Adventures in custom 6800GT cooling (Lots-o-Pics!!!!)

killswitch83 · Post by **killswitch83** » Fri Dec 23, 2005 11:47 pm

Yeah Blake, remember you bought 3 of em, so if something goes even more wrong (which I hope it doesn't) you can always start afresh

@Ken, yeah it's rather awful on the feet, would rather sit my fat-arse behind a desk than standing in front of a 400 degree oven all day that's meant to cure silicone! oy vey, lol.

sbohdan · Post by **sbohdan** » Sat Dec 24, 2005 2:43 am

gvblake, is it just me or it seems that the tiny little ram coolers are actually worse then the stock one piece cooler which has a bigger cooling area and is connected with a heatpipe?

gvblake22 · Post by **gvblake22** » Sat Dec 24, 2005 5:48 pm

sbohdan wrote:gvblake, is it just me or it seems that the tiny little ram coolers are actually worse then the stock one piece cooler which has a bigger cooling area and is connected with a heatpipe?

yeah, logically it may seem like that, but the thermal pads that are on the bottom of that stock thing are total crap and it really isn't too big. I think the RAMsinks that are on there now are better. But I'll be cutting up that second Xeon heatsink for RAMsinks and power chips, so no need to worry too much about RAM cooling at the moment ;)

Well, here's an update for y'all...
I got the GPU heatsink actually INSTALLED and ready to go!!!
I actually used the springs from the stock heatsink on the new screws for tension/pressure management/equalization:

Here's the bottom of the card, you can see the four screws, nuts, and the black nylon washers coming through the board holding on the GPU heatsink.

and here it is installed (for good) on the 6800GT. Eventually I will replace the RAMsinks and the heatsink on the power chips using the same copper heatsink material:

After that was all installed, I started working on the shroud to hold the fan. It is a piece of 1/8" plexiglass (acrylic) cut about the size of the card. This was just more of a test or template piece (especially since it broke), but I have the long machine screws going through the board and they stick up above the heatsink and will hold the piece of plexi over the heatsink like a roof. The fan will then be positioned attached to the plexi over the top of the heatsink. This shroud has many benefits, including:
-Allows the fan to blow cooler air from the case instead of recycling the warm air from the heatsink.
-The shroud will help direct the warm air from the heatsink away from the fan and out the case.
-it will help direct more air across the RAMsinks and power chip heatsink for better cooling of those components.
-finally, it will add a nice, unique look to the whole mod

So, here is what the TEMPORARY shroud looks like. It will give you an idea of what I have planned for the final version...
Here it is with no fan and just a couple screws. The two large, connected holes in the middle is where the 92mm fan hole will be; obviously this isn't how the final hole will look:

Here are some pics with the fan on top just to give you an idea of how it all look together:

Kerii · Post by **Kerii** » Sat Dec 24, 2005 5:56 pm

sbohdan wrote:gvblake, is it just me or it seems that the tiny little ram coolers are actually worse then the stock one piece cooler which has a bigger cooling area and is connected with a heatpipe?

I've read some reviews on a lot of places and there was one time I found a review where a 6800 Ultra cooler was mounted onto a 6800 or something like that that didn't have the RAM cooler. The result was that the GPU created so much heat that it made the RAM even hotter than when it had no cooling, and the RAM refused to overclock anymore.

So yeah, I think separate heatsinks are generally better.

killswitch83 · Post by **killswitch83** » Sat Dec 24, 2005 5:56 pm

hmmmm, looks like someone found the time in between all the family goings-on to do some more work on the mod.....looking frickin awesome Blake!!

Can't wait to see what you have after the final plexi mounting plate is fabbed and everything mounted and finished!! Temps will be great too I'm sure since it's all copper and you're running a good ol Tri-Blade Delta

gvblake22 · Post by **gvblake22** » Sat Dec 24, 2005 6:14 pm

killswitch83 wrote:hmmmm, looks like someone found the time in between all the family goings-on to do some more work on the mod.....looking frickin awesome Blake!!

Can't wait to see what you have after the final plexi mounting plate is fabbed and everything mounted and finished!! Temps will be great too I'm sure since it's all copper and you're running a good ol Tri-Blade Delta

HAHA, yeah, my mom keeps yelling at me to help decorate the tree while I'm sitting here trying to resize images

So yeah, I'll be signing off for a little while. Hopefully this mod will be done soon though. I'm dying to get this thing back in my motherboard and get my rig back online so I can test this beast out!!!

More updates to come

killswitch83 · Post by **killswitch83** » Sat Dec 24, 2005 6:26 pm

cool, cool, if you got time later, log on to IM, we'll talk for a bit man

sbohdan · Post by **sbohdan** » Sat Dec 24, 2005 6:50 pm

Kerii wrote:
sbohdan wrote:gvblake, is it just me or it seems that the tiny little ram coolers are actually worse then the stock one piece cooler which has a bigger cooling area and is connected with a heatpipe?
I've read some reviews on a lot of places and there was one time I found a review where a 6800 Ultra cooler was mounted onto a 6800 or something like that that didn't have the RAM cooler. The result was that the GPU created so much heat that it made the RAM even hotter than when it had no cooling, and the RAM refused to overclock anymore.

So yeah, I think separate heatsinks are generally better.

no, the original ram cooler on the GT is separate from the GPU heatsink (notice the shiny heatpipe in the middle that goes all around the cooler):

and yes: the original pads are crap so I did change it to AS5 automatically in my original mod but only after I lapped the surface that touches the ram because it wasn't smooth eighter. then it was better then these little ramsinks (aren't they from zalman?) but of course if gvblake has them only temporary and will replace with the same copper sink he is using with the GPU, it might be better then stock. just dont forget, that the stock has a built in heatpipe, going all around the mem.cooler and that's a +

the shroud idea is pretty cool though. I'm really curious of the outcome now but mom and the christmass tree should come first of course

killswitch83 · Post by **killswitch83** » Sat Dec 24, 2005 6:52 pm

lol, thank goodness I don't have to worry about the whole family crap until Christmas Day, lol. I tend to lay wayyyyyyyyyyy below the radar until Christmas, lol, because they're not even my blood family (only by marriage, and they consider me an outsider anyways, except my stepfather) and can stand them in minimal doses, lol. Bad huh?

-mogwai · Post by **-mogwai** » Sun Dec 25, 2005 12:09 am

holy crap! that's a hell of a workspace in that garage. nice.

Kerii · Post by **Kerii** » Sun Dec 25, 2005 1:45 am

sbohdan wrote:no, the original ram cooler on the GT is separate from the GPU heatsink (notice the shiny heatpipe in the middle that goes all around the cooler):

Ah, ok, must've been one of those aftermarket coolers then.

Post by **Apoptosis** » Sun Dec 25, 2005 9:47 am

Looks great. For cutting the heat sink fins what did you end up using? Would using a Dremel Tool with a cut off wheel give you a better looking clean cut? You could cut the corner and start the screw holes with the cut off wheel at least and then finish it by hand.

Looks like it came out great and look forward to seeing some numbers. I also liked the plexi on the card as it looks pimp too. Now you need that one fan Kerii posted in the hot deal thread that looks all crazy... hehe

good job and merry x-mas

gvblake22 · Post by **gvblake22** » Sun Dec 25, 2005 10:57 am

audiophile wrote:holy crap! that's a hell of a workspace in that garage. nice.

It's actually a pole barn ;)

Apoptosis wrote:Looks great. For cutting the heat sink fins what did you end up using? Would using a Dremel Tool with a cut off wheel give you a better looking clean cut? You could cut the corner and start the screw holes with the cut off wheel at least and then finish it by hand.

Looks like it came out great and look forward to seeing some numbers. I also liked the plexi on the card as it looks pimp too. Now you need that one fan Kerii posted in the hot deal thread that looks all crazy... hehe

good job and merry x-mas

I ended using a table saw to cut the corners of the heatsink, and I used a dremel with a drill bit to mill out the slots around the screw holes. It was kindof a learn-as-you-go type of thing, but I get it the way I want it, it just looks kindof chopped up. Oh Well!

I probably could have put a sanding tool on the dremel or something and tried to clean up the cuts, but that would be a lot of time and probably not really worth it.

killswitch83 · Post by **killswitch83** » Sun Dec 25, 2005 12:25 pm

the heck with looks dude, if it's nice and functional, that's all that matters

doing great so far

btw, just a little hung over this morning, lol

Merry Christmas everyone!!

Post by **Apoptosis** » Sun Dec 25, 2005 12:31 pm

as we used to say in my Jeep club when a pretty all chrome Jeep pulled up to go 4-wheelin... all that chrome won't get you home.

Looks are one thing but being functional is another!

-mogwai · Post by **-mogwai** » Mon Dec 26, 2005 2:24 am

what's a pole barn? pardon my ignorance... i'm a city boy.

sbohdan · Post by **sbohdan** » Mon Dec 26, 2005 9:06 am

audiophile wrote:what's a pole barn? pardon my ignorance... i'm a city boy.

he probably referred to the sub zero temperatures inside it (a barn lokated at the north pol)

gvblake22 · Post by **gvblake22** » Mon Dec 26, 2005 11:10 am

sbohdan wrote:
audiophile wrote:what's a pole barn? pardon my ignorance... i'm a city boy.
he probably referred to the sub zero temperatures inside it (a barn lokated at the north pol)

HAHAHA
Close, but no

A pole barn is just a large building that is just one big open space inside. Usually big enough for a full sized boat/construction equipment/etc.

As for the project, it's not the flashiest thing around, but I think it looks pretty damn impressive, and seems to be working better than any cooling I've ever had on video card, ever!

But here is a quick update for everyone...
For those of you who need to see a direct comparison, I give you David and Goliath:
(The stock 6800GT heatsink is on the left, and my new all copper Xeon heatsink is on the right)

And here we have the whole family!

Ok, moving on...
Here we have the newest version of the fan shroud. But, again, I cracked the frickin' thing! Maybe if I get motivated I'll try making another, but this is what I'll use for now...

Here's what the board looks like ready to mount the plexi shroud:

And here is everything mounted and ready to go!!!

You may notice that the fan seems off center, and it is. That's for a couple reasons:
1) To move the dead spot from the fan off from the center of the heatsink (right above the GPU) so the greatest pressure from the fan blades is over the middle of the heatsink.
2) The chipset on my DFI board is right below the video card, and the fan would hit it if it were over any farther.

That's all for now. My brother is trying to play online games and I'm killing his ping by uploading pics. So you can blame him for not getting results right now. Guess you'll just have to wait and see, but I will tell you that I am happy with the results!

kenc51 · Post by **kenc51** » Mon Dec 26, 2005 11:51 am

gvblake22 · Post by **gvblake22** » Mon Dec 26, 2005 2:01 pm

Well, I guess I'm done gaming for a while, so I'll finish my update

Anyway, as I was saying... Here is the card as it is installed; looks like it takes up the FULL 3 slots. If I had a sound card or something in my bottom PCI slot, the fan would not be able to get much air.

I tried to raise the shroud up off the heatsink enough so that it would leave room for hot air to escape out the back of the case:

As for temps so far, I was getting temps 20ºC better than the Zalman when I first got it installed (on idle and load). But I think the ambient temperature was a lot lower. Now temps are only about 10ºC better than the Zalman. I never did even test the stock heatsink though because the card came shipped with the Zalman on there.
But here's the breakdown:
Zalman VF700-AlCu = mid 50ºC idle and 70º load (measured with rthdrbl)
Custom cooling setup = low to mid 40ºC and mid to high 50ºC (measured with rthdrbl)

It's kindof odd because the idle temperatures are not a whole lot lower, but the loat temps are much lower than the Zalman, so I guess that's always good.

I also did not try any overclocking on the Zalman because I was just nervious about the 70º load temperatures. But now that I feel comfortable overclocking, I'll see what this card can do!!!

I still have to make the other smaller component heatsinks as well as paint up the shroud and make it look better. Plus (as you can see from the pictures) the fan sits above the top of the heatsink a few centimeters. So I want to try and move that down closer to the heatsink and see if that helps the temperatures too. I have a feeling the air being moved by the fan is losing a lot of pressure by the time it gets to the base of the heatsink. Plus I still may make a new shroud and try moving the fan over a little bit so it is more centered over the heatsink.

That's all for now. Maybe later this week I will get motivated and make the other component heatsinks, but this will be the last update for now.
Questions/comments/concerns?