gtucker329
04-07-2006, 08:43 PM
This is a review of the Arctic Cooling VGA cooler for the x850xt pe that I ordered from newegg. I was skeptical at first that this cooler would solve my temperature problems. I really thought I had a faulty temperature probe or the fan controller was not working properly. After a few diagnostic tests and some research I determined that the x850xt just ran hot in an 80 to 82 degree room (I'm cheap when it comes to air conditioning in the hotter months.) Before installation my idle was around 50 C and under load the temps could go as high as 85 C (Far Cry at 1280 X 1024 with all settings to high). I used ati tray tools as the temperature monitoring program. The question was: will the Arctic Cooling solution live up to the hype?
First off I was still suprised at the size of the cooler. All the reviews I had read up to receiving the product warned that it was big, but actually seeing the product made me wonder if it would fit into the case. This cooler is huge. It is almost twice the size of the stock x850xt cooler. I would recommend at least a midtower case if you plan on using this cooler. I was wishing for a full size tower.
Before installation I verified with ATI that installing this cooler would not void my warranty. The reply was that although they did not recommend any aftermarket cooling, installing this VGA cooler would not void any warranty as long as I didn't damage the card during installation. Installation was very simple and I noticed the only real dissapointments I had with this product.
1. The cooler did not ship with thermal paste as advertised. Instead it had a thermal pad with a plastic covering.
2. The copper interface between the GPU and the cooler was not polished, but very coarse and grainy.
The thermal pad was easily removed with anhydrous alcohol and I cleaned the stock thermal paste off the GPU die as well. I used AS5 as my thermal exchange paste. I should also note that pliers should be used to remove the stock fan power cable from the pcb card to avoid breaking anything. Once I ensured that there were no gaps between the cooler and the GPU/memory and I connected the fan power cable it was time to cram this sucker into my case.
Once I re-routed my SATA cables I was able to fit the card into the case. I connected the power cable and at last the moment was at hand. I hit the power switch and low and behold, no noise! For people who have the x850 series, you know that characteristic jet engine sound when the card runs its diagnostic test. I gave the computer about 20 minutes to warm up and checked the idle temperature and got 42C! Very impressive. To test load temps I ran the Lost Coast Stress test at 1280 X 1024 with Max settings 4 times in a row. Average FPS was constant at 35 so I knew that the card was working correctly. After shutting down I referred to the ATI Tray Tools Temp Monitoring Graph and the peak temp was 69 C. That was enough for me to decide that the cooler is worth the 40 bucks I spent on it.
I give the product a 9.5/10 and that is only because they could improve the finish on the copper heatsink. So if you like better cooling at a whisper, I recommend the Arctic Cooling Sliencers to all.
First off I was still suprised at the size of the cooler. All the reviews I had read up to receiving the product warned that it was big, but actually seeing the product made me wonder if it would fit into the case. This cooler is huge. It is almost twice the size of the stock x850xt cooler. I would recommend at least a midtower case if you plan on using this cooler. I was wishing for a full size tower.
Before installation I verified with ATI that installing this cooler would not void my warranty. The reply was that although they did not recommend any aftermarket cooling, installing this VGA cooler would not void any warranty as long as I didn't damage the card during installation. Installation was very simple and I noticed the only real dissapointments I had with this product.
1. The cooler did not ship with thermal paste as advertised. Instead it had a thermal pad with a plastic covering.
2. The copper interface between the GPU and the cooler was not polished, but very coarse and grainy.
The thermal pad was easily removed with anhydrous alcohol and I cleaned the stock thermal paste off the GPU die as well. I used AS5 as my thermal exchange paste. I should also note that pliers should be used to remove the stock fan power cable from the pcb card to avoid breaking anything. Once I ensured that there were no gaps between the cooler and the GPU/memory and I connected the fan power cable it was time to cram this sucker into my case.
Once I re-routed my SATA cables I was able to fit the card into the case. I connected the power cable and at last the moment was at hand. I hit the power switch and low and behold, no noise! For people who have the x850 series, you know that characteristic jet engine sound when the card runs its diagnostic test. I gave the computer about 20 minutes to warm up and checked the idle temperature and got 42C! Very impressive. To test load temps I ran the Lost Coast Stress test at 1280 X 1024 with Max settings 4 times in a row. Average FPS was constant at 35 so I knew that the card was working correctly. After shutting down I referred to the ATI Tray Tools Temp Monitoring Graph and the peak temp was 69 C. That was enough for me to decide that the cooler is worth the 40 bucks I spent on it.
I give the product a 9.5/10 and that is only because they could improve the finish on the copper heatsink. So if you like better cooling at a whisper, I recommend the Arctic Cooling Sliencers to all.