HD4770 needs no introduction, especially here, among folks who appreciate low power consumption and silent/quiet operation

Just to reiterate on power (courtesy of Xbit Labs):



Pretty self-explanatory figures @ wall for a test platform with Q9650 @ 4 GHz, 1 HDD, etc., load measured while playing Crysis (PCLab.pl)



With my generic, but still decent power meter, I measure 103W in idle and up to 191W in load (Orthos + Furmark) for my PC (see sig).

I previously had AC S1 on 9600GT and 8800GT in full passive mode, so it was obvious the cooler could handle the oh-so-cool HD4770 easily. Just make sure you have AC S1 Rev. 2 as the original one has only one set of mounting holes (53 mm), and you need 43,5 mm distance. S2 will also do.

Some pics for your viewing pleasure (if anyone wants moar pics I'll gladly share)

HD4770 by PowerColor, still with stock cooler, and naked:



S1 or S2? Both will do but the stars have different plans for S2 right now:



This is how far you need to hack into the cooler - ca 1 cm; note the matching red heatsinks for RAM and VRM chips):



Not the prettiest thing in the universe, but works great; I had various kinds of snips, pincers & cutters available, but in the end the regular ones worked best (me being not very skilled with metal and all - I'm sure anyone can do it better):



Remember - you will most probably not have to cut all the fins; I left 12 of them, but it might depend on your case (mine is P150, same as Solo).



Fits good, feels good, looks good:



Temps after 10 mins of measuring, case is closed; ventilation: down front Fander 92mm @ 5V, back Fander 120mm @ 5V, PSU Fander 120mm @ 5V - means practically v little wind; stupid me, forgot to measure the temps for the stock cooler - but I remember the stock one at 27% (BIOS mod needed) would give ca 45 C in idle and > 65 C under load (speed going up to 40% ); the card runs at 830/900 MHz:



Worth it? You bet! It's nothing really revolutionary, neither for you nor me, but it does feel good anyhoo Added bonus - warranty is not voided as there are no stickers blocking the screws etc.

I'll try and fit another 92mm Fander @ 5V on the cooler just to see how low the temps can go and how hi the card's clocks can go. But not right now… For now, I'm just gonna sit and enjoy the silence…

Hi,
I was wondering if you have the S1 rev. 2 or S1 rev. 1. It is a little unclear.
Also have a 4770 with default - loud - fan and your mod is looking very interesting.
Somehow I got the impression the fins also had liquid in them for transporting the heat, but am very happy it was proved wrong.

Do not have a front fan, and as my current setup is just 1 rear fan in upper compartment of P182 and default gpu fan I think I will need to replace gpu fan with another fan on S1 rev. 2 to get enough airflow.

Anyway thanks for the pictures and walk through, looks bloody fantastic!

Have you tried ATITool to scan for artifacts? I had to run a fan on my HIS 4770 + S1 to prevent ATITool from finding errors. The GPU temperatures were fine, but the rest of the card was getting very hot.

I have since put my S1 on my XFX 4770 card, but haven't bothered to try it fanless due to the previous results I had on the HIS card. I am now using a slim Scythe 120mm fan on it at 800 RPM.

JL5 - you're quite right, I did say Rev. 1 in the body. But hey, I did also write Rev. 2 in the title . Corrected now. The first, old S1 will not fit as it only has one set of mounting holes, 53 mm apart (square). Rev. 2 has 2 sets - 43 and 53. And so does S2.
The fins are simply aluminum. Flimsy, weak alu. So there's practically no harm here, cutting them like that.
Also, Musashi won't fit as the GPU here is closer to the I/O end of the PCB than normally. Someone in the Scythe forums suggested bending the shorter part of it (down) but that would still be tricky. Yes, I initially wanted to have Musashi (for the added +10 "2 Scythe things in case" bonus hehe) but S1 proves to be THE choice here.

josephclemente - you have a point here. Altho the temps are, like you said, perfectly ok, in some cases I did get artifacts. Not in ATItool but in The Witcher and Assasin's Creed. There were none in NFS Undercover and Crysis, none in 3DMark06 and Vantage. The card was then w/o fan on it and was OCed to 830/900. With stock settings (750/800) I didn't get any trash. Seems I have to look into it closer as I'd like to keep the clocks as high as possible. I'll try and fit another Fander (love'em!) 120mm or 92mm on the S1 and see what happens. It might be a major disappointment to have to run it with fan. I didn't have any problems like that with 8800GT previously :/ Bugger.

Hi guys...

How many slots use this VGA with Accelero S1 Rev 2?.

2 slots exactly. The bottom of the radiator is within the 2-slot bracket. You could practically put another expansion card in the 1x PCI-E slot that is under the card. Of course, there would be no breathing space at all then. If you want a fan on the radiator, you need another whole expansion slot. And another one to let the fan suck air in.



BTW, I figured why I was getting artifacts. Too much OC. I downclocked the GPU to 820 and is fine. W/o direct airflow the card never exceeds 60 during gaming. Even if the fron 92mm fan is at 5V. Also, as the card is OCed it won't downclock by itself in 2D. So I used RivaTuner to create 2 profiles - 2D @ 375/400 and 3D @ 820/950. Best of both worlds. In idle the card is at about 35-38, and never goes over 60 in gaming.

I was able to find a new XFX HD4770-YDFC for my upcoming HTPC rig. This card seems to be the highest performer that still has component video output.

I'm interested in the most silent cooling solution for this card in HTPC.
I do not game at all, and have a full size case with lots of room.

Given that you don't need it for games, I'd say this card is overkill. It's performance is (roughly) 10% higher than 8800GT/9800GT, 5% slower than HD4850/GTS250/9800GTX+. It still is a gaming card, way too powerful (end 'spensive) for HTPC.

True, 4770 can be considered cheap now, but I'm sure you can find something that will satisfy your needs (component + ability to play HD content + most probably HDMI/DVI) at half the price or less.

Another thing is, even tho 4770 is 40 nm, it does suck a little too much juice in idle to be considered a truly economical solution. This is because the card, in its default setting, cannot downclock its memory. GPU clock drops nicely, but memory stays the same. Unless you do it manually, e.g. thru RivaTuner. By my estimates (generic power meter) this saves at least a dozen W. Well, a point to consider when building a power efficient HTPC.

If you still insist on this XFX you may find that it's blower cooler will be a bit more noisy than the default, cheap looking & ugly contraption they usually put on 4770. That's what folk here say, at least. On the other hand, Radeon bios editor is v easy to use and you can safely slow down the fan and keep good temps.

As to the aftermarket cooler, should you want one for the 4770, S1 works great. A few fins need to be trimmed (see above) but otherwise it's a fantastic combo. I'm now using a Setsugen and its performance with fan is just a tad better than S1 w/o a fan. Granted, Setsugen needs no mods and is, for all practical purposes, a v v v quiet cooler, impossible to notice if you have 1-2 fans/HDDs in your case and/or sit away from your HTPC (like you would, anyway).

The cheapest route with 4770, however, would be to buy one with the fugly generic cooler and simply turn its RPM down (using either modded BIOS or RivaTuner). It really is v quiet.

Both my old Sapphire 4850 and Gigabyte GTX 260 had one.