Thermalright HR-05 SLI review

[Guest Modulok]

since upgrading my 7800gt to SLI the chipset temps sore around 50-60 with the top pci-e card right on top of the chipset. I am wondering if I can fit this hr-05 sli to fit in the setup below.

 

 

I assume the cooler would be positioned to extrude on above the upper pci-e card, but would that interfere with upper pci-e card or the 4pin molex?

[godlyatheist]

since upgrading my 7800gt to SLI the chipset temps sore around 50-60 with the top pci-e card right on top of the chipset. I am wondering if I can fit this hr-05 sli to fit in the setup below.

 

 

I assume the cooler would be positioned to extrude on above the upper pci-e card, but would that interfere with upper pci-e card or the 4pin molex?

 

the hr-05 sli wouldn't interfere with the cards. I don think it will work unless you place it diagonally above the top pci-e card. The best way to make sure is to take some measurements.

[General Septem]

since upgrading my 7800gt to SLI the chipset temps sore around 50-60 with the top pci-e card right on top of the chipset. I am wondering if I can fit this hr-05 sli to fit in the setup below.

 

 

I assume the cooler would be positioned to extrude on above the upper pci-e card, but would that interfere with upper pci-e card or the 4pin molex?

 

I don't think it will be a problem. Lots of people use the HR-05-SLI on the LP. It wouldn't work on the Expert, however.

[davieslim]

i love the thermalright hr-05 sli, 21C drop in temp! xDxD

[Guest Modulok]

I hope I can get a good 15-20 temp drop with the new hr-05 ifx sli cooler I just got...installing sometime this week :cool:

[lucky1]

Has anyone had success top mounting the HR-05-SLi on a DFI Ultra-D with a Zalman 7000 HSF ?

 

It looks like there could possibly be some clearance issues when eyeballing the physical dimensions of a Zalman 7000 against pictures of a mounted HR-05-SLi

[lucky1]

Well, it appears nobody knows whether or not you can top mount an HR-05 SLi on a NF4 Ultra-D with a Zalman 7000 HSF.

 

 

Can someone list which HSF will work without clearance issues with an HR-05 SLi top mounted on a NF4 Ultra-D??

[lucky1]

In the event anyone was curious, a HR-05 SLi WILL fit without clearance issues in the top mounted position with a Zalman 7000 HSF installed on DFI NF4 Ultra-D/SLi-D/SLi-DR motherboards.

 

 

The photo below is slightly deceiving, but installed this way you have about 1/4 inch clearance above a video card when the video card is inserted.

 

[lucky1]

Anyone have recommendations on where to buy 4/40 rubber or plastic washers? The local hardware stores don't carry anything that small.

[DirtySanchez]

In the event anyone was curious, a HR-05 SLi WILL fit without clearance issues in the top mounted position with a Zalman 7000 HSF installed on DFI NF4 Ultra-D/SLi-D/SLi-DR motherboards.

 

 

The photo below is slightly deceiving, but installed this way you have about 1/4 inch clearance above a video card when the video card is inserted.

 

 

Thank you for answering your question and mine lucky1. I was reading this entire thread thinking the same thing. Also what I think is really cool is that if you mod the Ultra-D to be Sli it has the chipset under the top PCI-E video card slot which is better for a video card SLi set up because you can do exactly what you did which is put the HR-05 SLi over the top card! Doesn't seem like you can use either style HR-05 to do that with most of the other boards, that is when you are going with a video card SLi set up. Pretty gangster if you ask me.

 

Now all you need to do is get rid of that *cough* crappy *cough* Zalman and hook up on what I'm going to try to do over here. Get a Ultra-120 eXtreme!!! It cools much better and I think would allow for you to slap a fan on the HR-05 because it's not as round. This is what I'm going to try to do here very soon. Hopefully this will fit with fans on both :confused: Just looking at all the pics here it looks like it will and if I can't end up getting a fan on the HR-05 no worries because I have the Antec900 with the cooling tunnel in it and the extra 120mm fan on the inside of the HDD cage. Any one have any advise on if they know/think this will fit?

 

Also it would be interesting to see if the HR-03 GT would work with the HR-05 SLi facing the CPU without touching. I was thinking you could put the HR-03 GT facing the CPU but have the HR-05 facing away from the CPU that way you should have plenty of room to put in a second video card and mount that facing away from the CPU. So you would have 2 x 8800's (or what ever vid card and cooler) top card the HR-03 GT would be mounted "reverse" toward the CPU and the bottom card with another HR-03 GT facing away from the the CPU with a HR-05 Sli facing away from the CPU in between the video cards! If set up this last way I know you could fit a fan on the bottom video card but was wondering how much room you would have between the top of the HR-03 GT and lets say a stock CPU cooler that was square??? Maybe a slim 120mm fan on the HR-03 GT? Maybe because the Ultra-120 eXtreme is a tower you could mount it facing up and down and put a fan on the on the top facing down towards the graphics card.

 

It doesn't look like you would be able to use a HR-03 GT reversed facing the CPU with a lot of CPU heatsinks and still be able to get a fan on it . No fan on the HR-03 GT is a NO NO.

 

So anyway I'll stop now that I tossed out those ideas. What do you guys think? Anyone have the parts to try it out? Looks like lucky1 just needs a Ultra-120 eXtreme to see how that works out with the HR-05 SLi. Or possibly Angry/Happy Games could give it a whirl.

 

Thanks for all the ideas and input you guys have put into this thread don't let it die. These chipset coolers are still the shiznit lets see how they work with some newer VGA and CPU coolers.

[lucky1]

Thank you for answering your question and mine lucky1. I was reading this entire thread thinking the same thing. Also what I think is really cool is that if you mod the Ultra-D to be Sli it has the chipset under the top PCI-E video card slot which is better for a video card SLi set up because you can do exactly what you did which is put the HR-05 SLi over the top card! Doesn't seem like you can use either style HR-05 to do that with most of the other boards, that is when you are going with a video card SLi set up. Pretty gangster if you ask me.

Hi Dirty,

 

Yes, being able to use the 2nd PCI-E 16x slot was a concern of mine from the start. I don't plan to use the 2nd slot for SLi, but rather for a PCI-E RAID card which requires 8x electrical signaling. I haven't kept up on the ability to mod the NF4 Ultra chipset, but last I remember Nvidia was taking measures to try and stop this through forceware drivers.

 

 

Now all you need to do is get rid of that *cough* crappy *cough* Zalman and hook up on what I'm going to try to do over here. Get a Ultra-120 eXtreme!!! It cools much better and I think would allow for you to slap a fan on the HR-05 because it's not as round. This is what I'm going to try to do here very soon. Hopefully this will fit with fans on both :confused: Just looking at all the pics here it looks like it will and if I can't end up getting a fan on the HR-05 no worries because I have the Antec900 with the cooling tunnel in it and the extra 120mm fan on the inside of the HDD cage. Any one have any advise on if they know/think this will fit?

 

The main problem with using the HR-05-SLI in a top mounted configuration is that there could be some clearance issues with different HSF. Some of the larger HSF like older XP-120 or Zalman 9000 will have clearance issues with a top mounted HR-05-SLI. The Thermalright Ultra-120 extreme may also have clearance issues, I'm not sure. Personally, for my application it's overkill. I don't think I'd need a HSF that large for an older AMD dual core, maybe if it was a newer Intel Quad Core. The 7000B keeps temperatures at around 34-39c at idle, which is fine for me until the HSF indicates failure and requires replacement.

 

As far as the Antec 900, I could not say, I run a rather large tower case which uses 4x120mm fans with plenty of airflow. I'll take a look at some pictures of the Antec 900 if I can in the next couple of days, but really that's not the best way to find clearance information out. It's much better to find someone who's already done the experimentation for you and has the configuration that you're interested in.

 

Also it would be interesting to see if the HR-03 GT would work with the HR-05 SLi facing the CPU without touching. I was thinking you could put the HR-03 GT facing the CPU but have the HR-05 facing away from the CPU that way you should have plenty of room to put in a second video card and mount that facing away from the CPU. So you would have 2 x 8800's (or what ever vid card and cooler) top card the HR-03 GT would be mounted "reverse" toward the CPU and the bottom card with another HR-03 GT facing away from the the CPU with a HR-05 Sli facing away from the CPU in between the video cards! If set up this last way I know you could fit a fan on the bottom video card but was wondering how much room you would have between the top of the HR-03 GT and lets say a stock CPU cooler that was square??? Maybe a slim 120mm fan on the HR-03 GT? Maybe because the Ultra-120 eXtreme is a tower you could mount it facing up and down and put a fan on the on the top facing down towards the graphics card.

 

I'm not sure about the Ultra-120 extreme, it's huge so there may be clearance issues. =/

 

As far as clearance between a top mounted HR-05-SLI and a video card in the top slot, there is approximately, 1/4 inch clearance. The HR-05-SLI itself is I want to say 3/4 inch deep. Depending on the size and physical dimensions of the cpu HSF you may be able to top mount a HR-03 GT, but I think that would only be possible with certain square HSF.

 

I'd say it's pretty obvious you definitely could not fit the HR-03 GT piping and surface area between the video card and the HR-05-SLI. The HR-03 GT looks much too large and the cooling fins are angled in a way that would not avoid contact.

 

The 8800GTS, 8800 Ultra or other variations which use a dual slot cooler do not leave much clearance between the first card and the location of the 2nd PCI-E slot. There's only like a 1/4 inch clearance approximately, maybe a little more or less.

 

 

It doesn't look like you would be able to use a HR-03 GT reversed facing the CPU with a lot of CPU heatsinks and still be able to get a fan on it . No fan on the HR-03 GT is a NO NO.

I don't think you could fit a fan on a top mounted HR-03 GT and clear most cpu HSF. There would be clearance issues. You wouldn't be able to get direct cooling, but you may be successful keeping temperatures somewhat ok with indirect cooling from the cpu HSF or even from a 120mm case fan if it has a clear and unobstructed wind tunnel. This all depends though on the HR-03 GT's ability to efficiently dissipate heat from the cooling fins. Personally, I have no experience with the HR-03 GT so I can comment on this.

 

So anyway I'll stop now that I tossed out those ideas. What do you guys think? Anyone have the parts to try it out? Looks like lucky1 just needs a Ultra-120 eXtreme to see how that works out with the HR-05 SLi. Or possibly Angry/Happy Games could give it a whirl.

I don't have Ultra-120 eXtreme atm unfortunately. I may end up building a new rig in a couple of months when the Intel Penryn processors come out and at that point I may consider a Ultra-120 eXtreme. I also don't really feel like tearing my case apart again either. It wouldn't be as bad just pulling the motherboard this time as opposed to stripping a chassis bare, but I think I've had my fill of playing around at this point.

 

Also one thing to note. The spring clips will secure the HR-05-SLI but the chipset does sag slightly when the motherboard is mounted vertically. As someone in the thread previously mentioned, for better temperatures it may be worth it to secure the HR-05-SLI to the motherboard and chipset with some nuts/bolts with rubber washers between the bolt/motherboard (backside) and the nut/motherboard (frontside). I would have done this, but unfortunately the local hardware stores did not sell rubber washers that small. You may have similar issues finding rubber washers that small. I would not install the nut/bolt without it though or you risk damaging the motherboard or potentially creating an electrical hazard.

 

Thanks for all the ideas and input you guys have put into this thread don't let it die. These chipset coolers are still the shiznit lets see how they work with some newer VGA and CPU coolers.

No problem, glad I could help. In my case, for my own sanity, I got tired of listening to my VC-RE screaming (fan was dying) and it was time to replace it.