Help with VGA cooler for radeon 6950 CFx

[jonathan1107]

Hi yall, I've got 2x radeon 6950 (shader unlocked) and I intend to OC them a little more than what I have right now which is the CCC overdrive max...

But more importantly, I wanna get rid of the TERRIBLE LOUD FANS that come with those cards...

So I'm curious about VGA cooling solutions for both my cards... I hear the Artic Accelero extreme is a good bet... But more importantly, I'm not very familiar with replacing Video Cards cooling solutions and heatsinks...

I've heard I need to purchase the actual VGA cooler and get a "compatible" VRAM heatsink? is that correct?... I have no clue what that means...

So Knowing I'm kind of a noob in that particular area of Overclocking... could you guys give me some step by step tips and some links to your suggestions of VGA cooling kits and accessories ???

[cadaveca]

Can you please post a pic of your 6950's so we can see what version you have?

[jonathan1107]

I have the xfx radeon 6950 2gb and the HIS radeon 6950 2gb... They're both ref models...



Here's your pic

[cadaveca]

You'll need to get a cooler specifically designed for reference cards because of the mosfets. 6970 coolers will work as well.

Which is why I asked for the pic. .

Accellero Extreme Plus

[jonathan1107]

Well, I'd like some step by step tips plz... What must I do to properly install that little beauty ???

And what about that famous VRAM accessory I always find in posts about that particular VGA cooler ? I've read that there's a very important part I need to buy that doesn't come with the Accellero Extreme plus...

Do you know what I'm talking about ?

[puma99dk|]

for the memory it's so and so, but i still prefer to have cooling on my gfx's memorys.

even most of them should could handle it with just a fan over them.



and even if the fans can blow right though my Gelid Icy Vision cooler i still prefer memory and mosfits cooling.

[FreedomEclipse]

HiS & XFX will most definitely void your warranty if you remove the stock cooler

[jonathan1107]

Yes, it's not a problem... Every review I've read about the accelero extreme plus being used on Radeon 6xxx series is positive...

Much less noise, VERY IMPRESSIVE temps even with strong OCs... I'm just looking for a little Walkthrough since I haven't done this before... I've installed a "very easy to install" Coolit ALC eco water cooler on my CPU but I never "Replaced" my VGA cooler on video cards...

So this is an official ***BUMP*** because I still need someone to Give me some step by step "what to do" in order to replace my VGA coolers with the accelero extreme...

For instance: 1) How do you remove the actual cooler ? What precautions am I to take to avoid damaging the card ?

2) Is the Accelero extreme plus thermal paste good for the job? or should I get another one ?

3) What's all this about "buying this non-included" Vram cooler after buying the accelero extreme plus... Why doesn't that accessory come with the accelero extreme plus already ?

4) What about the space these coolers require... how many pci slots will my radeon 6950 occupy after replacing their actual cooler with that one? As of right now, they're occupying 2 right? so what about after I replace the coolers... ????

5) Does it change anything that I have em in crossfire? I've got these 2 babies on my mobo, and my only option fits them with about an INCH of seperation between them... Is that going to be a problem ???

[jonathan1107]

Oh and another question: How much performance gain is there to be had when OCing the 6950 card with the accelero xtreme plus...

Been looking for benchmarks... but couldn't find anything... In other words, what type of performance increase would someone notice from going to 800mhz/1250mhz to 970mhz/1485mhz clocks... ???

[sneekypeet]

Depends on the card...the cooler is just going to do that, make the card cooler.

Couple things I want to clear up. The coolers you're looking at are 3 slot coolers, or they use the space of 3 slots including the cards slot.

Also that XFX warranty doesnt say you cant add an aftermarket fan, it says they dont cover damages caused by using aftermarket coolers. It more specifically says to ask XFX about the cooler as they may have PROtips to keep you from screwing up what others already have. Far from a no aftermarket policy in my mind.

As long as you are sure the AC XPII will fit, I would use that. Its one of the closest to water performance coolers I have used, and if you get the PlusII you get much better "goop" for the heatsinks than what comes with the original.

[Outback Bronze]

Gday, the accelero extreme plus 2 is out and has the ram heatsinks provided (prety sure correct me if im wrong).

It will also come with instructions for installation.

Im sure if u get stuck that u can google the installation procedure.

The stock coolers r really easy 2 remove just look 4 the screws(done it many times and never bricked a card. Just put it on a static bag), the paste will b fine but u can use AS5 if u want and the space u have now should b sufficent one u have installed the coolers. Try googling some photos.

Im soon going 2 get a couple meself. Hope this helps. Cheers

[sneekypeet]

Originally Posted by Outback Bronze

the accelero extreme plus 2 is out and has the ram heatsinks provided (prety sure correct me if im wrong).

yes, and more specifically the 6950 is listed for out of the box compatibility w/o the need for a VR00x heatsink kit.

[jonathan1107]

Thx guys, thats exactly what I wanted to find out...
The only remaining question is: are they worth it? Sure the temps will be MUCH better, and the noise level is goin to be awesome, but what about performance gains???

I know this is hard to measure, but what would ur amateur opinion be?
I believe I can get a 20% clock increase with the AC XPII... OCing the I7 875K has given me lots of perf gains... What about OCing the 6950 cf?? (w/o flashing to 6970 bios)

if u put 2x 6950 2GB ref models @ stock settings vs unlocked shaders and very high clocks, are there improvments to be seen that make the efforts worth it?

Is it better to keep my cards and oc with ac xpii or sell em and get a single 6990????

[cadaveca]

6990 is definitely NOT the right way to go. 2x6970, OK.

If you want a real performance boost, watercool them.


My XFX 6950 2GB wit ha Maze4 cooler on it, runs 900MHz on stock volts thanks to the great cooling.

[Widjaja]

It can be really hard to tell whether the card is going to be a great oveclocker or not.
Two identical cards may overclock to different level stable.

HD4850 showed decent OC especially on the core.
Mine can max out on the core but the memory can OC only a small amount before artifacting.
Yet some people have posted their same card overclocked to a higher memory clock no problems.

Luck of the draw when it comes to overclocking besides having cooler temperatures with an after market cooler.

[jonathan1107]

Yes, but my question is: When You DO MANAGE to get the Target clocks for your OC... what type of perf increase does it involve...

Do you think, OCing my 2 cards with the AC Xtreme plus II will be worth it more than trying to sell em and get the 6990 ???

Big fat question right there, but I'm SUPER curious to find out what yall's opinion on the matter is!

[cadaveca]

Originally Posted by jonathan1107

Do you think, OCing my 2 cards with the AC Xtreme plus II will be worth it more than trying to sell em and get the 6990 ???

No. Just simply because the coolers are so large, and so expensive...you're looking @ $160 for both coolers.

[AsRock]

Check the MK-13 i have one on my 6970 and from whot i have seen from wiz's review the VRM sink should fit although i had to mod my VRM sink for my card. You could email them and ask they normally take about 24-48 hours to reply.

They might of changed them some by now to fit the newer cards.

[Widjaja]

I would have to agree, price vs performance with the aftermarket coolers on both would not be worth it since you can not gauge how much your cards will actually OC.

If noise and heat is the primary issue, the aftermarket cooling will be the way to go.

The stock cooler on the HD6990 are still relatively loud and do disperse a fair bit of heat into the room.

[LordJummy]

Just to help you a tad. I get HUGE performance increases on my unlocked 6950 2gb's which are clocked at 1010Mhz core and 1400Mhz mem for gaming. The difference between stock 6950 and unlocked shaders+massive OC is huge. Although once you hit a certain point increasing memory makes no difference at all. I would stay at 1400 or less.

[AsRock]

Originally Posted by Widjaja

I would have to agree, price vs performance with the aftermarket coolers on both would not be worth it since you can not gauge how much your cards will actually OC.

If noise and heat is the primary issue, the aftermarket cooling will be the way to go.

The stock cooler on the HD6990 are still relatively loud and do disperse a fair bit of heat into the room.

Thing is the MK-13 is updated for later cards. So when you do upgrade there is a good chance it will fit those too.

[jonathan1107]

Originally Posted by LordJummy

Just to help you a tad. I get HUGE performance increases on my unlocked 6950 2gb's which are clocked at 1010Mhz core and 1400Mhz mem for gaming. The difference between stock 6950 and unlocked shaders+massive OC is huge. Although once you hit a certain point increasing memory makes no difference at all. I would stay at 1400 or less.

How much of a difference would you say... What avg FPS in very demanding games do you get compared to before ??? (With full HD res and max settings...)

[jonathan1107]

Hey guys I'm trying to find out whether the accelero xtreme plus ii will fit on my mobo... You guys said they take 3 slots... I have room for that I believe, but I wanna make sure that considering I'm doin crossfire with them, I won't have the fans from the bottom card touching the top card...

Because right now, I have just a little more than an inch separating both cards...
This is my MOBO: http://www.asus.com/Motherboards/Int...ABERTOOTH_55i/

I have my cards plugged in the black PCI-e and the white one

[FreedomEclipse]

Originally Posted by jonathan1107

Hey guys I'm trying to find out whether the accelero xtreme plus ii will fit on my mobo... You guys said they take 3 slots... I have room for that I believe, but I wanna make sure that considering I'm doin crossfire with them, I won't have the fans from the bottom card touching the top card...

Because right now, I have just a little more than an inch separating both cards...
This is my MOBO: http://www.asus.com/Motherboards/Int...ABERTOOTH_55i/

I have my cards plugged in the black PCI-e and the white one

Actually it would be the other way round... the back of the bottom card would be touching the fans of the top card.

and yes. looking at your board. it will happen. there will be a small 0.2-0.4mm gap between the two cards. I had this problem with 2 5850s with Twin Turbo Pro's installed. Even though i had a fan on the side of my case blowing air directly over the cooler. temps for the top card which was blocked still hit 80'c where as the bottom card never went over 35'c. the fans are so small on the coolers. they dont really push a lot of air when they are so close together and it gets worse when the hot air from the bottom card is sucked in to cool the top card.

the next step i was going to take to try and fix the problem was to get the really thin Scythe Typhoon fans and replace the fans that come with the twin turbo Pro with 2 thin 120mm fans.

They use the same fans on the Xtreme series of coolers as they do on the Twin Turbo Pro's

Luckily for me. i came into quite a substantial chunk of money before i was due to take the step with modding the top cooler. and just sold everything off and bought a new rig that doesnt suffer from the same problem

[LordJummy]

Originally Posted by jonathan1107

How much of a difference would you say... What avg FPS in very demanding games do you get compared to before ??? (With full HD res and max settings...)

Depends on the game/bench, but I get about a 20-25% increase max in frames in most benches and games. This is a guesstimate by recalling some screenshots of benches. I get an even higher boost in 3dmark synthetics like vantage. I score over 25,000 GPU score with just one of my 6950's in vantage P setting.