13 replies to this topic

[Crux x]

I have 2 Radeon HD 6870's and was interested in cooling for them.
Does anyone know what the best coolers are for those?

BTW This is the cards i have:

http://www.newegg.co...N82E16814150521

[typographie]

Those already have some pretty solid aftermarket coolers. Are you seeing really high temperatures out of your 6870's? If so, it may be more a matter of improving airflow within your case by moving cables around, repositioning fans or cleaning out dust.

The only cards these days that really could benefit massively from you buying additional cooling for them are AMD and Nvidia's reference cards, which typically have poor stock coolers. XFX, MSI, Asus, EVGA, etc. all attach their own coolers which tend to be quite good, even for overclocking.

Edited by typographie, 16 November 2012 - 05:16 PM.

[dhatcher1]

Unless you already have a water cooling pump system ready to go, I agree that putting some effort/money into your case and airflow paths is more likely to do what you want.   Are you really getting temp problems?

[Essence Snow]

If the suggested fails also may consider applying new thermal paste. Usually a few screws holding on the cooler...disassemble, clean, and apply new then reassemble.

[Quaker]

The problem with having two video cards is that they usually end up quite close to each other and one card can restrict the other's airflow. In that case, a fan on the side of the case blowing in toward the video cards usually solves the problem, although depending upon the layout of case's internals, there are other solutions.
But, basically, make sure you case has adequate airflow around the video cards.

[Crux x]

wel i dont know what temps are too igh when im playing gw2 on max setting it gets to be about 75 C. Is that too much or verage?
Whats the peak that it would hit that i should start worrying?

[Quaker]

75C is fine. The stock Intel cooler can get close to 90C under those conditions (CPU) and video cards routinely get hotter than 75C.

Edited by Quaker, 19 November 2012 - 03:31 PM.

[typographie]

Crux x, on 18 November 2012 - 02:17 AM, said:

wel i dont know what temps are too igh when im playing gw2 on max setting it gets to be about 75 C. Is that too much or verage?
Whats the peak that it would hit that i should start worrying?

I find it a little high, but I've been spoiled. Video cards can go quite a bit hotter than that and be fine.

Your coolers are already excellent on those cards, that isn't the problem. As I said earlier, check your case to make sure nothing is impeding airflow, check for dust and all that. At some point you have to accept that when you stack two video cards on top of each other, temperatures are going to be a bit higher.

[Shadow209]

75°C is no problem for a HD6870. GPUs usually can get a lot hotter than CPUs. While the CPU shouldn't exeed 70°C, for most GPUs 90°C isn't a problem. My old setup of 2x HD4870 even got close to 100°C before I changed my case. At the moment I run 2x HD5850. They go up to ~75°C as well. Thats no problem at all and from what I've read, the 6000 series is quite similar to the 5000 series, so this should apply to your cards as well.

While some cards can like my old HD4870 run at 90°C+ or even higher, the HD5000 abd HD600 usually run much cooler and shouldn't reach those areas, but unless you reach like 80-90°C you shouldn't be concerned at all.

Also what case are you using? For a Crossfire setup you should use a big case with good cooling.

[garethfedwards]

Crux x, on 16 November 2012 - 04:18 PM, said:

Does anyone know what the best coolers are for those?

In response to that question directly... Water.


As mentioned above you already have very nice "aftermarket" coolers on those cards and really won't see a massive improvement on air.

Here is one suggestion for air cooling however.

http://www.overclock...2330&subcat=787

[dhatcher1]

Until you are pushing over 80, I wouldnt worry about those graphics cards.

garethfedwards, on 19 November 2012 - 04:21 PM, said:

Here is one suggestion for air cooling however.

http://www.overclock...2330&subcat=787

Thats an 11.5 inch cooler, which wont fit in anything but the largest cases.

Edited by dhatcher1, 21 November 2012 - 12:04 AM.

[garethfedwards]

Card Dimensions 10.3" x 4.4" x 1.5"

Cooler Dimensions  11.33" x 4.05" x 1.97"

So about an inch longer and the OP has not stated what case he has.

[dhatcher1]

garethfedwards, on 21 November 2012 - 10:54 AM, said:

... the OP has not stated what case he has.

Thats why I mentioned the length.

Most "mid tower" cases will handle a 10.5 inch card but not an 11 inch card.  Odds are high enough it wont fit that it needs checked.

[Shadow209]

I think his case should handle this cooler. If it's a small case it would most likely not have enough room for 2 cards anyway, and if it had, temeratures would be much higher, but that's just speculation.

But with 75°C I don't see any need for a better cooler.