JoeC

Actually, one of the capacitors is in the way and the heasinks for the memory is too short!!
***?!
I'm putting the card back together and calling them tomorrow.I'm glad that I took extra care in removing the stock shell.
This is an outrage..Jeez.

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Chris Ihao

You checked out both these instructions?:

http://www.arctic-cooling.com/downlo...stallation.pdf

http://www.arctic-cooling.com/downlo...stallation.pdf

I bet the first is regarding the layout of your card. Found it here: http://www.arctic-cooling.com/catalo...7&page=support

It says "Accessories - use only" and then a list of just some of the components. I got to agree, this looks pretty stupid, not being able to use anything but the main cooler and avivo2 cooler. Like I say in my review, the included vrm "cooler" doesnt cool well at all, so that is no big loss. Additionally not being able to use the ram coolers is another matter though. You should decide if you want to do something similar as me (alternative cooling of the ram and vrm), as the main cooler is really great, or if you just want to get rid of the whole thing. I would understand you either way. :-( Sorry for your troubles.

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JoeC

Chris, Thanks forthe info I'll take a look at it.It just seems soooooo.......Going to bed..I'll take alook at it tomorrow..

Thanks again..
+1 Rep.

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FlAwLeSS_666

Why do I get the feeling it's going to only be harder for the 4870X2....

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Chris Ihao

I updated my review to reflect this new info. Well, its new for me at least. Should be useful for 260 owners.

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Greg121986

My GTX 260s are one of the first versions to be released. They are essentially Nvidia reference 192sp, 65nm versions. I had no problem with the blue VRM heat sink fitting or the blue heat sink for the back plate. I only had 5 or 6 VRMs on my EVGA Card, the BFG card may be different. I don't know because I have yet to open it up. However, I did not install the back plate. I accidentally put the thermal pads on the GPU side of the card (onto those memory chips). I did not realize that those chips were supposed to be cooled by the already sticky aluminum heat sinks, and the thermal pads were for the back plate! So now I am running no back plate until I figure something out!

It is 6:30AM and I have been out since 9PM and I am so tired. This was such a weird night and things turned out really strange lol. I wanted to be home at 1AM and here I am 5 and a half hours later! Just one of those nights that has left me scratching my head!!!! I will try to get some much more detailed info and pics tomorrow afternoon. But, this weekend is an annual city festival and I am going to be pretty busy as I am part of a team working for charity to crown the "Mr. Owosso." So tomorrow I will be helping to raise some more money in hopes that we will be the winners! If I can't finish tomorrow I should have much more info by Sunday. Thanks for checking out the thread!

Update on temps: Fan is at 100% and I cannot hear it over the stock fans in my Antec 1200. I am considering changing the fans in my 1200 now because I think this thing is actually too loud with these stock fans. I'm kind of on the kick of having a really quiet PC!
768 WU:
GPU - 42C
Mem - 34C
Amb - 36C
VRM 60C

Savvas M

i was thinking of getting one of those coolers when my gtx 285 arrives at the end of the month.. is it really makes such a big diff?

assaulth3ro911

very nice cooling

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Chris Ihao

Greg121986: Please run the ati tool cube (rotating) for 10-15 minutes, then check the vrm temps again. I've found this to be a nice reference. Another alternative is playing Stalker: Clear sky for some time. Your temps look rather low in general, but that could of course be because its a 260 instead of my 280. That game pushes vrm and other temps a lot more than for instance cod4. Are these temps while oc'ing btw?

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Greg121986

I have not overclocked this card, and I usually don't. It is not able to handle a decent overclock in most games. I cannot get 1512 shaders like I can on my BFG card. I will run a quick ATI tool for you and a quick overclock to see if there is any difference in temperature.

I am in my basement where it is 65-68F I think so that is probably causing the temps to drop a little more than usual.

*EDIT* I get a Digitally Signed Driver message when installing ATI Tool, Vista says it does not have the digitally signed driver or something. Is this normal? It then tells me it does not have the right info to communicate properly with my video hardware. I don't think I have ever seen this before.

Here is the ATI-Tool artifact scan at stock clocks 602/1296/1026


Here is the rotating cube at stock clocks. I cannot get the rotating cube to work while overclocked. This card can barely handle any overclock. I tried 666 core and 1492 (I think) shader and I get artifacts after 8-12 minutes. I'm not going to stress this card any further. It will stay at stock clocks.