Coolers

AFox AF6850-1024D5H1

The cooler features a large rectangular heatsink with a copper base, heatpites and a cover with two fans. The latter work at low speed, because two are too many for an HD 6850. Hence almost no noise. Memory chips are not cooled.

AFox AF6850-1024D5S1

This cooler reminds of what we used to see quite often a couple of years ago. Due to heatsink's low profile (and thus smaller heat dissipation surface) the fan often speeds up and starts making much noise. Memory chips are not cooled.

AFox AF550-1024D5H1

This is a simple cooler with a round aluminium heatsink and a large fan. The latter works at low speed, so noise is also low. Memory chips are not cooled.

Temperature monitoring results

We measured temperatures using the MSI Afterburner utility.

AFox AF6850-1024D5H1

AFox AF6850-1024D5S1

AFox AF550-1024D5H1

You can see that the dual-fan cooler of the HD 6850 is even more efficient than this card needs. The one on GTX 550 Ti does it job as well. The noisy cooler on a slim HD 6850, its fan rotates too fast by default. If your PC enclosure is well ventilated, you can slow the fan down (80°C is normal for these graphics cards). One advice: control fans via the OverDrive section in AMD drivers or utilities like MSI Afterburner and EVGA Precision. Cutting the maximum cooler speed down to 40% will be enough to reduce noise and keep cooler efficiency at a decent level.

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