csialbany
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Problems installing Artic Cooling Accelero Xtreme 5870 VGA cooler: does not seem to fit
I was wondering if anyone has had luck installing the Accelero Xtreme 5870 vga cooler.
The cooler is actually a kit consisting of the GPU heatsink, 2 smaller ram heatsinks with thermal pads and a voltage regulator heatsink with a thermal pad.
When I tried installing the cooler on a SAPPHIRE Vapor-X 100281VX-2SR Radeon HD 5870 I found the voltage regulator heatsink did not fit on the card. Assumng that the manufacturer may have altered the board to fit their heatsink I purchased a GIGABYTE GV-R587UD-1GD Radeon HD 5870 only to have the same problem. In IMG_0010 you can see the installation instructions for this component. In step 4 the heatsink is supposed to fit on either side of the voltage regulators and is then screwed down with three screws. You can see in IMG_0011 that there are only two screw holes on the board. In IMG_0012 you can see that the voltage regulators (the grey blocks) have a line of silver capacitors installed on the left that block the installation of the heatsink.
Deciding to skip the voltage regulator heatsink I tried to proceed with the RAM heatsink installation on the gigabyte card. Unfortunately these did not fit on the card either due to a gigabyte component sitting in the way on the board (I do not have a photo of this).
I'm wondering if I'm missing something obvious or if the cooler is incompatible with these cards.
IMG-0010.JPG
IMG-0011.JPG
IMG-0012.JPG
The cooler is actually a kit consisting of the GPU heatsink, 2 smaller ram heatsinks with thermal pads and a voltage regulator heatsink with a thermal pad.
When I tried installing the cooler on a SAPPHIRE Vapor-X 100281VX-2SR Radeon HD 5870 I found the voltage regulator heatsink did not fit on the card. Assumng that the manufacturer may have altered the board to fit their heatsink I purchased a GIGABYTE GV-R587UD-1GD Radeon HD 5870 only to have the same problem. In IMG_0010 you can see the installation instructions for this component. In step 4 the heatsink is supposed to fit on either side of the voltage regulators and is then screwed down with three screws. You can see in IMG_0011 that there are only two screw holes on the board. In IMG_0012 you can see that the voltage regulators (the grey blocks) have a line of silver capacitors installed on the left that block the installation of the heatsink.
Deciding to skip the voltage regulator heatsink I tried to proceed with the RAM heatsink installation on the gigabyte card. Unfortunately these did not fit on the card either due to a gigabyte component sitting in the way on the board (I do not have a photo of this).
I'm wondering if I'm missing something obvious or if the cooler is incompatible with these cards.
IMG-0010.JPG
IMG-0011.JPG
IMG-0012.JPG
ASKER
Thanks malhovic. Unfortunately I have already tried contacting Artic Cooling. For the sake of our collective sanity I had decided not to mention tech support saga:
After having trouble with the first card I submitted a technical support request to Artic Cooling via their website and received no response except “Thank you for contacting artic cooling.” Luckily this email did include a company phone number (not available on their website). I called the number, explained my issue, and was then told to check the height specifications of my case. I then asked for a manufacturer compatibility list and was referred to the installation instructions which do not contain any compatibility information. I called back after trying the second card (still having received no further response to my technical support request). The same representative answered the phone (not surprising if they are a small operation so I tried hard not to hold this against them). However the rep said that their tech support specialist, who cannot be contacted by phone, may choose not to respond to support requests if he does not have an answer.
Perhaps it is time to get out the dremel? I would prefer not to....
After having trouble with the first card I submitted a technical support request to Artic Cooling via their website and received no response except “Thank you for contacting artic cooling.” Luckily this email did include a company phone number (not available on their website). I called the number, explained my issue, and was then told to check the height specifications of my case. I then asked for a manufacturer compatibility list and was referred to the installation instructions which do not contain any compatibility information. I called back after trying the second card (still having received no further response to my technical support request). The same representative answered the phone (not surprising if they are a small operation so I tried hard not to hold this against them). However the rep said that their tech support specialist, who cannot be contacted by phone, may choose not to respond to support requests if he does not have an answer.
Perhaps it is time to get out the dremel? I would prefer not to....
That was a problem that I ran into and had to break out the dremel. If those caps are in the way there is no way around that, especially since the heatsink can only be installed one way. Sorry for the frustrations there!
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