Aftermarket Cooler & Water Block Installation

PLEASE NOTE THAT BEFORE READING ANY FURTHER YOU SHOULD KNOW THAT IT HAS COME TO OUR ATTENTION THAT EVEN THOUGH THE HR-03-REV.A FIT ON THE HD3870X2, MANY OTHER COOLERS WILL NOT FIT. THIS INCLUDES ANY 7600GT / X850 COMPATIBLE WATER BLOCK OR AIR COOLER.

I was originally going to skip over this section since I didn’t have access to any coolers which were compatible with the core placement of the HD3870 X2. Yet, when I looked a bit closer I noticed that there were a few things that everyone should know about the hole offset and other stumbling blocks you may come across. Before we start, let me make three things apparent:

1. Two Thermalright HR-03 Rev A. heatsinks will not fit. It is being used here to demonstrate the mounting hole offset and nothing more.

2. We will be testing various heatsinks from Zalman and other manufacturers for compatibility so stay tuned for an article related to this.

3. The PLX switch chip produces very little heat but the large VRMs need heatsinks if you are going with an aftermarket cooler.


So here we are…..the HR-03 Rev.A installed without a problem even though as you can see it is not compatible with the card itself. The holes line up perfectly with the 7600-series mounting plate that comes with this particular heatsink.


Here is what the standard HD3870 512MB mounting holes look like next to those of the HD3870 X2’s. They aren’t the same so I am guessing ATI went with a closer offset in order to be able to use as much space on the PCB as possible for necessary components.