Successfully (knock on wood) passively cooled my Radeon 5770

[PowerMac G4 MDD]

A while back, out of desperation to cut down on my 1,1 Mac Pro's noise levels (since it seems louder than a 2008 Mac Pro, and louder than others have described their 1,1 Mac Pros to be), I bought an Arctic Accelero S3 passive cooler for my HD Radeon 5770.

Well, it proved to be a nightmare. The mounting system's design was horrible, and I ended up snapping the screws necessary to hold it all together. Regardless, the thing wouldn't have fit properly into my first slot.

What, then? It may seem childish... but, I took my 5770, did away with its housing+fan as I would normally have, kept the card's stock heat-sink on, and then super-glued the Arctic Accelero's included 2nd heat-sink on top of that (yes, I really went to such lengths). That heat-sink is just another giant piece of metal that's about the size of my entire card put together, so I figured that it would do its job. So far, while the card does feel somewhat hot to the touch, it may just be its nature (as it's an AMD card and I recall it feeling a bit hot--even with its fan on). In any case, it is currently working perfectly! I have been using my Mac Pro just fine since, and my fan RPMs have not changed. Anyway, I don't want to jinx it all, but it has (so far) gone just fine, and I couldn't be happier with the results. It's great to have this relatively powerful card back in.

Maybe I'll update with pictures if I need to open my Mac Pro for any reason. (The machine is a bit hard to remove from its cubby.) But, anyway, rather than spending time devising a better screw system for the Accelero, I went the frantic route. It's a bit of a hack-job, but it could be enlightening to others(?) If you are desperate to block out that fan noise, maybe see if you can pick up a similar heat-sink to glue on top of the card's fixed, stock heat-sink. Due to the great airflow that the Mac Pro's PCI/HDD area receives, the card is likely to be okay!

What do you guys think?

 

[pastrychef]

I don't know how well super glue will hold up in that heat. Maybe a better solution would have been thermal adhesive.

When you say that it's hot to the touch, are you saying the video card itself is hot or the heatsink?

While it may be working now, there's no way to know long term reliability of this set up. You may want to test it out with the GPU under load.

I wish you'd have taken some pictures when it was still out of your computer. I'd be interested to see how you have it set up.

 

[Fl0r!an]

I'd definitely advise to check GPU temps under load, pretty sure your super-glue conenction will have a rather high thermal resistance.

 

[filmak]

A while back, out of desperation to cut down on my 1,1 Mac Pro's noise levels (since it seems louder than a 2008 Mac Pro, and louder than others have described their 1,1 Mac Pros to be), I bought an Arctic Accelero S3 passive cooler for my HD Radeon 5770.

Well, it proved to be a nightmare. The mounting system's design was horrible, and I ended up snapping the screws necessary to hold it all together. Regardless, the thing wouldn't have fit properly into my first slot.

What, then? It may seem childish... but, I took my 5770, did away with its housing+fan as I would normally have, kept the card's stock heat-sink on, and then super-glued the Arctic Accelero's included 2nd heat-sink on top of that (yes, I really went to such lengths). That heat-sink is just another giant piece of metal that's about the size of my entire card put together, so I figured that it would do its job. So far, while the card does feel somewhat to the touch, but that may just be its nature (as it's an AMD card and I recall it feeling a bit hot--even with its fan on. However, it is currently working perfectly! I have been using my Mac Pro just fine since, and my temperatures have not changed. I don't want to jinx it all, but it has (so far) gone just fine, and I couldn't be happier with the results. It's great to have this relatively powerful card back in.

Maybe I'll update with pictures if I need to open my Mac Pro for any reason. (The machine is a bit hard to remove from its cubby.) But, anyway, rather than spending time devising a better screw system for the Accelero, I went the frantic route. It's a bit of a hack-job, but it could be enlightening to others(?) If you are desperate to block out that fan noise, maybe see if you can pick up a similar heat-sink to glue on top of the card's fixed, stock heat-sink. Due to the great airflow that the Mac Pro's PCI/HDD area receives, the card is likely to be okay!

What do you guys think?

Glad you made it, hope it lasts long.
Have you used any thermal paste between heatsinks?
Can you drill any holes to an empty space on the card and use something mechanical, (screws, ties, etc) to fasten the heatsink?

 

[PowerMac G4 MDD]

I don't know how well super glue will hold up in that heat. Maybe a better solution would have been thermal adhesive.

When you say that it's hot to the touch, are you saying the video card itself is hot or the heatsink?

While it may be working now, there's no way to know long term reliability of this set up. You may want to test it out with the GPU under load.

I wish you'd have taken some pictures when it was still out of your computer. I'd be interested to see how you have it set up.

The metal edge of the card was somewhat hot to the touch, but not too far off from what it felt like when the entire Arctic cooler was on.

I tried the GPU under normal computer usage, Assault Cube, Minecraft, and GTA IV. So far, I have seen zero issues with it. But, yes, there is no way of knowing how long it will last. I hope it runs forever!

Yeah, that super glue thing was a rash decision. I should get my hands on some thermal adhesive. The only other thing I did was put some new Gelid thermal paste on the card--for its main heat-sink.

I know, it's lame that I didn't take pictures. I'm horrendously busy, but I'll make sure to get some pictures posted sooner or later.

 

[PowerMac G4 MDD]

Glad you made it, hope it lasts long.
Have you used any thermal paste between heatsinks?
Can you drill any holes to an empty space on the card and use something mechanical, (screws, ties, etc) to fasten the heatsink?

Not between the two heat-sinks, but I did put some Gelid paste on the card itself--for its stock heat-sink. As I mentioned to someone else, it would be good to get my hands on thermal adhesive or something. Currently, I have some spacers propping parts of the second heat-sink up, just in case the glue fails. Maybe later on, I'll devise a more permanent solution for attaching that second heat-sink. Perhaps I can screw it down, or something of the like. I'll try and post pictures as soon as I can! Thanks for the positive comments.

 

[PowerMac G4 MDD]

I'd definitely advise to check GPU temps under load, pretty sure your super-glue conenction will have a rather high thermal resistance.

The second heat-sink, which is on top of the stock heat-sink, is what's glued on. The stock heat-sink is properly screwed in and has nice, new thermal paste underneath it. Is there any way I can monitor this card's temperatures from El Capitan? (Just FYI, it's not a 5770 Mac edition--just a flashed PC card.)

 

[Fl0r!an]

Yep I understood that, I just think that the 2nd heat sink isn't of much use mounted this way.

Temperature can be easily monitored in El Cap, just not in genuine MacPros...
I'm not quite sure if Windows can read the temperatur sensor in a MacPro. Otherwise installing FakeSMC in OS X with sensor plugins would be a solution.

 

[filmak]

The second heat-sink, which is on top of the stock heat-sink, is what's glued on. The stock heat-sink is properly screwed in and has nice, new thermal paste underneath it. Is there any way I can monitor this card's temperatures from El Capitan? (Just FYI, it's not a 5770 Mac edition--just a flashed PC card.)

You can use istat menus for monitoring, this is what I 'm using, it's a very useful utility as you may already know.

 

[filmak]

As I mentioned to someone else, it would be good to get my hands on thermal adhesive or something.

Sorry for making you repeat what you have already said.
I have a GTX970 unflashed in our 3,1, I will double check that istat can read the temps for sure...

 

[filmak]

unfortunately istat can't read 970 temps. Sorry.

I can't remember what happened with my 5770 (Apple's one) when I 'll find some time I'll install it again and inform you.
Give a try to istat just to check if you 're in a hurry...

As an idea - I think that unigine valley benchmark displays the GPU's temp, do you think that you can test it with the absolute minimum settings ?

 

[Fl0r!an]

The SMC in classic MacPros can't access the temperature readings of the GPU, so no application (not Uningine, not iStat, nothing) will display the temperature in OS X. Period.

One way around would be installation of FakeSMC. Maybe Windows also works, never tried that. Simplest way is putting the card in a PC.

 

[h9826790]

Install FakeSMC in the cMP to read the GPU temp is harder than I expect. And it may break the original temp /fan reading. I've tried, and now back to native OSX reading.

The GPU temperature reading in Windows will works.

So, I basically do all flashing, OC, voltage / fan profile modification, stress test in Windows, and then just enjoy to use it in OSX.

 

[filmak]

The SMC in classic MacPros can't access the temperature readings of the GPU, so no application (not Uningine, not iStat, nothing) will display the temperature in OS X. Period.

One way around would be installation of FakeSMC. Maybe Windows also works, never tried that. Simplest way is putting the card in a PC.

Thanks for the info .

 

[PowerMac G4 MDD]

unfortunately istat can't read 970 temps. Sorry.

I can't remember what happened with my 5770 (Apple's one) when I 'll find some time I'll install it again and inform you.
Give a try to istat just to check if you 're in a hurry...

As an idea - I think that unigine valley benchmark displays the GPU's temp, do you think that you can test it with the absolute minimum settings ?

I could try that benchmark and see.

 

[PowerMac G4 MDD]

Thanks for the info .

I may put Windows back on this Mac Pro; that would be a great way to check its temperatures. After about an hour of playing GTA IV in Mac, though, I haven't run into any issues. However, that's not to say that the card isn't slowly being cooked to death.

 

[PowerMac G4 MDD]

Yep I understood that, I just think that the 2nd heat sink isn't of much use mounted this way.

Temperature can be easily monitored in El Cap, just not in genuine MacPros...
I'm not quite sure if Windows can read the temperatur sensor in a MacPro. Otherwise installing FakeSMC in OS X with sensor plugins would be a solution.

I'm sure it makes a difference when compared to the stock heat-sink alone; but, yeah, I should get some thermal adhesive soon. Is it enough to keep this thing held down? I don't want the thing to fall off--it must be a strong adhesive.

 

[PowerMac G4 MDD]

Update: Hey everyone - so I opened up my Mac Pro today in order to do something unrelated; I snapped a picture of the hack-job setup. That's the Arctic Accelero's secondary heat-sink atop the naked card's stock heatsink. I reached my hand in there and, I admit, it was rather hot. In fact, it stayed there, radiating heat for minutes. The secondary heatsink felt pretty hot, which leads me to believe that it's at least doing its job. IDK how long my card will last from this. I'm hoping that the Mac Pro's good airflow will keep it healthy. If it IS getting damaged in this way then it must be a slow process(?) I mean, I have been using this Mac Pro day-to-day for hours on end. I've even been putting it through Grand Theft Auto IV (Wine) several times, and it just seems to never skip a beat. I'm hoping it will continue to work.

Anyway, here it is (the tape keeps it balanced and there is a little nub propping the edge up so that it won't sag. Otherwise, the glue is still holding it on tightly):

 

[PowerMac G4 MDD]

Oh, and I'm planning to get Winblows on this thing soon. I'd like to try out some games and check my temperatures.

 

[filmak]

Update: Hey everyone - so I opened up my Mac Pro today in order to do something unrelated; I snapped a picture of the hack-job setup. That's the Arctic Accelero's secondary heat-sink atop the naked card's stock heatsink. I reached my hand in there and, I admit, it was rather hot. In fact, it stayed there, radiating heat for minutes. The secondary heatsink felt pretty hot, which leads me to believe that it's at least doing its job. IDK how long my card will last from this. I'm hoping that the Mac Pro's good airflow will keep it healthy. If it IS getting damaged in this way then it must be a slow process(?) I mean, I have been using this Mac Pro day-to-day for hours on end. I've even been putting it through Grand Theft Auto IV (Wine) several times, and it just seems to never skip a beat. I'm hoping it will continue to work.

Anyway, here it is (the tape keeps it balanced and there is a little nub propping the edge up so that it won't sag. Otherwise, the glue is still holding it on tightly):

Thanks for sharing.
This extra heatsink is really too big as you have already said, I hope you don't or won't need the PCIe slot.
Is this a led stripe (for illumination purposes) with the 3M sticker? will you install it permanently?

 

[PowerMac G4 MDD]

Thanks for sharing.
This extra heatsink is really too big as you have already said, I hope you don't or won't need the PCIe slot.
Is this a led stripe (for illumination purposes) with the 3M sticker? will you install it permanently?

It's a large heat-sink, but it doesn't seem to take up the last two slots. If I wanted to, say, put a PCI adapter for my SSD in that slot at the top, it could fit.

Yeah, that strip is for illumination purposes. I have two more--one long one going along the wall (behind my desk) and a third behind my monitors. I didn't peel back the tape on any of them; I used masking tape for the two strips at my desk and just--as you can see--left the strip in my Mac Pro dangling. When I work inside this machine, it's best not to have the strip in the way, so I leave it like that because I know that a permanent adhering of it to the Mac Pro would be annoying to deal with. I have already fully disassembled the Mac Pro twice, so a permanent setup of this strip would definitely have gotten in the way. I just remove the entire thing when I need to do heavy work on the internals. I also don't have the thing hooked up to my computer's PSU; I have the power cord running out the back... yeah, a n00b setup, but I didn't want to futz around with wiring it to my PSU. Besides, the machine is obviously not going anywhere; it's okay that it has an extra cord running out the back. Anyway, however one wants to do it, I'd definitely recommend these color-changing LEDs in a Mac Pro - it all looks so awesome! I'll post some pictures of my LEDs tomorrow, if you like. You're gonna want some (if you don't use 'em already) after seeing these images.

 

[filmak]

It's a large heat-sink, but it doesn't seem to take up the last two slots. If I wanted to, say, put a PCI adapter for my SSD in that slot at the top, it could fit.

Yeah, that strip is for illumination purposes. I have two more--one long one going along the wall (behind my desk) and a third behind my monitors. I didn't peel back the tape on any of them; I used masking tape for the two strips at my desk and just--as you can see--left the strip in my Mac Pro dangling. When I work inside this machine, it's best not to have the strip in the way, so I leave it like that because I know that a permanent adhering of it to the Mac Pro would be annoying to deal with. I have already fully disassembled the Mac Pro twice, so a permanent setup of this strip would definitely have gotten in the way. I just remove the entire thing when I need to do heavy work on the internals. I also don't have the thing hooked up to my computer's PSU; I have the power cord running out the back... yeah, a n00b setup, but I didn't want to futz around with wiring it to my PSU. Besides, the machine is obviously not going anywhere; it's okay that it has an extra cord running out the back. Anyway, however one wants to do it, I'd definitely recommend these color-changing LEDs in a Mac Pro - it all looks so awesome! I'll post some pictures of my LEDs tomorrow, if you like. You're gonna want some (if you don't use 'em already) after seeing these images.

Yes it would be great if you could post them. Thanks a lot, it's very kind of you.

 

[PowerMac G4 MDD]

Yes it would be great if you could post them. Thanks a lot, it's very kind of you.

Here are the pictures of my setup. I just got a new monitor today, though, so these pictures are now outdated.

The LEDs don't look good on camera, but still cool.