5870 cooler mod

wolf · Nov 13, 2009

So I'm thinking of modding the stock cooler on my 5870 to let it exhaust air a little easier, this is pretty much what I had in mind since I know it exhausts from these 2 spots, but both seem constricted to me, the plastic section much more so.

Thoughts? the metal plate will be the easiest to do with the trusty Dremel, but the plastic section of the cooler will require complete disassembly of the card, which I haven't been able to do yet.

shevanel · Nov 13, 2009

is it running really hot or something?

wolf · Nov 13, 2009

Nah not at all, but about about 50% fan speed I swear I'm hearing the air turbulence out the back quite a bit, and who knows it might help a little.

I dunno man I'm throwing out reasons but I've just got the modding bug right now

Does the exhaust seem constricted to anyone else with a 5870, 5850 or 5770?

Sasqui · Nov 13, 2009

wolf said:
Nah not at all, but about about 50% fan speed I swear I'm hearing the air turbulence out the back quite a bit, and who knows it might help a little.

I dunno man I'm throwing out reasons but I've just got the modding bug right now

Does the exhaust seem constricted to anyone else with a 5870, 5850 or 5770?

It definitely does... can you tell if there's a duct behind the opening?

I'm expecting the arrival of a 5850 today (Diamond)

Animalpak · Nov 13, 2009

Addition to losing the originality of the card when you want to sell it nobody takes it with those changes.

I'll discourage...

The best thing you can do is change the thermal paste with a better one.

Change in degrees will be minimal but with the new thermal paste you have 3 4 degrees less

wolf · Nov 13, 2009

Yeah Sasqui, the cooler works like this for the 5770, 5850 and 5870

So I'm pretty sure that cutting on the plastic bit would help vent air better.

AsRock · Nov 13, 2009

Animalpak said:
Addition to losing the originality of the card when you want to sell it nobody takes it with those changes.

I'll discourage...

The best thing you can do is change the thermal paste with a better one.

Change in degrees will be minimal but with the new thermal paste you have 3 4 degrees less

Same here, gim and bear it till ya can get a good 3rd party cooler for it.

pantherx12 · Nov 13, 2009

Yeah its not worth voiding your waranty.

wolf · Nov 13, 2009

Well if I plan on an aftermarket cooler anyway (down the track, maybe after a second 5870 and newer drivers), whats the big deal tearing into the stock one a little?

qamulek · Nov 13, 2009

wolf said:
Well if I plan on an aftermarket cooler anyway (down the track, maybe after a second 5870 and newer drivers), whats the big deal tearing into the stock one a little?

This:

pantherx12 said:
Yeah its not worth voiding your waranty.

Don't... If your card ever screws up you'll be wishing you hadn't modded that card. Now modding an aftermarket cooler is no big deal since you can always just slap the stock cooler back on if the card needs to be RMA'd.

pantherx12 · Nov 13, 2009

It also means resale value plumets, so if when you eventually upgrade you won't get much for the card as the next user can't RMA the item.

Hard mods are only worth doing on cheap hardware or cases where you'll never need to RMA them.

wolf · Nov 14, 2009

thanks to everyone, I guess I got my answer.

pantherx12 · Nov 14, 2009

Could always get another PCI-E cover and cut it up a bit and fit that on

wolf · Nov 14, 2009

That's not bad, I've got some old cards around, but their pci-e covers would require some serious and very finicky dremeling...

Best Idea yet tho, it would keep the card in pristine order for resale. thanks

pantherx12 · Nov 14, 2009

Yeah finicky but worth not wrecking the card.

Good luck!

Pics of finished product or it didn't happen!

wolf · Nov 14, 2009

I'll report back here with a finished product, if/when it happens...... new job, and joining the army, plus sitting in my hammock take up a surprising amount of my time these days

douglatins · Nov 18, 2009

wolf said:
So I'm thinking of modding the stock cooler on my 5870 to let it exhaust air a little easier, this is pretty much what I had in mind since I know it exhausts from these 2 spots, but both seem constricted to me, the plastic section much more so.

http://img.techpowerup.org/091113/5870coolermod1.png

http://img.techpowerup.org/091113/5870coolermod2.png

Thoughts? the metal plate will be the easiest to do with the trusty Dremel, but the plastic section of the cooler will require complete disassembly of the card, which I haven't been able to do yet.

If you plan on selling the card, don't!

Oh and OMG, the army?!?! Why? When will you game and overclock?

wolf · Nov 19, 2009

douglatins said:
If you plan on selling the card, don't!

Oh and OMG, the army?!?! Why? When will you game and overclock?

It's actually the reserves, so pleeeeeeeeeeeeeenty of time to keep overclocking and gaming

and yeah I'm scrounging a back plate of another card that I can mod for it, to keep the original in pristine order for potential resale/RMA

jaredpace · Nov 19, 2009

I thought about doing that, and made this crude image in paint:

wolf · Nov 19, 2009

Yeah you hit the nail on the head, that's pretty much exactly what I had in mind, in fact, no procrastinating, I'ma go fire up the dremel right meow

jaredpace · Nov 19, 2009

haha, good luck! I am looking forward to your results

a_ump · Nov 19, 2009

jaredpace, that painting looks like something that should be put into action lol. MAKE IT A REALITY WOLF!! :toast:

wolf · Nov 19, 2009

Hmm Looking at it more.....

Top right hand pic reminded me that a bit of the back of my case will block airflow, and I'm not prepared to dremel that at all, considering I'd have to remove hardware that took me hours to get in (bastard CM V10

)

Weighing up whether its worth it or now given that bit is still going to restrict airflow... thoughts?

System Name	MightyX
Processor	Ryzen 5800X3D
Motherboard	Gigabyte X570 I Aorus Pro WiFi
Cooling	Scythe Fuma 2
Memory	32GB DDR4 3600 CL16
Video Card(s)	Asus TUF RTX3080 Deshrouded
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Keyboard	Glorious GMMK Compact w/pudding
VR HMD	Meta Quest 3
Software	case populated with Artic P12's
Benchmark Scores	4k120 OLED Gsync bliss

System Name	MightyX
Processor	Ryzen 5800X3D
Motherboard	Gigabyte X570 I Aorus Pro WiFi
Cooling	Scythe Fuma 2
Memory	32GB DDR4 3600 CL16
Video Card(s)	Asus TUF RTX3080 Deshrouded
Storage	WD Black SN850X 2TB
Display(s)	LG 42C2 4K OLED
Case	Coolermaster NR200P
Audio Device(s)	LG SN5Y / Focal Clear
Power Supply	Corsair SF750 Platinum
Mouse	Corsair Dark Core RBG Pro SE
Keyboard	Glorious GMMK Compact w/pudding
VR HMD	Meta Quest 3
Software	case populated with Artic P12's
Benchmark Scores	4k120 OLED Gsync bliss

System Name	Senile
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Case	Cooler Master H500
Power Supply	Asus ROG Thor 850W
Mouse	Razer Deathadder Chroma
Keyboard	Rapoo
Software	Win 10 64 Bit

System Name	MightyX
Processor	Ryzen 5800X3D
Motherboard	Gigabyte X570 I Aorus Pro WiFi
Cooling	Scythe Fuma 2
Memory	32GB DDR4 3600 CL16
Video Card(s)	Asus TUF RTX3080 Deshrouded
Storage	WD Black SN850X 2TB
Display(s)	LG 42C2 4K OLED
Case	Coolermaster NR200P
Audio Device(s)	LG SN5Y / Focal Clear
Power Supply	Corsair SF750 Platinum
Mouse	Corsair Dark Core RBG Pro SE
Keyboard	Glorious GMMK Compact w/pudding
VR HMD	Meta Quest 3
Software	case populated with Artic P12's
Benchmark Scores	4k120 OLED Gsync bliss

5870 cooler mod

wolf

Performance Enthusiast

shevanel

New Member

wolf

Performance Enthusiast

Sasqui

Animalpak

wolf

Performance Enthusiast

AsRock

TPU addict

pantherx12

wolf

Performance Enthusiast

qamulek

New Member

pantherx12

wolf

Performance Enthusiast

pantherx12

wolf

Performance Enthusiast

pantherx12

wolf

Performance Enthusiast

douglatins

wolf

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jaredpace

wolf

Performance Enthusiast

jaredpace

a_ump

wolf

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