If you are going to mod 5970 you should consider watercooling.
The full GPU blocks while expensive properly cool both GPU AND the VRMs. Watercooling isn't cheap but nothing is quieter or more efficient. I am experimenting now to see which combination of voltage and speed gives me the highest reliability, and hashing profit (revenue after electrical cost).
Still getting 850MH/s per card is certainly possible. I have pushed the card as high as 1050/200 (core/memory) and temps are <70C. To push 3x 5970 that high though I likely need a bigger (or second) radiator.
The 5970 is an awseome card. Simply unbeatable when it comes to power efficiency. That likely will change with 7xxx series cards but for now it is king of the hill. Sold a bunch of 6950s & 6970s on ebay and am buying 3 more 5970s while they are still cheap.
Topic: Modifying 5970's stock HSF (Read 1096 times)
Find out who manufactures this HS for powercolor
http://www.behardware.com/news/11238/ces-2011-a-fanless-hd-6850-from-powercolor.html
mount a fan on the face, cap the bottom and duct the exhasut away from the card!
http://www.behardware.com/news/11238/ces-2011-a-fanless-hd-6850-from-powercolor.html
mount a fan on the face, cap the bottom and duct the exhasut away from the card!
I pulled the heatsink fan off of my 5970 to put some MX-2 on the chips. Every time I see this thing it reminds me of how much I can't stand it. If you have a 5970 you know how loud, obnoxious and inefficient it is, almost as though it was trying to mess with your head. "That's right, I do an awful job of cooling your expensive GPUs and I'll be glad to remind you of that every second of the day with the dull roar of my seemingly-contradictory low-CFM high-decibel noise wheel!"
Anyway, I'm looking at this thing and the copper heatsink underneath all the plastic seems like a good starting point. After all, not many heatsinks are even out there for dual-GPU cards. Maybe strap one or two high CFM 120mm fans onto it. Unlike the stock fan, something that would actually push the air through the copper fins. Or draw the air away from it. Or both? All I know is that this card sits at 90C in its current state so bringing that max temp under load down would definitely be worth the time. Aside from that, the only other thing to address would be the memory chips on both sides of the board, but I don't see why you couldn't stick those little copper heatsinks on each of them.
5970 owners, any thoughts?
Anyway, I'm looking at this thing and the copper heatsink underneath all the plastic seems like a good starting point. After all, not many heatsinks are even out there for dual-GPU cards. Maybe strap one or two high CFM 120mm fans onto it. Unlike the stock fan, something that would actually push the air through the copper fins. Or draw the air away from it. Or both? All I know is that this card sits at 90C in its current state so bringing that max temp under load down would definitely be worth the time. Aside from that, the only other thing to address would be the memory chips on both sides of the board, but I don't see why you couldn't stick those little copper heatsinks on each of them.
5970 owners, any thoughts?
When I got my 5970 last month I HATED it, it's loud and hot. This month I have to say after getting a Kill-A-Watt EZ and seeing how damn efficient this card is, it's my new favorite card
The fan speed at 60-65% speed is loud at first but once it breaks in it's not too bad. I messed up putting MX-2 on it earlier last week but I re-applied it as well as adding some MX-2 on the VRMs as well (on everything that the thermal pads touch) this week and it made a bit of a difference (VRMs dropped 5C, GPUs dropped 2C). When you crack the card open you will see that most of the thermal pads are smooshed/torn, I would fill in the voids so the pad so it makes full contact with the VRMs. I have looked into the Arctic Cooling aftermarket coolers but if you buy two Scythe 120mm 1900RPM fans and put them over the card blowing cold air on it is far more economical and energy efficient. I would just stick with the stock HSF, they are more effective than any other solution. Good luck modifying the HSF, please make a post here if you happen to do that. 
when I say front of card, I mean the part that point out of a case, if you have one. the part of the card that the monitor plugs into.
if you have these cards in a case, I suggest removing the side of the case and blowing air into the side of the case and the warm air will push out the business end of the card..... where you plug the monitor in
Right, this is what I thought. I also have the side of my case open with a floor fan blowing into it, but I would still try setting up the fans on the 5970 to direct all air out the back of the case, one closest to the front of the case blowing fresh air over the heatsink, and also one at the exhaust opening on the card drawing the air out of the card. I bet a steady airflow like that would lead to some kind of a drop in temperature. This is actually the way that the reference cooler is designed, pulling air in, passing it over the heatsink and out the back, but this is simply taking that concept and adding more powerful fans.
when I say front of card, I mean the part that point out of a case, if you have one. the part of the card that the monitor plugs into.
if you have these cards in a case, I suggest removing the side of the case and blowing air into the side of the case and the warm air will push out the business end of the card..... where you plug the monitor in
I noticed that all of the warm air comes out the front of the card, so I positioned a fan behind the machine to get fresh air flow from behind the open rig.
You mean that you've got a fan blowing fresh air into the exhaust opening on the part of the card with the DVI connectors? I would have guessed that the best performance would come from a fan on the opposite end blowing fresh air over the heatsink and out the back of the case, or one at the exhaust opening drawing the air out of the card. Or both.
I pulled the heatsink fan off of my 5970 to put some MX-2 on the chips. Every time I see this thing it reminds me of how much I can't stand it. If you have a 5970 you know how loud, obnoxious and inefficient it is, almost as though it was trying to mess with your head. "That's right, I do an awful job of cooling your expensive GPUs and I'll be glad to remind you of that every second of the day with the dull roar of my seemingly-contradictory low-CFM high-decibel noise wheel!"
Anyway, I'm looking at this thing and the copper heatsink underneath all the plastic seems like a good starting point. After all, not many heatsinks are even out there for dual-GPU cards. Maybe strap one or two high CFM 120mm fans onto it. Unlike the stock fan, something that would actually push the air through the copper fins. Or draw the air away from it. Or both? All I know is that this card sits at 90C in its current state so bringing that max temp under load down would definitely be worth the time. Aside from that, the only other thing to address would be the memory chips on both sides of the board, but I don't see why you couldn't stick those little copper heatsinks on each of them.
5970 owners, any thoughts?
Anyway, I'm looking at this thing and the copper heatsink underneath all the plastic seems like a good starting point. After all, not many heatsinks are even out there for dual-GPU cards. Maybe strap one or two high CFM 120mm fans onto it. Unlike the stock fan, something that would actually push the air through the copper fins. Or draw the air away from it. Or both? All I know is that this card sits at 90C in its current state so bringing that max temp under load down would definitely be worth the time. Aside from that, the only other thing to address would be the memory chips on both sides of the board, but I don't see why you couldn't stick those little copper heatsinks on each of them.
5970 owners, any thoughts?
I started with 3 of the 'new' 5970 cards that have been available lately.. I was actually surprised how cool they run for me.
out of the 6 I clock most of them at 880/440, one I have to keep at stock or that card crashes. they stay at a constant low 70's.
I noticed that all of the warm air comes out the front of the card, so I positioned a fan behind the machine to get fresh air flow from behind the open rig.
I just bot 4 more of these, should get them Fri. I will have a 8 gpu rig on a 1200 watt silverstone.
I pulled the heatsink fan off of my 5970 to put some MX-2 on the chips. Every time I see this thing it reminds me of how much I can't stand it. If you have a 5970 you know how loud, obnoxious and inefficient it is, almost as though it was trying to mess with your head. "That's right, I do an awful job of cooling your expensive GPUs and I'll be glad to remind you of that every second of the day with the dull roar of my seemingly-contradictory low-CFM high-decibel noise wheel!"
Anyway, I'm looking at this thing and the copper heatsink underneath all the plastic seems like a good starting point. After all, not many heatsinks are even out there for dual-GPU cards. Maybe strap one or two high CFM 120mm fans onto it. Unlike the stock fan, something that would actually push the air through the copper fins. Or draw the air away from it. Or both? All I know is that this card sits at 90C in its current state so bringing that max temp under load down would definitely be worth the time. Aside from that, the only other thing to address would be the memory chips on both sides of the board, but I don't see why you couldn't stick those little copper heatsinks on each of them.
5970 owners, any thoughts?
Anyway, I'm looking at this thing and the copper heatsink underneath all the plastic seems like a good starting point. After all, not many heatsinks are even out there for dual-GPU cards. Maybe strap one or two high CFM 120mm fans onto it. Unlike the stock fan, something that would actually push the air through the copper fins. Or draw the air away from it. Or both? All I know is that this card sits at 90C in its current state so bringing that max temp under load down would definitely be worth the time. Aside from that, the only other thing to address would be the memory chips on both sides of the board, but I don't see why you couldn't stick those little copper heatsinks on each of them.
5970 owners, any thoughts?
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