Radeon 9800 Pro Ultimate Heat pipe

On Wed, 3 Dec 2003 16:35:09 +0100 Not letting inanimate objects know
I'm a in a hurry Nittaku wrote :

Sapphire's Ultimate Radeon 9800 Pro graphics card uses a heat pipe instead
of one or more fans.
Is this a good thing, or just a gadget that is bad for your system in the
long run. What is the cooling performance compared to regular cooling?


I've read reviews and they have all been favourable.
My 10 penn'th




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On Wed, 3 Dec 2003 16:35:09 +0100 Not letting inanimate objects know
I'm a in a hurry Nittaku wrote :

Sapphire's Ultimate Radeon 9800 Pro graphics card uses a heat pipe instead
of one or more fans.
Is this a good thing, or just a gadget that is bad for your system in the
long run. What is the cooling performance compared to regular cooling?


I've read reviews and they have all been favourable.
My 10 penn'th
there are no problems related to cooling if you use a sapphire radeon
wit ha heat pipe , from the reviews i have read , it actually cools
better then a stock radeon fan , though i am not sure how it is for
overclocking . with a 9800 pro , you wont need to . These cards are
used pretty much only for people who want to make a quiet system . go
for it

On Wed, 3 Dec 2003 16:35:09 +0100, Nittaku wrote:

Sapphire's Ultimate Radeon 9800 Pro graphics card uses a heat pipe instead
of one or more fans.
Is this a good thing, or just a gadget that is bad for your system in the
long run. What is the cooling performance compared to regular cooling?



Passive cooling is a perfectly acceptible solution so long as it
fulfills your needs... It will keep the core cool enough for quieter
and stable operation provided you have fair airflow in the chassis,
and the card should last a fair amount of time, long enoough till it
doesn't seem very fast or valuable any more, providing they've done
their homework in the design AND your case is ventilated enough.

If either of these situations isn't realized, the card may start
failing when it's cold, a most puzzling situation that a system is
less stable until it heats up (or higher ambient temps) because the
capacitors' function more efficiently at higher temps, though they
also age a LOT faster at higher temps... generally lifespan is
reduced in half with each 10C rise in temp, IIRC. For more
clarification on this you can visit a few of the major capacitor
manufacturer's websites, the spec sheets detail longevity.

In other words, the card won't last as long but might be obsolete by
the time it dies. In any case I suggest that you keep the case's PCI
slot bracket cover off on the slot directly under the card, which may
quite significantly increase airflow in that region.


Dave

On Fri, 5 Dec 2003 14:05:19 +0100, Nittaku wrote:

In other words, the card won't last as long but might be obsolete by
the time it dies. In any case I suggest that you keep the case's PCI
slot bracket cover off on the slot directly under the card, which may
quite significantly increase airflow in that region.

I would think that it is the other side of the card, the side towards the
CPU, that needs the airflow, since it's there the generated heat is
transported to by the heat pipe.

No, that is the cooling for the GPU.. GPUs are designed to tolerate
heat, do not experience as significant a lifespan decrease. It is
only necessary to keep the GPU cool enough for it to operate stabily.
The limitiation on the card's lifespan is "usually" the electrolytic
capacitors, most of which are on the "bottom" of the card.


That also brings me to the problem of fitting the card on a Asus P4C800-E
Deluxe board, I think the northbridge and its heatsink are located too close
to the AGP slot. Opinions/suggestions?

P4C800-E Deluxe layout @
http://www.asus.com/products/mb/sock...d/overview.htm (click to
enlarge)
Cooler dimensions @ http://www.sapphiretech.com/broschure/ult-dimension.pdf


It does look like less of a clearance than many boards provide, you
might have more luck with an aftermarket northbridge 'sink, but
perhaps even needing to use a hacksaw or ??? other tool to cut it down
to fit on the side nearer the AGP slot. One that might work is a
Zalman like this:
http://www.svcompucycle.com/zanoco.html

However, another solution for low-noise would be to skip the passive
vidcard 'sink and add your own... in the past I've had good results
with an old socket 7 'sink plus a 50-60mm fan RPM-reduced till it's
inaudible with the case closed.


Dave

On Sat, 6 Dec 2003 02:57:09 +0100, Nittaku wrote:



Here's a picture of the video card in use.

http://www.ixbt.com/video2/images/sa...ue-in-back.jpg

(review: http://www.digit-life.com/articles2/...pro-ue.html#p2)

Looks like it may not be a problem after all

Yes, it's a good picture... after they bent that fin you can drive a
truck though the gap ;-)