The mounting hole spacing is the same as with the 5800 and 4800 series cards: 53 * 53 MM
This means that coolers that are compatible with these cards may be compatible with 6800 series cards. Most VGA coolers ship with at least eight sinks for the memory, which is enough for the memory on the 6800 series cards. So memory cooling should not be a problem.
One thing is different on the 6800 series cards: it's the VRM placement
The VRM's are placed to the left. Instead of being near the back of the card, they are located between the bracket and the GPU. On the 6870 they are cooled by the plate. On the 6850 they are cooled by heatsinks. Either way, they will need cooling. Most VGA coolers ship with VRM sinks. Since the VRM sinks on the 6850 are small and the 6800 cards dont use a lot of power I think most of these bundled VRM sinks will perform just fine. I do think there are some VGA coolers that have no room for VRM sinks in that location
I don't know if all boards have this layout. There may be custom PCB's with a different layout.
Wrapping it up:
If you want an aftermarket cooler for your HD 6870/ 6850 you can use a cooler that is compatible with the 5800 or 4800 series cards. You will need to check if the cooler leaves room for VRM sinks on the left of the GPU. But check the PCB layout first.
List of compatible Coolers
Scythe Musashi ( unconfirmed )
Confirmed: Arctic Cooling Accellero Twin Turbo Pro
Confirmed: Gelid Icy Vision
Confirmed: Universal Blocks that fit on 5800 and 4800 series cards
Confirmed:
Zalman VF-3000
Confirmed: Thermalright Shaman
Confirmed: Thermalright Spitfire
Confirmed: Thermalright TRAD^2 NOTE: ON A NON REFERENCE BOARD WITH VRM AT THE BACK )
Confirmed: Xigmatek Bifrost AKA Ultra U-12 Carbon X4
Confirmed: Scythe Mushashi
Confirmed: Arctic cooling Acellero Xtreme
Confirmed: Arctic cooling Acellero S1
I will update this list and add incompatible coolers ( due to VRM ) as well.
So which one do I get?
I dont know . Aftermarket GPU cooling beats standard colling hands down. It is not only cooler but also more quiet. The only little downside is that the VRM cooling could be a bit worse than with the stock cooler but with these cards I dont think that is a very big problem. 6870's and 6850's are great, power efficient cards.
Some suggestions:
Arctic cooling accellero s1: cheap, decent performance, you will need your own fan.
Arctic cooling twin turbo pro: decent price, very good performance. Comes with good, quiet
fans.
Scythe Mushashi: decent price, good performance, very slim cooler.
Gelid Icy vision: decent price, good performance.
Do you have one of these babies with an aftermarket cooler?
Please post your temps, your overclock, which card you own and what the PCB layout is like. And please tell us how the installation went. ( did you have to mod the cooler, were there moments of desperation? did you hack off a capacitor just to make things fit? ). Dont forget to add yourself to the ATI Aftermarket cooling database.
I really want to see what clocks these cards can achieve with aftermarket cooling
