Stock VGA cooler replaced by a Scythe Musashi

[Richard_Rahl]

The stuff came today, so I finally could start putting it together.

I had some luck with the removal of the stock cooler, the 20-25 screws that $SOLID$ Necro (from Appetite4Tech.com) expected appeared to be just 14 screws. So it seems that even cards in reference design differ a bit.

Cleaning the memory chips appeared to be not that hard, the "bubble gum" thermal stuff Sapphire used left next-to-nothing on the chips after removal (99.99% or so stayed at the stock cooler). The thermal grease on the gpu was a different matter though, I was glad I bought TIM Cleaner for that. It was a sort of dark grey "goo" that came of like B-brand glue when I tried to scrape off a major part before using the cleaner.
Picture 1 shows my Radeon after the cleaning.


Picture 1. The card after the cleaning

Next step was (of course) the addition of the memory heatsinks. User reviews pointed out that the adhesive of those wasn't worth it to be called like that at all. Testing it out appeared that that was right, so I used some other thermal adhesive tape to stick them at the chips.
The applying of the heatsinks was pleasureful, because it strongly reminded me of the Lego I played with as a child.
Picture two shows the result.


Picture 2. The heatsinks applied.

After applying the thermal grease (I used OCZ Freeze Extreme), it was time to attach the cooler onto the card (picture 3).


Picture 3. The card and cooler assembled.

Once inside the case, the cooler appeared to fit better than I expected, though I messed up a bit in a cablemanagement point of view. It is not bad however, as far as I can tell (picture 4).


Picture 3. A meal of wire spaghetti.

I have really taken my time for this, so it took about five hours to do this. I am glad I took my time however, cause it works flawless. The fan speed is set at about 40% and the idle temperature dropped from 80C (core temp 85 according to GPU-Z) to below 40C. Additionally, the cooler is very silent.

[Slaymate]

Congrat's on a job well done

Now it's time for you to try a little overclocking. You should be able to increase your frame rates and still have cooler than stock temps

[Richard_Rahl]

Thanks for the "congrats". And yeah, I think I should try some OC'ing.

[Gazz]

Let us know how the oc worked out.

P.s, since this is clearly the first time you oc your gpu... Start with really small steps and take baby steps after you hit an oc of 10% or more.

[Richard_Rahl]

Originally Posted by Gazz

Let us know how the oc worked out.

P.s, since this is clearly the first time you oc your gpu... Start with really small steps and take baby steps after you hit an oc of 10% or more.

Ok That's a bit what I thought as well. At least, I am aware of the fact that an immediate 15% OC is too much.

I think I will take steps of 5 mhz per time.

[Richard_Rahl]

I did the overclock, both memory and gpu clocks are at the Catalyst Control Center maxima.

So I went from 625 to 700 MHz in case of the gpu and from 993 to 1200 MHz in case of the VRAM. The CCC said those values were ok, so now it is time to do some Far Cry 2 benhmarking. Let's see how much I will get above my max of 60fps therein.

[64705]

TIM Cleaner? You can just use nail polish remover that contains the solvent Acetone you know.

[RaiZen18]

Awesome Job, my card has like 10 screws max! so job would be easier...

I wanting to change my cooler on my 4850 as well... except mine is a single slot cooler, any ideas where I can get an alternative cooler for my card?

[Slaymate]

Once you find your max. OC you'll want to back it down a little.

As an example, your car has a max. speed of 100kph, but you don't want to run it that fast all the time or it will die prematurely. Same thing applies here

If your max oc is 700/1200 I would run it at 680/1175 or something simular

[Richard_Rahl]

I only said that catalyst said "passed", I am still finding the right speeds. And too comfort Slaymate a bit, the power management still works so it does not go that fast all the time. Currently I went down a bit again, cause when I went higher than 680/1095 I got some black spots flashing up on the screen. Is that purely because of the clock speeds or is it (also) caused by a crappy appliance of the thermal grease?

@ raizen: if you wish too improve your cooling performance you will need a dual slot cooler like the Scythe Musashi I used. About the screws: Most likely there are three screws underneath the fan, for which you'll need a philips screwdriver to get them loose. And you let it sound as if it is 10 minutes job to release the old cooler, which it is not. I think you should read this thread on A4T ("Chevalr1c" is me actually) and pay special attention to $Solid$ Necro's and BuffaloChips' remarks. Necro is right about the time you need for the disassembly I think (it took half an hour in my own case). And Buffalo makes a point about the wobblyness (though the problem is exagerated on other websites, it is still nasty when putting the card into the case).