Overclocking Radeon 9700pro (GPU cooling unit question)

[Tennis Holligan]

Hi. Forgive me if this sort of question has been posted before but, i have some question. I want to overclock my Radeon 9700pro but i can't seem to find the right solution for it. I was just browsing the Video card modding section and saw some people implementing regular CPU heatsinks and fans as cooling solutions for GPUs.

With that said, would anyone be so kind to recommend me any good heatsink in particular? Also, what was used to hold the cooler into possition, was it Thermal tape perhaps? Last question, are the gains in performance all worth the efford and oversize cooling unit, not to mention the lost of some PCI slots as well, or you guys just do it to mess around ?:D

Your feedback will be greatly appreciated. Thank you.:)

[Yuriman]

Personaly, I would get a copper 1u heatsink, they are made for the realy thin servers and you lose just 1 pci slot.

[CalsonicGTR]

Another very popular cooler is the ArcticCool VGA Silencer found here (http://svc.com/arcovgasilsu.html). This cooler is the first VGA cooler that allows for fan speed adjustment. It is also a very quiet solution. The Low setting has the same noise level as the stock Radeon cooler, but still lowers the temps. The High setting is a still pretty quiet, and cools much better than the stock cooler. Only takes up one PCI slot also.

[Tennis Holligan]

Originally posted by CalsonicGTR
Another very popular cooler is the ArcticCool VGA Silencer found here (http://svc.com/arcovgasilsu.html). This cooler is the first VGA cooler that allows for fan speed adjustment. It is also a very quiet solution. The Low setting has the same noise level as the stock Radeon cooler, but still lowers the temps. The High setting is a still pretty quiet, and cools much better than the stock cooler. Only takes up one PCI slot also.

Do you guys think i should go for the ArticCool solution over this heatsink over here (http://www.newegg.com/app/Showimage.asp?image=35-106-015-01.JPG/35-106-015-02.JPG/35-106-015-04.jpg) ? I am not too concer about the noice level however, i just want to overclock my video card to make it ready for FarCry.:D

[Lord_Zoltan]

i juyst moddedmine and i used AS thermal adhesive. nothing more.

you want a picture?

http://home.cogeco.ca/~zoltan/The%20day%20i%20modded%20my%20card/Modded%20Card%20Finished%20product.jpg

By the way, that fan is held on to that brackety thing by Krazy glue, which is held onto the heatsink by krazy glue!

[zebkoolindc]

I have a VGA silencer and on high i can't hear it at all

you can get a very acurate temp with it on becuse the blue clip covers the back of the gpu

but it gave me 20mhz more on the core up to 445/375

i would just say it is manditory to lap the bottom

the base is horible it looks like they tried to put ridges on it

[Tennis Holligan]

Originally posted by zebkoolindc
I have a VGA silencer and on high i can't hear it at all

you can get a very acurate temp with it on becuse the blue clip covers the back of the gpu

but it gave me 20mhz more on the core up to 445/375

i would just say it is manditory to lap the bottom

the base is horible it looks like they tried to put ridges on it

Can lapping be done with just sand papper?

[Lord_Zoltan]

Originally posted by Tennis Holligan


Can lapping be done with just sand papper?

yup thats what i do, i use 300grit, then i use 600grit, then i use polishing compound, but that 600grit can give it its shine :D

[PreservedSwine]

The stock heatsink is pretty robust on the R9700Pro, it may overclock just fine w/ stock cooling.....as long as the shim isn't in the way

[Lord_Zoltan]

Originally posted by PreservedSwine
The stock heatsink is pretty robust on the R9700Pro, it may overclock just fine w/ stock cooling.....as long as the shim isn't in the way

I disagree, that heatsink isnt that great.
I see much better results with my amd heatsink and shim on.
but lets stop the chat, its only pictures here!

[Rezin777]

Another vote for the VGA Silencer. Mine came in the mail today. It wasn't too terribly hard to put on the card, the hardest part was removing the baked on stock thermal pad. The shim came off like a charm. Gotta love taking razor blades to your GPU. I lapped the Silencer and used Arctic Silver 3. With stock cooling my highest stable core clock was around 350. With the Silencer, it went up to 381. Add the fact that it exhausts hot air from you GPU out of your case, it was well worth $24.00. To say the least, I'm very pleased with it's performance.

[Tebore]

Originally posted by Rezin777
Another vote for the VGA Silencer. Mine came in the mail today. It wasn't too terribly hard to put on the card, the hardest part was removing the baked on stock thermal pad. The shim came off like a charm. Gotta love taking razor blades to your GPU. I lapped the Silencer and used Arctic Silver 3. With stock cooling my highest stable core clock was around 350. With the Silencer, it went up to 381. Add the fact that it exhausts hot air from you GPU out of your case, it was well worth $24.00. To say the least, I'm very pleased with it's performance.

From what I've heard you don't get such a big boost in clockspeed with the silencer. I guess lapping it helps a bunch. It looks like a really good cooler too bad it'll be a while b4 I see it in my neck of the woods.