Aftermarket Cooling on the HD6870

[tom thumb]

So, the new cards are out and it seems to me that they might be ideal in creating a powerful silent PC.

To my knowledge, never before have you been able to get so much performance-per-watt. The idle 19W is also impressive. (If I am wrong here, please correct )

Right, so I want to get one of these, but naturally it will have a loud stock fan on it. This will have to go.

I will need some sort of aftermarket cooling solution. I have looked into Arctic Cooling's Accelero Twin Turbo:
http://www.arctic-cooling.com/catalog/p ... 2_&mID=379
...but there are many others that might work just as well.

My question is: Can you safely use an aftermarket cooler with the 6870? Also, is the one I have chosen compatible?

The answer is probably yes, but since this card is so new, I thought I'd make sure before I made the purchase.

PS> I have thought of the triple-fan http://www.arctic-cooling.com/catalog/p ... 2_&mID=546, but space in my case is limited with this, and it's compatibility would be restricted by where the gpu is on the 6870. Does anyone have any pictures of a naked 6870?

[KayDat]

Here's a shot of the bare card. They've moved the VRM's to the front of the card, so I would wait a while to see for compatibility with most coolers.

[psyopper]

That move bodes well for the current crop of aftermarket coolers. It moves the processor further towards the front of the case/card which will give it more space between the centerline of the cooler and the rear panel connectors. I'd put money that an AC S1R2 will drop right on it without the need to do any mods. Of course we don't know what the bolt spacing is yet so it may be moot.

[KayDat]

It does mean more weight is placed further back on the PCB. Fine for cards with a metal 'spine' or a usable back plate, but otherwise may cause more bending.

[tom thumb]

Thanks for the input guys. I didn't think about the extra weight on the card, after all, the shroud + the old cooler are removed. No matter though, I have ways of counteracting that.

Does anyone have any shots of the card from the side? This way I can measure the height of those VRMS to make sure the new cooler fits.

[KayDat]

Have you tried looking through the rest of the gallery I linked? Here's a shot of the voltage regulation.

[STUVNING]

The Thermalright Shaman is supposed to fit the 6000-series as well. But it needs a lot of space (4x slots with included fan).
Are there any other coolers suited for the 6000-series out there?