AC VGA Silencer + 9800Pro Assembly

AC VGA Silencer + 9800Pro Assembly *new problem, updated

Hi!

So my MSI Radeon 9800PRO's stock cooler was too loud for my taste, so i bought me one of those AC VGA-coolers. Couple of things that i'm curious about;

1. The clip (blue plastic cover) that's supposed to "bend".. well.. it bent alrite, on the sides it even tore apart. Still holding together at the clip-base though but i'm not sure if enough preasure is being applied. The supplied guide states to screw until it touches the rubber washers. I screwed until i just couldn't anymore, the bracket touched the washers but there's still a couple of mm's left but it's impossible to screw anymore. Comments?

2. The heatsink does look mounted "ok". No space from what i can tell.. Computer boots up and it looks fine, but how do i know that the heatsink is making proper contact? What would happen if i ran the card without heatsink? Obviously it would damage the card but is there some sort of built-in protection in the core? I'm running the fan on high, and i'm not planning on OC.

3. Having trouble "feeling" the air that's supposed to come out on the backside but i'm sure that the fan is spinning. Not mounted properly?

Well.. those of you who has installed the VGA Silencer feel free to comment (others too!)

the air doesn't "blow" out the back of the case like a normal fan does (the fan isn't that powerful), however you should feel warm air at the vent if you put your finger across it. No built in protection I'm aware of if the heatsink fails.

HousERaT said:

the air doesn't "blow" out the back of the case like a normal fan does (the fan isn't that powerful), however you should feel warm air at the vent if you put your finger across it. No built in protection I'm aware of if the heatsink fails.

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I see.. appreciate the comment!
Your input towards the other things?

Enig said:

I see.. appreciate the comment!
Your input towards the other things?

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Did you break the clip or did it come that way?

HousERaT said:

Did you break the clip or did it come that way?

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Well.. it's supposed to "bend" .. but i think it's little *too* bent atm. I'm positive the sides tore during assembly. Not sure what effect this has on the cooler itself.

I can't say for sure since I don't have an MSI card..... I was under the impression that the vga silencer didn't fit that card..... maybe it doesn't and you made it fit?

Really... your only gonna need a snug fit on those screws holding the heatsink to the core, to much and you could risk cracking several different parts. esp if you removed your shim ( which is sounds liek you didnt). when installing my stuff i didnt even read the installation guide, i just used my common sence and several years of electronics experience.

also, no if your heatsink fails, you will be without a card until you can buy another, no built in protection.
and with my arctic cooler, i do feel air coming out the back when its on "High" on silent i really cant notice anything, but thats cause its running very slow.

i highly recomend you ordering some OCz ram sinks, they really turn the 9800 pro into a serious performer, i have gained over 1000 points so far by soft modding to XT, adding arctic cooler and ram sinks. and my next goal is to get 7000 3dmarks... but i dont think tahts going to happen with my specs, but ive gotten damn close with my current setup.

also im assuming your using the paste that came with the arctic cooler?
invest in a little tube of arctic silver 5, use it on your cpu, arctic cooler.. and surface that needs the highest amount of heat transfer possible, the stuff is great. not to expencive either. good luck and have fun benching!

I don't like this one bit.. Howcome they say to screw until it touches the washers.. Well i dunno what to do.. maybe buy another and try that one. This one works but i'm not too comfortable with a half-broken clip.

hehe it means dont screw it to much... 9800 pro should make perfect contact, you can tell by unmounting the heatsink and see how much tim is on the silencer if most of it is on the silencer then thats good, reapply and reinstall ... Dont screw it to tight, screw it lightly and EQUALLY. meaning screw one side 180 then screw the other 180.. the way i did it was screw in the screws with my fingers until i couldnt do it anymore. then i screwed it equally with my screwdriver 180 on each side until the card starts spining without holding it down. when it starts spining, do 180 on each side then stop. i think thats perfect contact not to tight. not to lose. mine is running great, cant feel the air on high though. hopefually ati silencer (vga silencer 4) will have higher fan speeds hehe, then well be talkin bout a goood heat sink

Well.. went to the local dealer and bought me a new silencer.. this time i made damn sure i didn't break the clip. So far (touch wood) so good. Still haven't tried any games.. wanna let the paste get adjusted first..

The card is an MSI Radeon 9800Pro aka Medion Radeon 9800XXL and it's using an R360-core. The silencer fits, but there's 2 "mods" you need to do to make it fit.

1. remove the (doh! i didn't remove it the first time) plastic film on the cards back. It's quite thick, so it needs to come off.

2. the rev2 (only ones i've worked with) sports a 2pin connector, whilst the MSI sports a 3pin. Since the cables are the same just use a small metal object (pin etc) to carefully remove the cables from 2pin and push them into the 3pin. Make sure you get them at their right positions.

Btw.. i'm still using my 230w mATX psu that came with the case since it gives better values than my newly bought 350w ATX psu. Better keep the 350 around though incase the 230 gives up.

I'll reply when i've finally tried some games / benchmarks.

Argh!

After the assembly i'm having issues with artifacts / anomolies during cold boots.. i.e when the system has been shutdown for 8-9 hours and then turned on. Manifests itself in the bios / post sequence aswell as in windows..

Instead of typing it all again i'll just copy and paste from my posts on the other forum.

I'm having a slight problem with my new Radeon 9800Pro from MSI (Medion 9800XXL). So far everytime my computer has been turned off for 8-9 hours (at night) it causes weird bars, artifacts or other anomolies during post screen. This continues into windows aswell.

After ~5minutes and a couple of hardware reboots (reset) it usually goes back to normal and acts like a proper card. No problems during load, in games etc after it gets passed the "cold" state.

I did however.. remove the stock cooler and applied the Arctic VGA Silencer to it. I think it's assembled okey cause it gets pretty hot. It should be having contact with the core. As i said, there's no problems in games during load etc.. If the cooler wouldn't be properly installed i'd get artifacts all over.

I had some issues installing the Silencer, i'll quote the 2 posts i wrote on other forums so you'll have some background information.

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There's a few possibilities i can think of..

1. My psu is simpy to weak, 230w, 10A on +12V. (worked with stock cooler tho)

2. The 2-slotted bracket that came with the AC VGA Silencer (rev2) didn't quite fit my card. The "grounding" screw (or the hole) at the far top of the card didn't pare up with eachother thus not being able to put a screw there. There was a difference of about 1cm in height from the holes. Didn't think much of it, just didn't screw one in.

This got me thinking though.. could the small incompability with the supplied bracket cause my card not to fit properly in the AGP-slot, not entirely pushed down that is. One would think that it wouldn't work at all if that were the case.

Anyways.. cold boot = bars, once i get it started (by using method above) i can game for hours without any problems.

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Any ideas please?

Enig said:

Well.. went to the local dealer and bought me a new silencer.. this time i made damn sure i didn't break the clip. So far (touch wood) so good. Still haven't tried any games.. wanna let the paste get adjusted first..

The card is an MSI Radeon 9800Pro aka Medion Radeon 9800XXL and it's using an R360-core. The silencer fits, but there's 2 "mods" you need to do to make it fit.

1. remove the (doh! i didn't remove it the first time) plastic film on the cards back. It's quite thick, so it needs to come off.

2. the rev2 (only ones i've worked with) sports a 2pin connector, whilst the MSI sports a 3pin. Since the cables are the same just use a small metal object (pin etc) to carefully remove the cables from 2pin and push them into the 3pin. Make sure you get them at their right positions.

Btw.. i'm still using my 230w mATX psu that came with the case since it gives better values than my newly bought 350w ATX psu. Better keep the 350 around though incase the 230 gives up.

I'll reply when i've finally tried some games / benchmarks.

Click to expand...

first of all the arctic cooler should not bend at all. the blue piece is curved but shouldn't bend.

2ndly my tyan 9800pro also used a 3 pin plug. what i did was a little surgery to the wiring.



i'd definately recommend a higher rated power supply. a 350w sparkle/fortron or antec psu could definately help your rig maintain stability.

Maxvla said:

first of all the arctic cooler should not bend at all. the blue piece is curved but shouldn't bend.

2ndly my tyan 9800pro also used a 3 pin plug. what i did was a little surgery to the wiring.

i'd definately recommend a higher rated power supply. a 350w sparkle/fortron or antec psu could definately help your rig maintain stability.

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The metal clip is to

bend correspondingly.

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My clip didn't bend one bit. The design of the clip makes it impossible to bend, if too much pressure is inserted it will simply tear.



If it were completely flat it would bend. Those vertical metal edges makes it impossible.

Any ideas in the new issue?

Bought a new psu, quality one.

SAME PROBLEM!

hey Enig I just ordered this card too, it's on its way. Can I ask why you want a VGA silencer to begin with? From what I've heard, people can o/c it to a standard 9800XT from just using the stock cooler...

EDIT: i see you said it's because its too loud, yours might be defective. the review here: http://www.overclockers.co.nz/ocnz/review.php?id=04vga00r9800promsi00000r9800pro0105 and many others say that it is quiet as hell.

delljunks said:

hey Enig I just ordered this card too, it's on its way. Can I ask why you want a VGA silencer to begin with? From what I've heard, people can o/c it to a standard 9800XT from just using the stock cooler...

EDIT: i see you said it's because its too loud, yours might be defective. the review here: http://www.overclockers.co.nz/ocnz/review.php?id=04vga00r9800promsi00000r9800pro0105 and many others say that it is quiet as hell.

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Yup, i've seen that review. There's also ALOT of talk about this card over at german forums and they're not praising it.

My plan was never to OC it, i wanted a silent yet powerful adapter. Reply when you get your copy. My fan was very loud, a high-pitch noise.

Oh well, switched back to the old heatsink and same problem.. time to RMA.