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I figure some 5830 owners on here probably have some experience using aftermarket coolers on their cards. Im looking to upgrade the coolers on my pair of sapphire xtreme 5830s, which run hot and consequently loud in crossfire. I prefer air, but i may consider the right liquid setup.

So what are your experiences with aftermarket coolers on the 5830?

My experience with the sapphire 5830 extremes is that the stock cooler is pretty good - even in a case with little breathing room between them, in a hot room, OCd as hard as they go on stock voltage, they're consistently < 75C.

Maybe your $$ is better spent on improving airflow?

Not so much an airflow issue, it's just that I happen to live inside of a furnace. Maybe an A/C unit...

Pass on AC units if you absolutely have to, if you have windows a few 20 dollar window fans will help exhaust the hot air and bring in cold air if posititioned top and bottom.

5830s are hard to come by from any brand these days, but I do agree that the Sapphire Xtreme fan is a great air mover, it's just noisy at high RPMs. My ambient temp is 30C so I'd definitely want something that lowers the max load temp for these cards, which caps out at 90C.

I hear great things about AC's triple fan Accelero setup.

This is a pretty obvious point, but if you haven't already switched to an open air case, this is the best cooling solution. I'm not sure how much aftermarket coolers would really help inside a case.

I've always kept my case this way. I'd hate to imagine the temps with the side attached... yikes.

Max stable clocks for mining used
Reference 5870 with stock heatsink + fan @ 1015/330 1.187v 100% fan = 85c @ 24c ambient (increase of 61c)
Reference 5870 with Zalman VF3000A @ 1045/330 1.187v, assuming 100% fan (does not directly plug into card; it instead uses a "fanmate" which allows manual fan speed outside the control of your OS, or you plug it into your motherboard's fan headers) = 57c @ 24c ambient (increase of 33c)

This is inside a "closed" case with some fans screwed onto the side.

With a 5830, I imagine you can expect similar numbers. Maybe from 50c increase from ambient to an increase of 30c. There is a catch though. If your card is nonreference, it's possible the VF3000A will not fit. AFAIK, though, the 5830 extreme comes with it's own VRM heatsink, and the HSF assembly is just for the GPU core and clear of any other components, so a VF3000A -should- fit, granted the mounting holes are the same as a reference. You would just use the VRM heatsink that comes stock, and use the ramsinks as a bonus.

Also be aware the VF3000A blocks not one but TWO adjacent slots, so you will need to plan accordingly. The VF3000A runs about $50 USD, but you might be able to get lucky and find one for about $40.

I'm in Thailand and run 2x 5830 24/7 at ambient temps of 30-32C. With the fan at 50-55% I maintain 70C core temps. These are Sapphire Extreme from NewEgg bought about 6 weeks ago.

I'm not sure what you're doing but, judging by my experience here, something must be causing poor airflow around your cards. The stock fan works very well if you ensure that exhaust air is moved away. I use a fully open frame rig. Having the side off a case is just not enough as most air will still circulate back in and get re-heated. The air needs to really move away.

Your low cost solution is to take the board out of the case and hang the cards. There are lots of photos for inspiration on the "photos of your rig" thread. Just about anything can used - shoe racks seem popular.