Accelero Xtreme GTX 280 mini review and support

[Kabbeh]

I have my old 9800 GTX as a standby. I never had any issues with it and the blackscreens only started when I put the new card.

A little history on the card, I bought it used on Ebay as you can't find a new EVGA most places now. At least not without burning a hole in your bank account . The guy I bought it from says he only used it for tri-sli benching, and had replaced the stock thermal pads as well.

Anyways it used to get pretty hot, and it seemed to black screen pretty reliably once it hit 85C. As for the black screens, it only happens when gaming. I haven't seen it happen when Windows is idle or on boot up. What happens is the screen will go black, and the sound will continue to play for roughly 1 second. At that point I have to power cycle to get back in.

When I've seen it:
Modern Warfare 2, snow stage
Warcraft - Running around Dalaran, as soon as I enter spirit (death) mode, once it black screened before the login screen appeared.
OCCT GPU Test - Before putting on the Accelero, black screened at 85C, now it just does it after X time. I haven't done this test more than once for obvious reasons .

 

[LiveOrDie]

I have my old 9800 GTX as a standby. I never had any issues with it and the blackscreens only started when I put the new card.

A little history on the card, I bought it used on Ebay as you can't find a new EVGA most places now. At least not without burning a hole in your bank account . The guy I bought it from says he only used it for tri-sli benching, and had replaced the stock thermal pads as well.

Anyways it used to get pretty hot, and it seemed to black screen pretty reliably once it hit 85C. As for the black screens, it only happens when gaming. I haven't seen it happen when Windows is idle or on boot up. What happens is the screen will go black, and the sound will continue to play for roughly 1 second. At that point I have to power cycle to get back in.

When I've seen it:
Modern Warfare 2, snow stage
Warcraft - Running around Dalaran, as soon as I enter spirit (death) mode, once it black screened before the login screen appeared.
OCCT GPU Test - Before putting on the Accelero, black screened at 85C, now it just does it after X time. I haven't done this test more than once for obvious reasons .

yer sounds like there may be a bad memory chip on the card, i've had a few black screen on mine but only when using sli and it only happened twice, have u tryed other drivers? did the guy u got it off say he would RMA it for u?

 

[Kabbeh]

the guy i got it off of was willing to RMA it. i want that as the last resort (which we may be at now ) as i have to ship it to him, he ships it to them, they ship to him, etc. and reading other forums, some people had to RMA it like 4 or 5 times to get a good one.

i've tried a couple drivers so far:

196.21
186.xx (or 185, cant remember the exact number)
I have 197.13 installed just this morning. I haven't had a chance to see if they do it.

 

[LiveOrDie]

i would test it abit more b4 RMA but by the sound of it theres a bad chip maybe cant take much heat, if u do RMA it just get him to give u the address so u can send it off mite be cheaper, maybe try stressing the card to see if u get the problem faster download FurMark and run a few tests.

 

[OnBoard]

My question is, how will the RAM sinks sticky stuff hold up to being removed, and what would be a suitable replacement? There's also that tiny little square that is used on the NVIO chip. Would it matter if that is still sticky despite being removed?

Oh damn, and I forgot about those little spacers for the NVIO sink and their stickies too! Although I think those are just little adhesives so the spacers don't move around when you go to screw the sink in.

None of them need to be sticky, as they will be sandwitched. You can place all the thermalpads on the cooler and then drop the card over it and bolt on. Or if you want to be precise stick them to the card, place cooler on and then flip it while holding it together.

Heat just needs to transfer, so silicon paste would work too, if everything was on same height

For the blackscreen thing you could try 3DMark with lots of AA and AF to see if it makes a difference. As in if it's memory, more memory used might trigger it.

 

[Kabbeh]

i haven't tried furmark yet, but i will try that and vantage with AA up.

i'm a bit hesitant that it is a heat issue, as WoW did black screen on me from just booting up the exe from a previously idle machine.

also i've played crysis for hours with rather high settings, which i would assume would show a heat issue a little sooner.

from reading other threads, it seems like there may be voltage issues with these cards. something about undervolting and voltage protection, but im no electrician so most terms are beyond me . but it would lend credibility to the seemingly random nature of the black screens.

edit: also thank you guys for the suggestions and help .

edit2: onboard, you mentioned the heatsinks being sandwiched. mine don't seem to do that exactly...although from the looks of it its pretty much physically impossible to as well. it may be a difference in design between the PRO and 285 version of the cooler?

 

[Kabbeh]

well i did some testing when i got home.

197.13 drivers:
black screen in both furmark and occt gpu testing after reaching ~56C.

rolled back to 182.50 drivers which i read "fixed" it or diminished it for some.

interestingly after rolling back, it seemed to raise the "kill temp" as i've come to call it. in OCCT it died ~60C now.

in furmark, it ran for 25 minutes topped off at 57-58C. i lowered the fan speed and it black screened shortly after.

so this kind of coincides with what i've seen before putting the cooler on.

on the stock, on 196.21 drivers, the kill temp was ~85C. i put on the 185 drivers and it raised to ~90-95C.

im thinking its RMA time .

edit: so with the 182 drivers i could barely stay on wow for 3 minutes.

 

[OnBoard]

edit2: onboard, you mentioned the heatsinks being sandwiched. mine don't seem to do that exactly...although from the looks of it its pretty much physically impossible to as well. it may be a difference in design between the PRO and 285 version of the cooler?

I though you were talking about RMA with the original cooler? Accelero doesn't sandwich anything, but the NVIO sink will work with jsut thermal paste.

Now if you ment when you get a 'new' card back from RMA what to do with ramsinks then. If they come of without tearing the thermal tape, you can reuse them. I twist the sinks off, do it carefully in both ways and it should come off clean.

To store them I use postage stamp back things, those you don't have to lick Anything similar with a non sticky surface would work or even putting the sinks to a box away from dust & stuff.

im thinking its RMA time .

Starting to sound like it Those different driver versions are putting different load on the card. There have been so many performance improvements since the 18x.xx, that is most likely the difference.

edit: and just to make 100% sure it's faulty, try 103 MHz on the PCI-E Frequency on bios. Although I had almost the same motherboard last and worked fine on auto too.

 

[King Wookie]

Just my 5 cents worth. If you are black screening on WOW, even in Dalaran, there is a problem. That game has a very small gfx requirement, so wouldn't be stressing the card really.

 

[Kabbeh]

oh yes sorry for the confusion . the accelero is working wonderfully and the stock cooler did its job (although noisily!). its definitely the card itself.

do you think wax paper would work? if not i can try to store them in the accelero box and try not to move it around for a while . i won't be putting the cooler on the RMA card until i've confirmed it isnt an expensive brick.

guess i'll give the 103mhz a try but im not too hopeful .

thanks for the ideas guys!

 

[OnBoard]

do you think wax paper would work? if not i can try to store them in the accelero box and try not to move it around for a while . i won't be putting the cooler on the RMA card until i've confirmed it isnt an expensive brick.

Wax paper might work too haven't tried it (might mess up the adhesive). Accelero box would work, but also came up with a new idea.

You know those case badges, intel, amd and arctic cooling of course. They would work too and I at least have them laying around everywhere Infact any sticker back would work.

Another idea would be band-aid, one will cover 4 ramsinks

 

[Kabbeh]

ahh the band aide idea sounds perfect! especially since my dog loves to give me hugs with her sharp little claws.

im still trying to wrap my head around how this thing is black screening at a certain temp on stress tests.

with stock cooler, with newer drivers, it died consistently at 85C.
with stock cooler, with older drivers, it died consistently at 90C+.

with accelero, with newer drivers, it dies consistently at 56C.
with accelero, with older drivers, it dies consistently at 59C+.

i know with these coolers the VRM's were an issue, but shouldnt be for the Pro version. could it be possible they are still getting way too hot? unfortunately i dont have an infrared thermometer...its just weird because its a heat issue, but not a heat issue?
does anyone have an idea how to get temps off those things on a 285?

and then like wookie said, wow isnt that heavy on graphics, yet i can run crysis for a long time with crazy settings and not see an issue.

either way, RMA in progress, or buying a brand new one. or a 5970

 

[LiveOrDie]

use GPU-Z and see what temps your VDDC's are getting the core mite be cool but the chips mite not, and the stess test was just a idea, any ways good luck with your RMA

 

[Kabbeh]

the 285s dont show VDDC temps

i could try my finger!

 

[OnBoard]

use GPU-Z and see what temps your VDDC's are getting

the 285s dont show VDDC temps

i could try my finger!

No thermal sensors on 55nm card VRMs or voltage tuning.

Finger test is good I highly doubt they are the issue, as GTX 285 has such a big row of them. But you can always turn the fan to 100% and that airflow will be more than enough for any PCB component to rule out heat.

 

[LiveOrDie]

Hey onboard with the VRM sink that come with the cooler, did it just rest on the chips or did it come with thermaltape on the back? and when using the card backplate does the cooler put any strain on the board with out using the one that comes with the cooler?

 

[Jeffredo]

Well I had an unhappy adventure with the AC Accelero GTX Pro. I have an Accelero 8800 and it installed on my 8800 GTX like a dream - was finished in an hour. This one is a right p.i.t.a.. The heatsinks won't stick to the voltage regulators very well. I have them on there, but I'm not confident of their ability to stay (and this is after the pencil erasure rubbing and then trying alcohol). I'll probably have to buy some thermal adhesive to make them stick (and then its permanent so no RMA if the card ever craps out).

Larger problem is the physical size. My 8800 Accelero is no longer than the PCB of the 8800 GTX, so I have no issue fitting it in mid tower cases. The Accelero GTX Pro's heatsink/fan assembly is about an inch and a half longer than the GTX 260's PCB (which is the same length as my 8800 GTX), so now it won't fit in my Antec 300. I've never done any case modding and don't have any tools (such as a Dremel) to cut that notch in the hard drive bracket to make it fit. All in all, I'm not a happy camper right now. Yes, I shouldn't have assumed and should have measured - my bad.

Sometimes I think I need a less expensive hobby.

 

[LiveOrDie]

umm maybe its time to upgrade your case to some thing abit biger or longer i got the haf 922 because its the longest mid tower i could find, i had a antec 900 and it was way to cramped in there for my 2 cards for my liking.

 

[OnBoard]

Hey onboard with the VRM sink that come with the cooler, did it just rest on the chips or did it come with thermaltape on the back? and when using the card backplate does the cooler put any strain on the board with out using the one that comes with the cooler?

GTX 280 version VRM sink has 7 small&thick pieces of thermal tape to go under it. Pro comes with small VRM sinks with thermaltape on bottom.

Original backplate takes the Accelero strain from the card. Mine has been on since Accelero came out and no bending. GTX 280 version comes with a bad ram cooler to the back, won't help at all with bending, better to use ramsinks. But yours is the Pro version, so it isn't even supplied with it.

The heatsinks won't stick to the voltage regulators very well. I have them on there, but I'm not confident of their ability to stay (and this is after the pencil erasure rubbing and then trying alcohol). I'll probably have to buy some thermal adhesive to make them stick (and then its permanent so no RMA if the card ever craps out).

Larger problem is the physical size. The Accelero GTX Pro's heatsink/fan assembly is about an inch and a half longer than the GTX 260's PCB (which is the same length as my 8800 GTX), so now it won't fit in my Antec 300. All in all, I'm not a happy camper right now. Yes, I shouldn't have assumed and should have measured - my bad.

Sometimes I think I need a less expensive hobby.

Or you should have asked here / looked at the pictures Think I have more than one with the card inside case or from backside showing to cooler lenght

Problem with the Antec 300 is that it's not 5.25" slots all the way down, if it was it would fit nicely. Tin snips would be the easiest and cheapest solution for you. http://www.ttcuk.com/proto-303s---aviation--tin-snips-straight-1231-p.asp that sort of thing, quite cheap.

For the VRM sinks, they'll stick better once they heat up. Although volterra surface and the size of the sinks might be hard, unless you have a never 55nm card.

Hopefully you'll get a quick mod done and in the meantime the VRM sinks have also stuck better. All resulting in happier camper

 

[Kabbeh]

The heatsinks won't stick to the voltage regulators very well. I have them on there, but I'm not confident of their ability to stay (and this is after the pencil erasure rubbing and then trying alcohol). I'll probably have to buy some thermal adhesive to make them stick (and then its permanent so no RMA if the card ever craps out).

jeffredo, i had the exact same worries as you. the long single sink kept popping off, but then i realized it was because i was putting pressure on it when i was picking up the card. they dont seem like the most sticky things, but they will work just fine. just try not to touch them once they are on. also i'd left them upside down for a few days and shook the thing a bit and they stayed on nicely.

as for size i have an antec 1200, fits perfectly. the 900 is just as long i think?

and looking at your sata connectors, you may want to see if the plugs will interfere with placement (unless you're already using the right angle connectors ).

 

[LiveOrDie]

jeffredo, i had the exact same worries as you. the long single sink kept popping off, but then i realized it was because i was putting pressure on it when i was picking up the card. they dont seem like the most sticky things, but they will work just fine. just try not to touch them once they are on. also i'd left them upside down for a few days and shook the thing a bit and they stayed on nicely.

as for size i have an antec 1200, fits perfectly. the 900 is just as long i think?

and looking at your sata connectors, you may want to see if the plugs will interfere with placement (unless you're already using the right angle connectors ).

no the antec 1200 is a full tower the 900 is a mid

300
Unit dimensions:
• 18" (H) x 18.3" (D) x 8.1" (W)
• 45.8 (H) x 46.5 (D) x 20.5 cm (W)

900
Unit dimensions:
• 19.4" (H) x 8.1" (W) x 18.4" (D)
• 49.3cm (H) x 20.6cm (W) x 46.7cm (D)

900 v2
Dimensions:
- 22.9" (H) x 8.4" (W) x 20.2" (D)
- 582mm (H) x 213mm (W) x 513mm (D)

1200
Unit Dimensions:
- 19.4" (H) x 8.6" (W) x 18.6" (D)
- 49.3cm (H) x 21.8cm (W) x 47.2cm (D)

heres a photo of the haf 922 with a GTX9800 in it

and a antec 900v2 with a GTX280 thats is the same size as a GTX9800 you can see the haf has heeps more room

 

[Jeffredo]

Wow- looks like I bought the wrong mid tower case! Be about as cheap to buy that case vs. buying a Dremel to work on the 300 (which only cost me $58)!

 

[LiveOrDie]

yer be easyer to get a new case as long as u dont mind pulling you pc apart but it is up to u in the end but the haf has better cooling as well than the antec 300

 

[OnBoard]

My card is now sold, but I'll still be lurking around here a while.

Was a good run and we nearly got to 800 replies and 80000 views. Thanks to all who contributed

 

[Retro*]

My card is now sold, but I'll still be lurking around here a while.

Was a good run and we nearly got to 800 replies and 80000 views. Thanks to all who contributed

It was a great run, and the best thread on this forum
Thanks to you, OnBoard, for all your hard work