What happened to 2-slot aftermarket GPU coolers ?

[PLAfiller]

Ahoj everyone,

I was checking out of curiosity about an aftermarket dual-slot cooler for my GPU and I couldn't find any available at my place or some other places as well. When I say dual-slot, I mean the whole card with the cooler to take 2 slots, not just the cooler to be 2-slot an then with the card it makes 3 slots. Even the cheapo brands don't have any options. What happened to offerings like Zalman VF-900, Scythe Musashi, Scythe Setsugen ? I am guessing AIO and water-cooling took their place, but they aren't as cheap. It seems it goes like this 2014 onward.

 

[Mr.Scott]

https://www.arctic.ac/us_en/accelero-twin-turbo-ii.html

 

[PLAfiller]

https://www.arctic.ac/us_en/accelero-twin-turbo-ii.html

 

[jboydgolfer]

like this ? but it installs in an additional slot, not onto the GPU directly. it is only 1 slot wide tho. my guess as to why they have disappeared is because the Shrouds installed on GPU's are effective, and leave no real market for them....just my guess

 

[Vya Domus]

Reason why you wont see many of those is that these coolers are meant to be as universal as they can get. They have to place the heatsink/shroud/fans well above the board itself to avoid any interfering with components or other heatsinks for VRMs and memory.

 

[jboydgolfer]

yeah ^ but IMO they are ugly AF. like that arctic type. Yuck! i like my GPU to look good (even though it is never seen ) and those aftermarket coolers are often hideous

 

[Vario]

Could run an AIO , I think if you manage the hoses its about 2 slot. I don't like AIO because of leak and pump failure risk, seems like unnecessary risk, I have had one of each (1 leak, 1 pump fail) happen to me.

 

[Bill_Bright]

Reason why you wont see many of those is that these coolers are meant to be as universal as they can get.

Plus, they sound like a jet engine back there. More and more users are demanding quality and quiet fans.

 

[newtekie1]

I think it basically just comes down to the fact that the card manufacturers themselves are putting decent non-reference coolers on their cards. So the need for aftermarket coolers has dropped. If there isn't a good demand, companies aren't willing to put the R&D into new products.

 

[peche]

I think it basically just comes down to the fact that the card manufacturers themselves are putting decent non-reference coolers on their cards. So the need for aftermarket coolers has dropped. If there isn't a good demand, companies aren't willing to put the R&D into new products.

+1 ... no sense having several coolers when 3rd party manufacturers have decent solutions

Regards,

 

[eidairaman1]

Arctic used to make coolers specific to the reference boards.

My card being non reference uses the default hestsink, the card takes up 2.5 slots so slot 3 is blocked, I can go water but that costs some cash.

 

[trog100]

i dont think there is any substitute for size where good quiet cooling is concerned..

some things just are..

trog

 

[arbiter]

Reason you don't see them much anymore is people just buy cards with aftermarket already installed. Much easier and cheaper that way most the time.

 

[Athlonite]

Ahoj everyone,

I was checking out of curiosity about an aftermarket dual-slot cooler for my GPU and I couldn't find any available at my place or some other places as well. When I say dual-slot, I mean the whole card with the cooler to take 2 slots, not just the cooler to be 2-slot an then with the card it makes 3 slots. Even the cheapo brands don't have any options. What happened to offerings like Zalman VF-900, Scythe Musashi, Scythe Setsugen ? I am guessing AIO and water-cooling took their place, but they aren't as cheap. It seems it goes like this 2014 onward.

If it's for the HD7870 GHz ed in your specs just look around for dead cards with third party HSF's you're bound to find a few being sold for parts

 

[PLAfiller]

Yeah, I guess these are all valid reasons everyone pointed out. Compatibility was something that struck me too.

@Athlonite . I have forgotten to update my specs. Thank you for reminding me, I have changed them now. My card is RX560. I sold off the 7870.

 

[Bill_Bright]

i dont think there is any substitute for size where good quiet cooling is concerned..

Of course, there are exceptions but they usually cost you. But yeah, as a general rule of thumb, a larger diameter fan can move more air at a lower RPM, thus produce less noise than a smaller fan.

But fan noise is also function of the blade design - that is the twist, width of the blade (thickness of the fan), and the pitch (angle of attack) from the hub to tip of the blades too. A big wide blade with a steep pitch angle can scoop up and push out a lot of air. So a thick 120mm fan, depending on the design, may move more CFM than a thin 140mm fan.

Remember, a fan blade is basically a propeller which is basically a spinning wing. So it is all about the application of aerodynamic principles, Newton's 3rd Law, physics, etc. It is very complex with a spinning blade (compared to a stationary wing) because the blade tip is moving much faster at the tip than near the hub.

It takes a lot of brain power and testing (i.e. time and money) to make a quality, efficient fan blade.

Other noise factors include design and quality of the bearings and the "cage" or frame of the fan's housing that the air must flow through or past.

 

[trog100]

i was also thinking off bigger meaning more fin area.. more (deeper) fin surface area is the real difference between three and two slot coolers..

but unless there isnt room.. where coolers are concerned bigger is better..

trog

 

[Tomgang]

specially high-end cards with high TDP tends to have 2,5 or 3 slot cooler desing. Like most GTX 1080 TI card have it. Reason for 2,5 and 3 slot coolers are more cooling surface to uptake heat from GPU, memory and VRM and its chosen for different reasons. Better overclocking, more silent cards cause fans dont need to spin so fast, card runs cooler and that means less heat inside case and less heat to trasfer to other component in a pc. like chipsæt on motherboards that sits close up the graphic card.

With that said a big ass triple slot cooler also gets the card looks more beffy and that is properly a good selling point for some costumers as well. Meaning there is properly some marked ting in it as well. But i cut be wrong at that point.

There are a few GTX 1080 Ti out there that is only 2 slot besides FE. EVGA geforce gtx 1080 ti ftw3 gaming and that card i have evga geforce gtx 1080 ti SC2 gaming are 2 slot cards. But one with 3 fans and that one i have with 2 fans.

You can take a look at my card under here if you want to that is a 2 slot cooler desing:

 

[Bill_Bright]

Meaning there is properly some marked ting in it as well. But i cut be wrong at that point.

No doubt "marketing fluff" or "hype" plays into it a lot. Some people just assume 3 fans are are always better than 2. That is just not true (for a blanket statement). Personally, I would rather have 1 big quality fan and a well designed cover that channels cool air over the heat sensitive/generating devices, then out the back than 3 fans that just move air around. 3 fans means more moving parts to go bad, and also 3 fan motors making noise and vibration instead of 1 fan motor.

 

[Tomgang]

No doubt "marketing fluff" or "hype" plays into it a lot. Some people just assume 3 fans are are always better than 2. That is just not true (for a blanket statement). Personally, I would rather have 1 big quality fan and a well designed cover that channels cool air over the heat sensitive/generating devices, then out the back than 3 fans that just move air around. 3 fans means more moving parts to go bad, and also 3 fan motors making noise and vibration instead of 1 fan motor.

Jep hype and marketing plays a big role to.

 

[trog100]

a big f-ck off cooler may well make a card run cooler but unless its a blower type all heat generated by the chippery goes into the case.. the size of the cooler makes no difference here only in the imagination.. he he

trog

those (980 TI) are up for sale on Ebay UK.. i intend to replace them with couple of Palit (big f-ck off cooler) 1070 cards.. i intend to leave the rig mining when not gaming the 1070 cards will pull 150 watts less from the wall.. running 24/7 150 watts adds up..

it wont game and mine at the same time but it does everything else without the mining being noticed..

 

[Bill_Bright]

the size of the cooler makes no difference here only in the imagination.. he he

Huh? Of course it makes a difference. Any student of thermal-dynamics knows and understands the greater the surface area of a heat sink, the more heat can be radiated away from the heat sink. That's exactly why passive (no fan) coolers tend to HUGE!

Of course, other factors apply - notably the composition of the metal (aluminum, copper, alloy, etc.), shape and size of each "fin", air movement around the fins and more. But for sure, the size of the cooler makes a huge difference when all else is equal.

 

[Athlonite]

a big f-ck off cooler may well make a card run cooler but unless its a blower type all heat generated by the chippery goes into the case.. the size of the cooler makes no difference here only in the imagination.. he he

trog

those (980 TI) are up for sale on Ebay UK.. i intend to replace them with couple of Palit (big f-ck off cooler) 1070 cards.. i intend to leave the rig mining when not gaming the 1070 cards will pull 150 watts less from the wall.. running 24/7 150 watts adds up..

it wont game and mine at the same time but it does everything else without the mining being noticed..

Geez that looks like it's going to get mighty hot in there not much in the way of air moving in that case is there

 

[trog100]

Geez that looks like it's going to get mighty hot in there not much in the way of air moving in that case is there

i relies on two side case fans directly feeding room temp air to the graphics cards and top flow cpu cooler.. there is also a couple of unseen fans in the top of the case..

while gaming the top card runs about 70 C and the bottom card at 50 C.. custom fan profiles.. over-cooling the bottom card helps cool the top card.. he he

but it did take some thought keeping it all cool..

trog

 

[trog100]

Huh? Of course it makes a difference. Any student of thermal-dynamics knows and understands the greater the surface area of a heat sink, the more heat can be radiated away from the heat sink. That's exactly why passive (no fan) coolers tend to HUGE!

Of course, other factors apply - notably the composition of the metal (aluminum, copper, alloy, etc.), shape and size of each "fin", air movement around the fins and more. But for sure, the size of the cooler makes a huge difference when all else is equal.

bill.. all heat taken by the none blower type gpu cooler goes into the case.. give it some thought.. the better the gpu cooler the better it heats the inside of the case.. in essence its a room heater in miniature just inside a case sized room.. it may well cool the gpu but in doing so it heats up the case..

the part that may not make sense at first is the fact.. the better it cools the gpu the more effective it is in heating up the case..

trog