HD2900XT Cooler

[HugoCampos]

The cooler on the HD2900XT is really really loud. I even watched a video of a guy who had 2 of them in crossfire. When he starts a game the fans just start making so much noise. It sounds like an airplane about to take off lol. And the card also runs really hot! Does anyone know of a cooler that's better (in terms of heat dissipation and noise) than the original one. I'm only interested in knowing about air cooling solutions for that graphics card, not water cooling solutions.

Thank ahead for your help.

[JBaymore]

Sorry Hugo....can't resist...........

http://www.simviation.com/cgi-bin/yabb2 ... 7726/30#30

http://www.simviation.com/cgi-bin/yabb2 ... 1184529953

[Nick N]

The cooler on the HD2900XT is really really loud. I even watched a video of a guy who had 2 of them in crossfire. When he starts a game the fans just start making so much noise. It sounds like an airplane about to take off lol. And the card also runs really hot! Does anyone know of a cooler that's better (in terms of heat dissipation and noise) than the original one. I'm only interested in knowing about air cooling solutions for that graphics card, not water cooling solutions.

Thank ahead for your help.

do you own one of the cards?

Are you aware the issue with the fan was a BIOS problem that ATI was suppose to fix in last months driver release?

Even so a card that draws that much current will need airflow and the fan is dynamic to the ambient/core temp so if the room is warm I dont care what you put on it, other than liquid, its going to need to spin and push air over that card.

I dont know af any air aftermarkets designed for the 2900. They desingend that one for liquid chiller people because of the insane core clock you can get from it on liquid (1000+)


and the Guru who did that video is partial to Nvidia so I am sure he made sure the noise would scare everyone... the fact is, it is a bit loud but its not a hairblower like he made it sound, and, no one knows his tower and room temp when he did the demo so compound the needed BIOS fix for the fan with a 'Nivida' Guru3D and it = skewed

[ctjoyce]

I can tell you from expirance that the Zalman VF-900Cu fits on the card (with some modification). It definitely cools better, and I would definitely use copper ramsinks insted of the aluminum ones provided by Zalman. However like Nick said they are hot cards, and therefor you need to have any fan you place on it cranking to keep temps "acceptable." And truely the best way to cool any current gen gaming computer is with watercooling and silver blocks.

Cheers
Cameron

[HugoCampos]

The cooler on the HD2900XT is really really loud. I even watched a video of a guy who had 2 of them in crossfire. When he starts a game the fans just start making so much noise. It sounds like an airplane about to take off lol. And the card also runs really hot! Does anyone know of a cooler that's better (in terms of heat dissipation and noise) than the original one. I'm only interested in knowing about air cooling solutions for that graphics card, not water cooling solutions.

Thank ahead for your help.

do you own one of the cards?

Are you aware the issue with the fan was a BIOS problem that ATI was suppose to fix in last months driver release?

Even so a card that draws that much current will need airflow and the fan is dynamic to the ambient/core temp so if the room is warm I dont care what you put on it, other than liquid, its going to need to spin and push air over that card.

I dont know af any air aftermarkets designed for the 2900. They desingend that one for liquid chiller people because of the insane core clock you can get from it on liquid (1000+)


and the Guru who did that video is partial to Nvidia so I am sure he made sure the noise would scare everyone... the fact is, it is a bit loud but its not a hairblower like he made it sound, and, no one knows his tower and room temp when he did the demo so compound the needed BIOS fix for the fan with a 'Nivida' Guru3D and it = skewed

Well, I don't own the card yet. I will soon. I was going to go Nvidia but then the 2900 was like 100 EUR cheaper so I went for it despite its noise and temp problems. I really just wanted a card that could get me playing most games for as less as I could find because I plan on spending 500-700 EUR on one of the new Nvidia or AMD cards early next year.
I guess the noise won't be a big problem if they corrected it somewhat in the new driver. The temp shouldn't be a big problem either since I always keep the room temperature between 20C-23C.
Even if the card causes some problems or is loud, well, it'll just be until early next year. Until then I hope it'll let me play some nice games and work in DX10 programing.

[HugoCampos]

I can tell you from expirance that the Zalman VF-900Cu fits on the card (with some modification). It definitely cools better, and I would definitely use copper ramsinks insted of the aluminum ones provided by Zalman. However like Nick said they are hot cards, and therefor you need to have any fan you place on it cranking to keep temps "acceptable." And truely the best way to cool any current gen gaming computer is with watercooling and silver blocks.

Cheers
Cameron

I agree about watercooling but I think it's just such a complex and expensive system to build, especially considering that I'm planning on doing some upgrades early next year, namely to the gfx card.

[Nick N]

I can tell you from expirance that the Zalman VF-900Cu fits on the card (with some modification). It definitely cools better, and I would definitely use copper ramsinks insted of the aluminum ones provided by Zalman. However like Nick said they are hot cards, and therefor you need to have any fan you place on it cranking to keep temps "acceptable." And truely the best way to cool any current gen gaming computer is with watercooling and silver blocks.

Cheers
Cameron

Interesting that the 900cu will fit. I thought the core was recessed as compared to the mount flange around the perimeter and would not allow proper contact. As hot as that core runs I did not think the 900cu would handle it either. Thanks for the info.



Hugo... I don't know when exactly but it is my understanding the new HD cards will be entering the market soon. They address the heat issues the 80nm product produce since they are 60-65nm.

There is a strange quiet around the buzz world right now and even I am having trouble getting information from inside sources. Usually when that happens something is about to take place. At the very least I usually get the hype buzz but everyone seems to be keeping their mouths shut right now so I don't know if the new card will be out this month or next.

I do know I would want the 65nm core product over the one currently on the market

[HugoCampos]

Yea, I do understand that. I would also like to get the 65nm one but I just couldn't wait to get a new system. I've been running a P4 @ 2.8, 1 Gb DDR and a 9600XT so I just wanted to get a system that would let me play some games now and start working on DX10 right away (I am an enthusiast developer... well, I just fool around with 3d stuff and create some 3d engines to learn so I can become a game developer in the future).
And in this world of technology, waiting always reveals new stuff but what's the point? Once those things are out, they'll only last another 2 or 3 months.
I figured I'd just go with the 2900XT which was really cheap I think (350 EUR) compared to the 8800GTS (450 EUR) and the 8800GTX (550 - 650 EUR). Now when the new nvidia 9*** comes out I'll read the reviews and benchmarks and decide what to do. I didn't want to spend a lot of money now so I could have some money left for when this "revolution" in technology takes place. I decided to invest more on the Motherboard instead.

[HugoCampos]

Oh, I mentioned Nvidia on my previous post but I hope that the ATI/AMD card is also good. We really need more competition!