Does 3850 need an aftermarket cooler?

[sdrac]

I just picked up a Sapphire 3850 512MB AGP for my old rig.
Hasn't got here yet but I want to be prepared when it does!

Does anyone out there have one (this or the PCI-E version) and know if it runs hot and if it needs an aftermarket cooler? If so - any suggestions on which is best for this card?

Thx,
Sdrac

 

[bravo29]

It runs hot on stock cooler fan. Newegg is out of the S2 cooler for months. I have not seen anybody have them in stock in the US.

 

[sdrac]

Bravo -
If you're talking about the Arctic Accelleo S2, they don't show that as being compatible with the 3850. The S1 rev.2 does seem to usable on it,though I don't like pure passive cooling and would go with the turbo fans as well. Together its about $35 US for the two - not bad I guess, but I just wonder if there are other sutiable solns that work better for about the same price (or a little bit more).

 

[mountedpatrolman]

The thermaltake AT1 is around $35 but I don't know if it works with the 3850, its for the x1900xt. The big flat mounting block looks like it would fit. I blows the air out of the case. The zalman GV1000 looks like the best cooler for the 3850 and is around $50. I was waiting for the Gecube dual slot card but have been forced to get a sapphire now and will probably get the gv1000.

 

[sdrac]

I've been doing some digging - I think the Thermalright HR-03 GT would be even better for the card.
I'm trying to find out if its compatible with the AGP version - it is for the PCI-E version.
I'll post back when I find out.

 

[arctic89]

Im getting the agp version of this card too along with a couple of case fans. What i plan on doing when i get it is clean ing off the stock paste and apply some AS5 and see how good it runs for now (maybe a little OC). If it goes over 70C at stock clocks i'll definitely get an aftermarket cooler. I've done some research and it looks like the Zalman VF-900 fits the 3850s, if agp uses the same mounting holes that might be the best bet to get that.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835118001
and theres $12 savings for it right now.. nice

 

[aylafan]

stock cooler on hd 3850 = decent enough

fan speeds run default at 30% and automatically speeds up as temperature rises. however, when i overclocked with ati overdrive. my fan speeds was stuck at 30% and this is when i got constant errors or slowdowns when i played games because the videocard was overheating.

i solved the problem by using rivatuner to set fan speeds constant at 50% and temperatures stayed around 40C. this is just from experience with my pci-e hd 3850.

i'm not sure what stock cooler the AGP version has. but i think the stock cooler should be sufficient enough.

 

[arctic89]

you are wrong as the cooler on your 3850 256mb pcie is different then that of the 3850 512mb agp
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102714
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102730

the only other card with an identical cooler is the 3870 pcie
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102719

 

[sdrac]

Well - according to ThermalRight tech support, the HR-03 GT isn't compatible because of the
addition of a HSI chip on the AGP card. I thought the HSI chips were on the NVIIDA AGP soln's for some of their
older cards -- but thats what they say.

I have posted the same question to Arctic and Zalman for the respecitive coolers - when
I get a response I'll post back.

 

[sdrac]

Now that I have my card, I've been measuring to see what will fit.
Near as I can tell, they all will (the HR-03 GT, Arctic S1 rev.2 and Zalman).

As much as I'd love to try the HR-03 Gt, its around $45-$55 - and then you have to purchase a fan and retainer clip.
If I had a higher end card that ran real hot I might go for it, but as it stands its not worth it to me.

The S1 rev. 2 can be had for as low as $23 and then with a couple fans its about the same as the Zalman. But according to a review I read on madshrimps, the S1 rev. 2 is a superior cooler. So I think I'm going to to with that. Now - just to find it in stock somewhere....

 

[mountedpatrolman]

I have seen some use the zalman northbridge Heat sink to deal with the HSI on the 7950GT, don't know if it will fit the 3850 but I would just look for a heat sink you can use thermal adhesive to attach.

 

[sdrac]

Just to close this old thread out -
I ended up with a Arctic Cooling Accelero S1 rev.2 and also purchased a couple of 100mm Scythe Super Silent fans to put on it.
It all works great! I'm idleing at about 25C and at load it looks like I'm not going above 35C (this is with gpu/mem on the 3850 @ 705/850). So it looks like I have plenty of room to overclock the card (at least from a heat perspective).

Later,
Sdrac

 

[burak]

It's possible to use Thermalright HR-03 GT on that card:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/burakgursoy/sets/72157608344528413/

 

[SwiftCoyote]

I know this is bringing back a dead topic but I was wondering if you found any heatsinks that vent out the back? I have the 3850 and find it runs hot. To help combat the heat I cut a hole for a 120mm fan on the bottom of my case blowing in and onto the video card. What I really want is something to extract the heat out of my case.