Advice for new GPU cooler?

[<Grisu4>]

Hi,

The fan of my ELSA Erazor X² (GF256DDR) sounds as it will not see the next year, so I need a back-up for it.

There are the following ones to choose of:

Titan CUV1AB (24dB)
THERMALTAKE Orange Orb (30dB)

which are not blocking a PCI slot, and ...

THERMALTAKE Crystal Orb (26dB)

which blocks the first PCI-slot (USB-connectors) ....

Who has the TITAN and can tell me about the quality and the performance. I think the orange orb is a little to noisy for me.

[Pitspawn]

The crystal orb is supposed to be incredibly efficient. It is made from one piece and uses better conducting metal than the orange orb. I would buy one for my GF3, but i dont think I would achieve much more than what I have because its an a3 stepping core :(

[<Grisu4>]

I know about the performance of the crystal orb, but I wonder if I need this for the GF DDR. I just need a cooler, which allows me about the same settings than the stock one.

Maybe somebody already uses one of the mentioned coolers and can tell me about his experiences ....

[Pitspawn]

I read somewhere that it let an oc hobbiest get his Leadtek GF3ti500 to like 260/590 The main point is that the 260Mhz core is rock stable. I think he said voltage stopped him going any higher.

IMO any gfx hsf that doesnt take up a PCI slot means it prolly has too little surface area to be effective. The crystal orb is made of better material than its competition and it has a good fan and good surface area. Also notice, unlike the other orb hsfs the crystal orbs hs goes across the top of the fan increasing surface area still.

[Cisco Kid]

The best gpu cooler at this time so they say is the Crystal Orb, you can get it for like $10 US which is a deal, I paid $30 canadian for it but it is sweet and did allow me to overclock my clk to 342 from 290 on my 7500 radeon.

Look how nice and shiny it is!!!!

Cisco Kid:cool:

[Silversinksam]

The best GPU cooler is a Rackmount IU heatsink and they are 25mm in height in comparison to the Blue and Crystal orb @ 15mm in height


Performance wise there is no comparing as one is a Mack truck and the other a normal car.


I can tell you that the Corb performs better that the Titan copper gpu cooler which doesnt do a good job.

Nexfan.com has a few rackmount coolers suitable for GPU use between $9.99-$15

http://members.home.net/broadbandland/Orb/alphapal15uoverhead.jpg

[Cisco Kid]

Originally posted by Silversinksam
The best GPU cooler is a Rackmount IU heatsink and they are 25mm in height in comparison to the Blue and Crystal orb @ 15mm in height


Performance wise there is no comparing as one is a Mack truck and the other a normal car.


I can tell you that the Corb performs better that the Titan copper gpu cooler which doesnt do a good job.

Nexfan.com has a few rackmount coolers suitable for GPU use between $9.99-$15

http://members.home.net/broadbandland/Orb/alphapal15uoverhead.jpg


I think I gotta agree with you on this one that thing is F***** massive lol, whats sound like though?

Cisco Kid:cool:

[BigRed]

[arnold voice]all your little puny heatsinks disgust me [/arnold voice] :p. this is mine on my radeon 32mb ddr :D takes up 2 pci slots :burn: hehe
http://members.acer-access.com/bigred@acer-access.com/103-0393_IMG.JPG
http://members.acer-access.com/bigred@acer-access.com/103-0390_IMG.JPG
http://members.acer-access.com/bigred@acer-access.com/103-0394_IMG.JPG

[Silversinksam]

Originally posted by Cisco Kid



I think I gotta agree with you on this one that thing is F***** massive lol, whats sound like though?

Cisco Kid:cool:

Side view its not so massive
http://members.home.net/broadbandland/Orb/alphapal15u.jpg

Cisco,

The 21 cfm fan on the Alpha Pal 15u is relativly inaudible to me, especially since all my 12 fans in my case are on Rheostats :)

All except the Digital Doc 40mm fan which is silent and would be a B$tch to rewire and hook to the rheostat wiring harnesses.

Seriously the Alpha pal15's fan is pretty quiete as the blue orb seems to put out more racket.

I couldnt fina a Corb locally to compare the temps to my Silver Based blue orb so I ordered one and should have it any day



http://members.home.net/broadbandland/Orb/bluetosilverorb.jpg



PS It looks like Bigred subscribes to the same theory as me, 'Performance over asthetics'

wtg red!

[phenolite]

i just grabbed a thermaltake blue orb...i'll have to see how it performs (i've heard good things)

[Yodums]

The blorb is great but I must remind you all that once you get an orb I suggest you start lapping it and not put it on till you lap it since the orb does not have a good flat surface. As you lap it you'll see the outside very uneven.

Remember to get the waterproof sandpaper and yes use it as wet sandpaper.

Start with

180 or 200 or 220 grit
400grit
600grit
800grit
1000grit
1500grit
and then 2000 for a smooth mirror finish

[funnyperson1]

hmmm.....i need to get pics of my cooling setup, its similar to bigreds, just not as big and good looking...

[phenolite]

man....i guess i'm a newbie...i assume lapping just means getting the surface flat...anywhere i can find good, detailed instructions on this process (so i do it right :)) thanx!!

[ReTiCuLeX]

I got a blue orb the other day from my gf and its awesome I didn't even lap it. I just wanted to beat the Ti500 GF3 by a bit so I oced at 530memorey clock and 220 coreclock.

[AntmanMike]

I have actually reviewed the Crystal Orb. It is actually a two peice design. The main peice is the sink itself, and the second peice is the part that says Tt on it.

Here are some of my pics (imo it works VERY well, i have 3)

http://hardware.clanpages.com/CrystalOrb/ORBBOT.jpghttp://hardware.clanpages.com/CrystalOrb/ORBBOTSAT.jpghttp://hardware.clanpages.com/CrystalOrb/ORBFRO.jpghttp://hardware.clanpages.com/CrystalOrb/ORBFROCOV.jpghttp://hardware.clanpages.com/CrystalOrb/GF3Cry.jpg

[funnyperson1]

here is a pic of my cooling setup, sorry for the bad pics, but i have a webcam therefore needd ocmputer on to work :(

sorry 50megs is being mean go to
funnyperson1.50megs.com
then click Video Card Heatsink Pics under updates....sorry

http://funnyperson1.50megs.com/images/vcardgood.JPG

[xCarne_Asada]

I told my mom to get me 2 for x-mas

[<Grisu4>]

That's quite amazing!

So well, but I don't want to invest that much in a GF256 - it would be okay to get the same clock settings than with the stock heat sink. I got 135/340 stable. I read a few tests about oc'ing a GF256 DDR and it seems even with a blue orb there's not much chance to get over 140. So why waste a PCI-slot for getting possibly 145 or even not?

And isn't it the mem-clock which gives you higher FPS in comparison to the GPU-clock? So how did you manage the heatsinks stay on their place?

[AntmanMike]

Get a Crystal Orb and some Arctic Alumina...

http://hardware.clanpages.com/CrystalORB/Alumina.jpg

[phenolite]

can i just use arctic silver II?? or do i need MORE specialized products??

[Wega!]

AS2 and some super glue will work great. I just used this combination yesterday to some HS's on my R8500!

[Silversinksam]

Instead of using superglue, read my article on Cooling the radeon 8500 and 7500's on the frontpage coming out on Wed Dec. 19th.

-Preview

"USE ARCTIC ALUMINA ADHESIVE"


ps My bro Antman beat me in suggesting Arctic Alumina adhesive...

For an ANT he gives good advise :p

[<Grisu4>]

I checked the space between the USB-Connector installed at PCI1 posotion and the fan position of the videocard and there's enoght to install the crystal orb. I think it's the best buy for the buck including the 26dB ......
I also ordered 8 passive-coolers for my RAMs. So how to install them? Just use the heat-pad, or mix ASII with superglue?

[donny_paycheck]

Originally posted by <Grisu4>
I checked the space between the USB-Connector installed at PCI1 posotion and the fan position of the videocard and there's enoght to install the crystal orb. I think it's the best buy for the buck including the 26dB ......
I also ordered 8 passive-coolers for my RAMs. So how to install them? Just use the heat-pad, or mix ASII with superglue?

I have this at 220/500 and I've been running fine for about 5 months now. Stock GF3, blorb and thermaltake passive ram cooling. I used AS thermal adhesive on the heat sinks for the RAM ICs but I was SO careful not to get any on the IC leads. Alumina wasn't out yet. The black lead is for a digidoc thermocouple sensor that touches the GPU.

[Wega!]

Originally posted by <Grisu4>
I checked the space between the USB-Connector installed at PCI1 posotion and the fan position of the videocard and there's enoght to install the crystal orb. I think it's the best buy for the buck including the 26dB ......
I also ordered 8 passive-coolers for my RAMs. So how to install them? Just use the heat-pad, or mix ASII with superglue?

SilversinkSam came with a good suggestion on how put the heat sinks on, but if you want to use AS2 and super glue you are not suppose to mix it together. You just put some glue in one of the corners, and AS2 on the rest of the chip.

[[PCE]Overclocka]

I have a Crystal Orb on my Geforce 2 MX and it's wicked:D

[[PCE]Overclocka]

Here is mine ;)

[AntmanMike]

Didnt you also short the RAM with Arctic Silver :)?

[donny_paycheck]

Originally posted by [PCE]Overclocka
Here is mine ;)

Nice. Did you need to lap the orb? I didn't lap my blorb but I measured the bottom with a machinists rule and noticed no irregularities. I'm wondering if there were some although too small to notice with a naked eye.

[<Grisu4>]

So how long do I need (how much) to lap the GPU and the mem-chips? And how much of glue do I need to attach the RAM-coolers on the mem-chips? (just a little bit on each end?)

Is there a chance to remove them when fixed with glue?

[funnyperson1]

Originally posted by <Grisu4>
So how long do I need (how much) to lap the GPU and the mem-chips? And how much of glue do I need to attach the RAM-coolers on the mem-chips? (just a little bit on each end?)

Is there a chance to remove them when fixed with glue?

lap the gpu until you dont see the writing on the core (or till you see the core of the gpu if you have enough balls) i highly do not recommend lapping the ram as it is very sensitive....as well....put a little dab on each corner of the ram may be this o big.....