dragosmp

Hey guys,

Two weeks ago I found an open box deal I couldn't resist: a Sapphire 4850 Toxic for 74€. It has a factory OC and apparently it is factory overvolted too, which on all the reviews allowed a significant OC.

Being open box means somebody refused it, I soon realized why: it has a whiny capacitor when in 3D, but since games do make their fair share of noise, the whining is noticeable only in benchmarks.

The stock cooling as you can see below is the well known Zalman VF900, which was a good bet in the x1950 days, but now it is locked at a constant 5000RPM to keep this beast cooled. The Zalman cooler does a good job too staying under 70°C, if we manage to ignore the hissing of the fan.
Here are some pics of the card:



An Accelero S1 was fortunately on my table (lucky me), together with a previously unused Turbo Module. The Accelero S1 was enough in passive mode to cool my old 3850. Altogether, the naked Sapphire 4850 and the Accelero S1 are in the next pics:



You'll notice I left the stock RAM and VRM heatsinks on, why would I bother to place other ones? The Accelero S1 comes with its own RAM and VRM sinks, in case any of you guys may need to place something on, other than the stock parts.

A bit of AS Ceramique as TIM and we're good to go in passive mode. I was a bit worried the metal frame around the GPU would interfere with the HSF, but it didn't:



In the next pic you'll see a neat trick you can try on your case: the clearance between the first PCIe slot and the bottom case is 120mm for most ATX compatible cases. You can place a fan to support the graphics card between the PCIe power cord and the bottom of the case - this way it won't bend and won't rip the PCIe slot, as it may otherwise happen. Secondly it helps cooling the card, which means lower temps and higher OC:



Below are two quick Furmark runs: passive and with the turbo module.



To sum up: under 80°C passive and under 60°C with TM. The difference is quite important considering the 120mm fan was blowing constantly @800RPM towards the card in both sessions. The TM itself made for 20°C of difference while being inaudible. In fact 80°C isn't that much for a factory overvolted and overclocked card, achieving this in passive mode is a testament on how good the Accelero S1 really is.

To close, I'd like to say the Arctic Cooling Twin Turbo many of you are using is the same thing as an Accelero S1 + Turbo Module - it's just as effective and just as easy to mount. I highly recommend either of them.

D.


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P.S. If this small article makes you run to the closest store and get a new cooler, your card is gonna thank you for the lower temps, and your ears will thank for not having to put up with the noise. Of course you may already have good quiet cooling, but for most cards, manufacturers just cut corners.

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skugpezz

you need a fan directly connect to toe cooler and you temps will drop alot. my 4850 accelero s1 rev 2 pics below (when i had it)