PowerColor HD3870 & Gigabyte GA-P35-DS3L - will they fit
Posted: Mon Mar 10, 2008 3:16 pm
UPDATE MARCH 28: Yes they fit. Images are in the third post down. Original post follows...
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PowerColor Radeon HD3870 | Gigabyte GA-P35-DS3L
Does anybody have this motherboard/videocard combo? (I searched and found somebody who either ordered or owned both, but never commented on the fit.) I'm probably going to get them, and I've spent a lot of time resizing/cutting/pasting pictures to get an idea for how well they would fit, but I'd like to hear it from anybody who might be running them already (or who has found out that they didn't quite fit). For those who haven't seen...
Motherboard Side View:
[image linked March 31]
Motherboard Top View:
[image linked March 31]
Video Card Rear View:
[image linked March 31]
Video Card Top View:
[image linked March 31]
Video Card Bottom View:
[image linked March 31]
It seems to me that the upper 3870 heatsink will miss the northbridge heatsink, but will cut in very close to RAM and restrict me from buying sticks with heatspreaders. Then the lower 3870 heatsink will miss the SATA plugs, but will cut in very close to the southbridge heatsink, perhaps even pressing against it.
Now, I would assume that they're only heatsinks and won't cause electrical issues if they do indeed contact, but I'd rather not have components pressing against eachother, especially heat dissipators.
Should there indeed be potential RAM heatspreader or Southbridge contact with the 3870 heatsink, I have 2 questions:
First, will either kind of contact prove troublesome in any way? RAM heatspreader would only contact at the very bottom (no more than 10mm), while Southbridge may be more than half-blocked.
Second, assuming there was contact at either point, would snipping a few of the fins on the 3870 heatsink near the points of contact be a bad idea? It would only be removing less than 1% of the 3870 heatsink at the most, so I wouldn't expect some big meltdown... but, technology works in mysterious ways.
==================================================
PowerColor Radeon HD3870 | Gigabyte GA-P35-DS3L
Does anybody have this motherboard/videocard combo? (I searched and found somebody who either ordered or owned both, but never commented on the fit.) I'm probably going to get them, and I've spent a lot of time resizing/cutting/pasting pictures to get an idea for how well they would fit, but I'd like to hear it from anybody who might be running them already (or who has found out that they didn't quite fit). For those who haven't seen...
Motherboard Side View:
[image linked March 31]
Motherboard Top View:
[image linked March 31]
Video Card Rear View:
[image linked March 31]
Video Card Top View:
[image linked March 31]
Video Card Bottom View:
[image linked March 31]
It seems to me that the upper 3870 heatsink will miss the northbridge heatsink, but will cut in very close to RAM and restrict me from buying sticks with heatspreaders. Then the lower 3870 heatsink will miss the SATA plugs, but will cut in very close to the southbridge heatsink, perhaps even pressing against it.
Now, I would assume that they're only heatsinks and won't cause electrical issues if they do indeed contact, but I'd rather not have components pressing against eachother, especially heat dissipators.
Should there indeed be potential RAM heatspreader or Southbridge contact with the 3870 heatsink, I have 2 questions:
First, will either kind of contact prove troublesome in any way? RAM heatspreader would only contact at the very bottom (no more than 10mm), while Southbridge may be more than half-blocked.
Second, assuming there was contact at either point, would snipping a few of the fins on the 3870 heatsink near the points of contact be a bad idea? It would only be removing less than 1% of the 3870 heatsink at the most, so I wouldn't expect some big meltdown... but, technology works in mysterious ways.