Fullcover block for HD5870

[AmuseMe]

Originally Posted by jdrom17

One question for you guys though, the instructions say to "glue" the stand-offs to the block with thermal grease?! How the hell do you do that? Grease isn't adhesive by any means. Sounds like it would just create a huge mess all over the place. Don't know why they couldn't just come pre-attached, would make things so much easier.

I did it just like they said. Use a VERY SMALL AMOUNT and there is no mess. Its not adheasive, but the "goopyness" will hold them in place. I used a toothpick to apply just a dab some AS5 and it kept them aligned perfectly.

[JD]

Originally Posted by AmuseMe

I did it just like they said. Use a VERY SMALL AMOUNT and there is no mess. Its not adheasive, but the "goopyness" will hold them in place. I used a toothpick to apply just a dab some AS5 and it kept them aligned perfectly.

Hmm, so you did that on the block or on the card? I'll be using MX-3 though, so hopefully that works just as well.

[Levesque]

The important thing is to put the paste on the block and not on the PCB, particularly if your paste is conductive. :)

It's really easy to do. I did it with my 2 EK blocks. Just put the waterblock metal side up, dab the standoff in your paste, put the standoff in place on the block, then put the card on it (carefully aligning the holes...), then screw the core screws really delicately first, then put the back plate, then screw the last screws, then it's done. :)

Be careful NOT to bend the card. Use a ruler to check that your card is not bending. Then carefully tighten the screws. Don`t over do it. You will ''feel'' when it's enough.

Then remove the block and look at the thermal pads to see were it's doing good contact, or not. So you will know which screws to tighten more, or less. :)

[JD]

Well I got it on, those stand-offs were a pain. And well I barely put the screws tight, and the card got all bent up...

So I don't know what to do, if I loosen up the screws, then they'll barely be in? Don't know how well of contact the block will make with the card at that point. It's running seemingly fine though, temperatures ranging from 26-30C at idle.

[JD]

Finally got it all installed today, along with my HWLabs SR1-360 radiator. Everything is running fine thus far, my GPU idles around 26-30C and I was running some windowed Crysis for a bit and it topped out around 45C. I'll do some better testing later on, and I'll need to overclock too!

The stand-offs were a pain to keep lined up, so it took a couple tries to get that right. And I barely tightened the screws (I was using such little force while screwing), and it still looks like the card is pretty bent. Not sure if it's due to the screwing down of the block, or its just from the extra weight. Maybe some of you guys have an opinion on this?

And on a semi-unrelated note, I got a new fillport, in matte black from BP to replace the silver Koolance once I had before. Not a big fan of the writing, but it still matches the case better than before.

[Dazmode]

RAM plate would have helped with warping. Your temps are great - means good contact.

[JD]

Originally Posted by Dazmode

RAM plate would have helped with warping. Your temps are great - means good contact.

I'm considering buying one. Nice shiny nickel would look nice...

And here's a full set of temperatures during an hour or so of Battlefield BC2 (I sorted out the highest temperatures).

GPU Temperature: 37C
GPU Temp. #1: 37C
GPU Temp. #2: 42C
GPU Temp. #3: 38C
VDDC Phase #1 Temperature: 44C
VDDC Phase #2 Temperature: 45C
VDDC Phase #3 Temperature: 46C
VDDC Phase #4 Temperature: 47C
VDDCI Phase #1 Temperature: 61C (guessing this has no contact with the block?)

[Levesque]

Strange about the bending. I can tighten the screws pretty tight with my EK-5970 and EK-5870 with the stock back-plate and there is no bending at all.

[JD]

Originally Posted by Levesque

Strange about the bending. I can tighten the screws pretty tight with my EK-5970 and EK-5870 with the stock back-plate and there is no bending at all.

Yeah I don't know. I really don't believe I put them tight, I was using such little force while screwing and stopped as soon as I felt the need to apply anymore.

I've got it dialed in to 1010MHz on the core with 1.275V and 1300MHz on the memory. Ran Uniengine for about 2h so I imagine it's pretty stable.

Of course, the temperatures are a bit higher now too. This was captured during Uniengine and sorted in Excel from highest to lowest.

GPU Temperature: 38C
GPU Temp. #1: 38.5C
GPU Temp. #2: 45C
GPU Temp. #3: 41C
VDDC Phase #1 Temperature: 54C
VDDC Phase #2 Temperature: 55C
VDDC Phase #3 Temperature: 56C
VDDC Phase #4 Temperature: 58C
VDDCI Phase #1 Temperature: 64C

[Levesque]

Your temps look good. But you really should try running Furmark in Extreme Burning Mode, full screen, to really know what your temps look like. :)

I can game for an hour and my 3 cores (5970 + 5870) never reach over 28-29 celsius, and VRMs at max 40 celsius, and my fans are all running at 600-700 rpm. :)

But with Furmark at 2560X1600 for 30 minutes, the 3 cores are max at around 35-36 celsius, VRMs are at 59-60 celsius, and all my fans on automatic are starting to turn alot faster and reach 1600-1850 rpm.

Idle temp on the 3 cores is around 22-23 celsius, ambiant at 18-19 celsius. :)