checked the temp? If possible maintain it below 80 celcius
water cooling? I guess thats kinda over kill, air cooling is enough, heat pipes, big fan, many fins that would enough to keep your card on normal temp

 

[va4leo]

Both cards are at low 90C when gaming and of course rather noisy.

 

[Jamborhgini313]

Water cool it with some ek blocks

 

[xbonez]

Actually, coming to think of it, for a little more money, you could water cool.

Get the XSPC Rasa kit. Its a complete watercooling kit minus the coolant for about 120. Sell the CPU block that comes with for about 40ish. Now add waterblocks and coolant, and you have a watercooling setup for about 200ish.

Of course, if thats beyong ur budget go for the aftermarket HSF, because honestly, the stock HSF for the GTX 480 just can't keep up with its heat output

 

[hv43082]

I've thought about water cooling but then it would have to be both CPU and GPU's. The EK block is about $140-150 each. The Rasa kit is a good starter kit but not enough to cool CPU and 2x480GTX. I might have to get dual loop configuration.

2xEK 480 GTX block: $300
1xRasa 360 kit: $150
One extra rad + pump: $100

Too much cash.

 

[jsfitz54]

Upgrade the cards (2 x 560's) and sell off the 480 cards while the market is good.

 

[hv43082]

Damn it, some local dude just offer me $500 for both. Should I bite on this potential sale? Luckily I have only ordered the mounting bracket from Arctic Cooling.

 

[xbonez]

250 bucks for a single 480 is not a good deal. And I'm not certain about this, but I think 2x480s will beat the crap out of 2x560s.

 

[hv43082]

Well if I can get 500 for 2 480. I can use that money and buy a couple of 6950s and unlock them to 6970s for like $40 more.

 

[yogurt_21]

250 bucks for a single 480 is not a good deal. And I'm not certain about this, but I think 2x480s will beat the crap out of 2x560s.

yes they will, by alot. sure at lower resolutions you might not see a difference but 1080p and above the 480's will stretch their legs.

@ op
you're going way too comercial with your watercooling choices, it can be done for 200$. look at for sale threads, forget full coverage blocks and go with maze 5's and leave the original shroud on (that's the way i cooled my 2900xt back in the day, worked great.) or use ramsinks. full coverage blocks are expensive and can only be used on 1 card. regular blocks work for several card changes.

check out aquarium and pond dc pumps, much cheaper for ALOT more performance. get tubing locally, get fans on sale, choose a decent but not uber radiator, and go with a smaller resevoir, you only really need it for fill.


edit:

Well if I can get 500 for 2 480. I can use that money and buy a couple of 6950s and unlock them to 6970s for like $40 more.

less performance, more money, no guarantee the 6950's will hold at 6970 speeds.

 

[smoothshooter]

iuse zalmanvf3000f and this cooler my gtx 480 alot.i never exeed 50 degrees and the fan are at 40 pourcent,so yes i recommand that.

 

[hv43082]

The local dude went up to $520 for both cards. Will see where this may go.

 

[xbonez]

IMO, anything less than 280-300 each is not a good deal.

 

[hv43082]

IMO, anything less than 280-300 each is not a good deal.

Ebay prices are around 270. After ebay fee+paypal=you would get back even less.

 

[timta2]

The cheapest water block for the 480 gtx is like $100.

hv43082, the MCW60 you sold me last year works so awesome on my GTX480. Temps always under 45c (usually under 40c in Winter) and my rig is dead silent. I just had to order the G80 bracket from Swiftech. I think it was like $8. The factory heat sink that covers the RAM, etc keeps it cool and I just keep the fan speed on 40%. Just a FYI.

 

[hv43082]

hv43082, the MCW60 you sold me last year works so awesome on my GTX480. Temps always under 45c (usually under 40c in Winter) and my rig is dead silent. I just had to order the G80 bracket from Swiftech. I think it was like $8. The factory heat sink that covers the RAM, etc keeps it cool and I just keep the fan speed on 40%. Just a FYI.

Oh yeah, I remember selling you a complete kit a while back. Glad everything is working out wonderfully. My Lian-Li case isn't built for water cooling so I have to get a new case if I want water.

Interesting turn of event some local dude just bought my cards for $518. Now I got some cash to buy some new vid cards and no need to upgrade cooling. Thinking of XFX 6950 and try to unlock them. Any suggestion for vid card?

 

[AsRock]

My one concern is that since this is 3 slot cooler, the GPU will be right next to each other with little to no room in between. Would it affect the performance since this cooler is blowing wind upward to the cpu instead of the traditional exhaust?

That's when a side window fan helps.

Anyways i would for sure as long there is enough space between the PCI-e slots for them to fit. And leave the stock plates on if possible as AC always do crappy ( like most others ) heatsinks for the vrm's.