Ive done several of my cards, and never had a problem. I repair medical electronics for a living, so I typically dont have a problem with tiny repairs or jumpers/solder wires, etc...

Has anyone taken all of the heatsink off yet?

I searched but couldnt find any pics. Want to make sure it is possible to take them off before picking which one to buy.

I want the 4870...but my budget is saying 4850.

And I have an OCZ 85% StealthXStream 600W. I dont think that will run 2 4850s at stock power ratings, will it? Looking more at 800w+ for running those in Crossfire? Is that correct?

Lots playing into factor here...but Im still running an old 8800GTS 640MB card. I dont NEED to upgrade...but its been 2 years, and Im getting antsy.

I think a 4850 should give me about another 25% performance according to benchmarks, plus drivers should improve that as time goes on.



Any comments, opinions, complaints, etc???

Thanks for your time!

Fun!
I was getting ready to make a thread about this issue so maybe I can piggyback on to yours!

Yes, you can defiantly remove the stock Hs. Not a big deal, I believe it is just 4 philips screws holding them on. Make sure to thoroughly clean the Hs and GPU core before reapplying AS5 or some other high quality goo. Some AS surface cleaner/purifier is probably your best option for getting it completely clean. This is said to lower temps significantly.

The question I wanted to ask and hopefully someone can answer here is about the thermal pads for the RAM. I think they are supposed to be left alone but I am not 100% sure about that. Do they need to be replaced or the RAM cleaned also?

I hope this helps you and if someone knows about the thermal pads please share!

Edit:
Alright, so it is quite a few more than 4 screws but still straight forward...
From the pics I am seeing now it is 14-16 screws.

hardwarecanucks.com included fan/heatsink replacement in their reviews of both radeons. Not sure if its all the info you guys are looking for but it should help.

Definitely nice to know it isnt hard to do the GPU itself. That has helped on every single GPU I have ever seen.

The ramsinks I dont know about. Think it might be best to leave them alone, as AS doesnt have any real adhesive type property.

I have seen aftermarket pads made, but I dont know if I trust them


Well...hopefully someone has a concrete answer on them at least