Does anyone else miss third-party GPU coolers?

[BetrayerX]

I have a Morpheus II on my 5700XT. Was supposed to be custom for the card, and the base was not compatible (had to cut one side and install it backwards just to avoid contact with the capacitors). Installation was a nightmare, but it works ok.

 

[Ruru]

I have a Morpheus II on my 5700XT. Was supposed to be custom for the card, and the base was not compatible (had to cut one side and install it backwards just to avoid contact with the capacitors). Installation was a nightmare, but it works ok.

I believe that my friend has that on his 2080. Pretty beefy cooler, I ordered that when I had a 290 reference but after a long wait it still didn't arrive so I canceled the order.

 

[Mussels]

Can someone draw me why aftermarket cooler were better than the ones which were shipped with the gpu?

Simple - when your original cooler failed, you'd have to throw the card in the bin

 

[AusWolf]

Can someone draw me why aftermarket cooler were better than the ones which were shipped with the gpu?

Because back in those days, GPUs came with tiny heatsinks and fans that were the size of the actual GPU chip, like this one:

They were enough for normal use, but if you wanted to get more out of the card, or just wanted it to be more quiet, you needed something more. Only later did GPU manufacturers realise the business opportunities in shipping cards with big-ass coolers and a factory overclock.

 

[_JP_]

They were enough for normal use,

And even that was a stretch, because those usually clogged-up with dust really fast leading to even higher temps with ended-up killing the fan. No fan meant 0 chance you would go past boot. Passives were a better option, even if they would cost a bit more and cut performance early in bad airflow cases.

 

[PLAfiller]

How did I miss this thread? Well, for one, things shifted a bit. Aftermarket coolers are mostly AIOs now and those come with certain compatibility limitations. I mean NZXT Kraken paved the way for that.

Second, these days you can find replacement for original fans on aliexpress/banggood/wish...etc.., which is something in the 90s wasn't so easy IMO. This means it's not so fatal if you brake certain parts from your original cooler.

Personally I do miss them. Especially in the lower end of the spectrum, something that can fit within two slots with a slim fan would be nice. (Thermalright V2 Copper e.g). Although I have a working Zalman VF900 Cu, that I had on a GTX1650, it didn't play nice if you are regularly playing and this is a 75W card.

 

[_JP_]

Personally I do miss them. Especially in the lower end of the spectrum, something that can fit within two slots with a slim fan would be nice.

I mean, I remember the Setsugen had them but who didn't slap Slim Kazes to thermalright's, Arctic's silent or the Morpheus because it made a world of difference it was still able not to make the card go beyond 2.5 slot in height

 

[AusWolf]

And even that was a stretch, because those usually clogged-up with dust really fast leading to even higher temps with ended-up killing the fan. No fan meant 0 chance you would go past boot. Passives were a better option, even if they would cost a bit more and cut performance early in bad airflow cases.

They didn't cut performance because there was no boost or any sort of performance curve. They simply overheated. Now that, I actually do miss, but don't ask me why.

 

[_JP_]

They cut performance since the cards would clock down from 3D clocks to 2D/Idle clocks and then cut-off due to overheating.

 

[ixi]

In the past third party coolers were required, but now it is a no no

 

[AusWolf]

They cut performance since the cards would clock down from 3D clocks to 2D/Idle clocks and then cut-off due to overheating.

Well, true. Assuming that your card was modern enough to be able to clock down to 2D clocks due to heat, even under load.

 

[Dirt Chip]

I changed the horrible blower fan of my 8800GT with arctic cooling solution. Worked like a charm.
I miss the old days, but the solution today are better (except for 4xxx horrendous cooler size).

 

[Vario]

I used an Arctic Mono Plus on a Zotac 1060 6GB for ~4 years. I sold the 1060 6GB but still have the Mono Plus.

Many years ago I had an EVGA 7800GT with a Zalman VF700-Cu

 

[Zareek]

Well, true. Assuming that your card was modern enough to be able to clock down to 2D clocks due to heat, even under load.

Right, I was going to say, back in the day you didn't know how hot your GPU was. They didn't have built-in thermistors. If you were lucky, you would just see some artifacts. If you were not so lucky, you'd lock up or crash. The first thing you did was check for dust built up in the crappy little cooler. A lot of times it was bad TIM or the heat sink wasn't making good enough contact. If that was all good, and you could try to improve the case airflow or install an aftermarket cooler. I knew a guy who wouldn't pony up for a new cooler or a better case. He would just take off the side of the case and point a box fan at it.

 

[QuietBob]

Although I have a working Zalman VF900 Cu, that I had on a GTX1650, it didn't play nice if you are regularly playing and this is a 75W card.

Don't you mean the smaller VF700-Cu? I have the VF900-Cu on an oc'd HD3850 and it has no problem cooling 100+watts

 

[AusWolf]

Right, I was going to say, back in the day you didn't know how hot your GPU was. They didn't have built-in thermistors. If you were lucky, you would just see some artifacts. If you were not so lucky, you'd lock up or crash. The first thing you did was check for dust built up in the crappy little cooler. A lot of times it was bad TIM or the heat sink wasn't making good enough contact. If that was all good, and you could try to improve the case airflow or install an aftermarket cooler. I knew a guy who wouldn't pony up for a new cooler or a better case. He would just take off the side of the case and point a box fan at it.

I did that too, to keep my 7800 GS cool. It had an on-board beeper that woke up all the neighbours when the card overheated. And overheat it did because its cooler was crap.

 

[_JP_]

Well, true. Assuming that your card was modern enough to be able to clock down to 2D clocks due to heat, even under load.

IIRC, not a thing in the RIVA/Rage times, but after then yes.

 

[80251]

Thermalright used to make a range of GPU coolers. I was always interested in how the Thermalright Spitfire GPU cooler worked. It had two possible mounting scenarios and had a huge surface area to dissipate heat:

 

[AusWolf]

Thermalright used to make a range of GPU coolers. I was always interested in how the Thermalright Spitfire GPU cooler worked. It had two possible mounting scenarios and had a huge surface area to dissipate heat:

That must have worked wonders when combined with the air moved by a top-flow CPU cooler (and a mesh side case)!

 

[argon]

has anyone heard of gelid icy vision ? had one of these guys back in the days on my reference 290.....back in the days when we were waiting half a years for custom gpu...

 

[Mussels]

Thermalright used to make a range of GPU coolers. I was always interested in how the Thermalright Spitfire GPU cooler worked. It had two possible mounting scenarios and had a huge surface area to dissipate heat:

Back when 3Dchipset existed i had a bunch of those as review samples, and i had a passively cooled Athlon x2 and 8800GTX in the era of screamer turbine fans, it was glorious


In the end i had low RPM 80mm fans on them for summer at 5V, and then every product since then came with high wattages and screamer fans (AMD R9 280x/290x sang the song of its people)

 

[BetrayerX]

I believe that my friend has that on his 2080. Pretty beefy cooler, I ordered that when I had a 290 reference but after a long wait it still didn't arrive so I canceled the order.

Yeah it was a pain to get, spend over a month waiting for it and it was not compatible as advertised. Not sure if it was marketing BS or perhaps my Gigabyte card has a custom board. After I dealt with it, worked out fine. And yes it takes 4 slots with it and 2 120mm fans on it.

 

[Mussels]

Yeah it was a pain to get, spend over a month waiting for it and it was not compatible as advertised. Not sure if it was marketing BS or perhaps my Gigabyte card has a custom board. After I dealt with it, worked out fine. And yes it takes 4 slots with it and 2 120mm fans on it.

gigabyte use custom PCB's on almost everything they have, absolutely trashes compatibility

 

[R-T-B]

I mean, I miss the old Arctic Accelero I had on my Titan X, sure. But that's because the stock cooler was soooo bad. I'd prefer a good stock cooler out of the gate always if I have a choice.

 

[AsRock]

Thermalright used to make a range of GPU coolers. I was always interested in how the Thermalright Spitfire GPU cooler worked. It had two possible mounting scenarios and had a huge surface area to dissipate heat:

Yeah used to have one among others.