Would sell the block after a google read up. There seems to be bad spacing on this block, not sure if all or just some. So may be worth contacting retailer or EK and pushing a full refund rather than taking a dip on ebay. http://www.hardforum.com/showpost.php?p=1033149300&postcount=5 Then buy the XSPC block http://tinyurl.com/oade5e Good luck.
Yeh I've got to say the EK full cover block is, as CPC would say, "all kinds of bad" and I'm not comfortable having it near my pc. Not sure whether to get a full-cover block like the XSPC bullseye recommends, or two gpu-only blocks like the Swiftech like Coldon recommends. My conflict is because a full block is always going to be more prone to bending and shorting, but the gddr5 is really very hot (the backplates that come stock cool only the ram and they could, very literally, fry and egg) so copper ramsinks may not be able to keep them cool (esp when ocd).
Think I'll go for two Swiftech MCW60-R since they won't bend the board, are universal, and I can see whats happening. As for the various other chips, I'll probably get some copper ramsinks for them. Thanks for the help all, and hope this proves helpful to future 4870X2 watercoolers!
Heat generated by the VRM's could be the issue here. I spent a lot of time getting mine sorted with an Aquacomputer full cover block. Bending was an issue, but is resolved by carefully montioring the tension on key screws. Ignore the whistling noise, that's just the coils on the board, mine sound the same. I used Rivatuner to monitor the temps on the board and while the core temps were fine, I was seeing bizzare artifacting after a while. One bank of VRM's was nudging 100C and the other was at 60C. I removed the waterblock and applied a new bacth of thermal padding to every VRM, bridge chip and RAM chips, AS5 for the cores. Never use liquid TIM for VRM chips, in my opinion. If you use two individual water blocks they wont be activlely cooling the VRMs. So you'll need to keep the stock ATI heat spreader and possibly dremel out room for the Swiftech blocks to get them in there, and some direct fan cooling to keep it chilly. I agree about the backside heat spreader, it's rediculous to fit a water block to one side and have that frying pan on the other. I've now removed it and fitted some copper ramsinks which work well and conveniently look pimp next to the AC waterblock. Asus 4870X2, Core temps always <40C, VRM temps always <60C, even when overclocked to 800/950. AC240 Rad + Pump, GFX inline with a C2D cpu. Case is a CM HAF932.
Yeh the vrms and i/o chip scare me, especially with full cover blocks, because you can't see them so they might not be making contact, and they don't have a thermal shutoff so they'll quickly die. At least with separate copper heatsinks I can make sure everythings contacting thermally and nothing is contacting electrically.
Honestly the VRM's are so small I doubt the available surface area will allow adequate bonding via TIM tape, so you may have to glue sinks on them. The heavier the sink the more bonding area you need. If the sinks are too small, they wont be able to dissipate heat fast enough. I'd advocate either a full cover block OR individual water blocks with a modified stock cooling plate or that swiftech full cover HS. Rivatuner allows you to monitor everything even the VRM temps. If it's over 50C in 2D mode then you know something is wrong. VRM's are funny, they can run happily at 80C+ but their lifespan is reduced by a factor of ten.
No way... can't be possible... My 4870's VRMs are 65°C on idle, always! Again, can't be true... Usually at about 80-90°C on load, and if I would overclock the GPU, they'd be even higher. I hope my card doesn't die. Or it could die within the warranty period.
If my VRM's get to those temps I get artifacts in game. What kind of cooling are you using? Sounds like you could use more. It's not uncommon to see VRMs rated as 5000hrs MTBF at 105C and 500,000hrs MTBF at 65C. It's unlikely your card will fail any time soon.
Stock cooling. If I run FurMark (with a renamed executable), the VRMs go to 100°C in 10 seconds and reach 115°C in about 40 secs. I get no artifacts. AFAIK, this is a known issue with 4870's. The VRMs are underrated and hence get overloaded on high GPU load ad heat up to extreme temperatures.
Ouch, that is disturbingly hot. It may well be normal for the card, but damn... There may be some benefit in replacing the stock TIM material, I was suprised how crap it was when I took off the stock cooler. That may void your warranty of course. I bought a few strips of this stuff: http://www.kustompcs.co.uk/acatalog/info_7801.html It works really well on my water block.
Having moaned about the EK block, and done loads of research into alternatives, I've decided to give it another go the EK block is just so sexy, nothing else compares . . . (heatsinkly speaking) Have ordered some nylon screws to avoid any screw shorting. I'm wondering whether it was that awful Coollaboratory Liquid Pro that killed it, so am using some thermal pads from Watercooling UK. Just got to wait for the card to arrive now . . .
