Mini Review: Accelero S1 + 140mm Yate on 3870!
Cooler:: Arctic Cooling Accelero S1 + 140mm TwistyTie mod
Video Card: HIS 3870 512MB
Case: Coolermaster CM690 with 4 - 140mm Yates / 2 - 120mm Yates on a Sunbeam controller.
TIM Material: AS Ceramique - only stuff I had laying around atm, dirt cheap, safe, non-conductive.
Update 12/01: 1Ghz on Air! :)
Finished applying the voltage mod today, and used 1.53v. AFAIK I am the first to hit 1GHz on the 3870 using an Air Cooler :) . Temps after a round of 3DMark06 are about 55C. Getting a little on the warm side, but still acceptable I'd say. Screenies and links:
http://www.rit.edu/~mkw1084/miwo/3870/3dmark1GHz.jpg
http://www.rit.edu/~mkw1084/miwo/3870/case.jpg
Compare: http://service.futuremark.com/compare?3dm06=3991966
11/21
I got my 3870 yesterday and the first thing I did was switch out that crappy Stock heatsink :). To heat up the card, I used RTHDRIBL using 16x Multisample running Full Windowed. It gives me the same end-temperature as ATITool artifact test.
Here are some pictures:
Dieshot
http://www.rit.edu/~mkw1084/miwo/3870/die.jpg
HIS 3870 Card.
NOTE: The stock cooler is only held by the 4 screws in the 'square' area. I opted to keep on the ramsinks, vreg sinks because I have heard horror stories on the sinks that come with the Accelero S1. Any cooler that is compatible with the x1900 series should work with the 3850/3870.
http://www.rit.edu/~mkw1084/miwo/3870/card.jpg
Accelero S1 on the card
http://www.rit.edu/~mkw1084/miwo/3870/s1.jpg
Added the 140mm Yate Loon
To secure the fan, I just used twisty-ties on the top two corners and the bottom left. The fan is very secure and I can't hear any vibration noise from it. I did not center the fan directly above the core because I figure that this was a dead-spot with little air. The 140mm fan blows air on all the components on the front and reaches as far as the VREG sinks :up:
http://www.rit.edu/~mkw1084/miwo/3870/s1yate.jpg
A side shot with the S1+140mm Yate
http://www.rit.edu/~mkw1084/miwo/3870/s1side.jpg
Comparison shot between Dualslot Stock cooler & S1+140mm Yate
Note: As you can see, the actual heatsink area of the stock cooler is very small!!! In fact, I think my x1900xtx might have a larger sink vs the 3870
http://www.rit.edu/~mkw1084/miwo/3870/s1comparison.jpg
Results
I ran RTHDRIBL for roughly 9 hours. Started it this morning before work, and took this screenshot when I came back home. Card was tested at 860/1200. I have not played around with memory speeds at all, and core speeds are restricted due to BIOS. Currently awaiting an updated flasher to use the BIOS that Stilt posted earlier this morning.
http://www.rit.edu/~mkw1084/miwo/3870/3870load1280.jpg
Summary/Misc Notes
Very very impressed with the cooling performance I am getting from the S1 + 140mm Yate. I am getting 41C Load Temperatures on a fresh application of Ceramique from last night. It cost me about $20, which is a good deal cheaper than what you will spend for a similar Zalman VF900, Thermaltake DuOrb, or Thermalright HR-03. Strap a quiet 120mm or 140mm fan you have lying around (to be expected, this is the Air Cooling section after all), and it becomes a very quiet and effective cooler, not to mention cooling the entire front side of the card. I expect my results to get slightly better once the Ceramique settles in.
There is on big Disadvantage to the S1:
Obviously there is the size issue, but its going to some very creative cutting if you want to try the S1 in crossfire. The first heatpipe column / fin stack blocks the area where you have to run the crossfire cable across to the other card. I am not exactly sure if its safe to run the cable between the finstack, but if you were to try, you'd probably want to insulate it. Even if you were to use these in Crossfire, you probably wouldn't be able to add a large fan to it
Hope this helps anyone curious, or are in the market for a good aftermarket cooler for their new 3850/3870 cards! I will be updating my results once the new Flasher is available for download.
