Accelero Ramsink Installation

S

Spankbot-5000

Weaksauce
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Feb 12, 2006
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Now that my Nvidia 8800 GTX bit the dust, I'm switching back to ATI. I'm going with an HD 4870 and an Accelero S1. I had a quick question about the ramsinks included with the Accelero though. I've read all the stories about the ramsinks falling off the card because they aren't particularly sticky, so I'm buying a few pieces of Akasa thermal tape. Should I clean off the pad/compound from the Accelero ramsinks so it's just the Akasa tape between them and the card, or should I leave the pad/compound on so it goes ramsink-pad-akasa tape-card?
 
cleaning it will give you better temps, no idea how much better though.

I'd clean em.
 
Cleaning off the material is probably best if you are using thermal tape. Clean contact between surface and adhesive is important from what I've seen
 
Good to know. I asked because the Akasa tape really is tape and not a pad; it's something like 0.33 mm thick. I wasn't sure if that was too thin to adequately provide contact between two surfaces which may not be rock-solid flat.
 
Good Luck removing S1 Ramsink goo, this stuff is pretty much useless and very, very annoying to remove. I have decided to use NO ramsink on my 8800GT, since the memory already run very close to the limit, doesnt generate that much heat and receives direct airflow with 2x120mm fans above the S1. I have asked time and again for DDR3 max overclock numbers with and without ramsinks, and NEVER read anything that could suggest that DDR3 with direct airflow benefits from ramsinks, just like the PC parts.
 
I put an S1 on my Evga 8800GT SSC card, it ran hot as hell on the stock heatsink.
I used paint thinner to clean the memory and PWM chips, man that TIM stuff was sticky.
I then tossed the Accelero heat sinks in the trash, and picked up some Zalman heat sinks and some Arctic Silver Thermal Epoxy. Next I mixed up a batch of the epoxy and clued all the sinks in place checking for interference with the S1, all good, I let it cure over night.

I plan on getting a 4870 some time in July and slapping a S1 on that too, I was very impressed by the cooling abilities of this heat sink.
 
I installed the Accelero S1 on my HD 4870, it fit but it didn't work.. Something is overheating and the card crash, I tried 2 times, with the turbo kit fan and one 120mmm. I had to reinstall the original heatsink.

The ram heatsink are ok and you don't need other tape or glue but you won't have enough for the VRM.

I think you should buy the thermalright HR 03 GT.
 
Sounds like it wasn't seated properly or something. Several people here on these forums and on other sites have reported the Accelero performs wonderfully with the 4870, so I don't think it can be discounted completely because you had an unfortunate experience with it. The HR-03 GT was certainly an option, but you certainly get similar performance for a lot less coin with the Accelero.
 
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