Hi.
So i made custom cooling after series of tests for my 6800XT from XFX with NOCTUA NF-S12A PWM CHROMAX.
This is second Radeon 6800XT which i modded in same manner, previously i did same thing on Red Devil Limited Edition, with worse resoults - card was noisy, as there was audiable airflow through heatsink fins.
With XFX Merc that problem is not existing, which is kind of strange - heatsink is same size, with fins in same distance from each other. Funny thing - whole process was so simple, that even kid would do it - 6 screws and fan connector - done - whole plastic cover with fans was taken off:
Then, putting fans on zip-ties with VGA 4pin-4pin PWM adapter from Gelid + noctua fan splitter PWM (which cause some problems, as one part of splitter is only 3 pin, while plug is made for 4 pin) and 4pin PWM extender cable - done:
You may think how ugly it is - and so i am. I dont quite understand today FASHION (beacuse thats all that is) of 3 fans and long-as-hell radiators GPUs. In Red Devil with same fan config card was so on quieter than with original fans, while temps were much smaller. In XFX Merc we are talking about ~20 degree difference and (dont have noise meter) much quieter work.
So that screen shows full fan speed and its resoults on noctua fans, before i managed PWM control on GPU (i had to swap splitter extensions with fans, as one had 3 pin and PWM wasnt working despite the fact, both fans are 4 pin PWM)
Same setting, same test on original fans (ofcourse dont have screenshot to prove....) had much worse resoults. As you can see from above, i made some undervolting - 970mV, max VRAM freq. 2000MHz, max core clock 2200MHz, default power setting. I made those undervolt to comfortably sit nest to my PC, while original cooler from GPU was mounted.
I dont use hadphones, my ears are very sensitive to PC noise and i couldnt stand how loud was Red Devil and XFX Merc - just beacuse they rather to look good, than work good (that stupid fashion). I watched milion times reviews of that cards, and every noise test was completly out of ***. Before 6800XT Merc i had 6800 (non XT) merc - same noise, so its not that particular example - all thise cards are noisy as hell. Nothing reflect their noises as fans are relatively quiet - except airflow guide through heatsink fins. Small high pressure fans + tight fitted fins = you got noise.
As i proven second time, you dont need extra long heatsink with part of it, extending above PCB lenght with just big hole in it. You dont need 3 fans, from which one is allways louder over time as its smaller. Hell, you dont even need slim fans!
All i respect was XFX addiction to ease of removing (and replacing) fans, beacuse whole heatsink is almost flat, which on Red Devil was nightmare, as there was lot of molded fan cable holders and fans needed to be on extra spacers (rubber ofcourse).
Here is processhow it looked onRed Devil:
Unfortunely, Radeons and lots of new RTX 3000 are not possible to mount vertically, not sure why - people say its beacuse heatpipe design (beacuse they are turning right after cold plate, which is common, and was present in GTX 1080TI, which was working properly....), but i'm sure there is more behind it. So i made several tests with fans 2 x 120mm (mounted to proforated PSU shroud) blowing on original cooler, then blowing on naked heatsink (without original fans), then mounted to heatsink in verticall and horizontal position, and only in horizontal position it give great benefit.
Currently Radeon is audiable on 1100+ RPM, which is no need to use, as card keep great temps up to 900RPM while gaming.
So i made custom cooling after series of tests for my 6800XT from XFX with NOCTUA NF-S12A PWM CHROMAX.
This is second Radeon 6800XT which i modded in same manner, previously i did same thing on Red Devil Limited Edition, with worse resoults - card was noisy, as there was audiable airflow through heatsink fins.
With XFX Merc that problem is not existing, which is kind of strange - heatsink is same size, with fins in same distance from each other. Funny thing - whole process was so simple, that even kid would do it - 6 screws and fan connector - done - whole plastic cover with fans was taken off:
Then, putting fans on zip-ties with VGA 4pin-4pin PWM adapter from Gelid + noctua fan splitter PWM (which cause some problems, as one part of splitter is only 3 pin, while plug is made for 4 pin) and 4pin PWM extender cable - done:
You may think how ugly it is - and so i am. I dont quite understand today FASHION (beacuse thats all that is) of 3 fans and long-as-hell radiators GPUs. In Red Devil with same fan config card was so on quieter than with original fans, while temps were much smaller. In XFX Merc we are talking about ~20 degree difference and (dont have noise meter) much quieter work.
So that screen shows full fan speed and its resoults on noctua fans, before i managed PWM control on GPU (i had to swap splitter extensions with fans, as one had 3 pin and PWM wasnt working despite the fact, both fans are 4 pin PWM)
Same setting, same test on original fans (ofcourse dont have screenshot to prove....) had much worse resoults. As you can see from above, i made some undervolting - 970mV, max VRAM freq. 2000MHz, max core clock 2200MHz, default power setting. I made those undervolt to comfortably sit nest to my PC, while original cooler from GPU was mounted.
I dont use hadphones, my ears are very sensitive to PC noise and i couldnt stand how loud was Red Devil and XFX Merc - just beacuse they rather to look good, than work good (that stupid fashion). I watched milion times reviews of that cards, and every noise test was completly out of ***. Before 6800XT Merc i had 6800 (non XT) merc - same noise, so its not that particular example - all thise cards are noisy as hell. Nothing reflect their noises as fans are relatively quiet - except airflow guide through heatsink fins. Small high pressure fans + tight fitted fins = you got noise.
As i proven second time, you dont need extra long heatsink with part of it, extending above PCB lenght with just big hole in it. You dont need 3 fans, from which one is allways louder over time as its smaller. Hell, you dont even need slim fans!
All i respect was XFX addiction to ease of removing (and replacing) fans, beacuse whole heatsink is almost flat, which on Red Devil was nightmare, as there was lot of molded fan cable holders and fans needed to be on extra spacers (rubber ofcourse).
Here is processhow it looked onRed Devil:
Unfortunely, Radeons and lots of new RTX 3000 are not possible to mount vertically, not sure why - people say its beacuse heatpipe design (beacuse they are turning right after cold plate, which is common, and was present in GTX 1080TI, which was working properly....), but i'm sure there is more behind it. So i made several tests with fans 2 x 120mm (mounted to proforated PSU shroud) blowing on original cooler, then blowing on naked heatsink (without original fans), then mounted to heatsink in verticall and horizontal position, and only in horizontal position it give great benefit.
Currently Radeon is audiable on 1100+ RPM, which is no need to use, as card keep great temps up to 900RPM while gaming.