Watercooling ATI HD 4770

When moving to computer WC the most difficult question was the choice of VGA waterblock. On the one hand “fullcover” waterblocks are very attractive because of its well organized cooling of VGA power elements and memory chips . On the other hand I like GPU-only waterblocks for universality. After long ours of thinking I finally made my choice in reference to universality and went with Swiftech MCW60-R rev.2 waterblock for VGA cooling.

This waterblock has the same base plate as his elder “brother” Swiftech GT.

MCW60 completely justified my choice – all four video cards that I had in past had had GPU temperatures above 50°С even when overclocked with voltmod, and for memory chips I used PCB air cooling (95% of BGA elements dissipate heat through PCB and not through its(element’s) body) and Swiftech MC14 rads. The first VGA than I could install my waterblock on was ATI HD 4870×2. This card has nonstandard for ATI video card mounting hole spacing. Later on, Swiftech released a kit allowing you to mount its waterblocks on ATI HD 4870×2. The price of such a kit is around 4-6 USD in USA. I bought that kit, JIC, when I was shopping through on-line shops.

This autumn I decided to modify video system of my PC once again. I sold my GTX285 and bought ATI HD 4770 as a temporary solution. Remember, this is the first VGA manufactured using 40nm technological process. When I received the new card, the first thing I came up to was changing stock air cooling to WC. I was very surprised to see this card having the same nonstandard cooling system mounting hole spacing that I mentioned before. Gladly I was ready for that and MCW60 mounting kit for HD4870×2 that I bought in advance came into handy. This is what I had:

The essential set:

• ATI HD 4770
• Swiftech MCW60R v.2
• Arctic Cool MX2
• MCW60 4870×2 custom screw kit
• Spring–screws borrowed from the original VGA air cooling system

Remove and set aside the existing screws and hold-plate. Instead of removed screws fit screws from MCW60-4870×2-CSK – the screws have thread for WB-mounting screws. First attempt to use waterblock ties showed that it is hard to turn them (ties) tight – waterblock top was a hindrance.

Removed some excess material at each corner. Now screws fit just fine.

Fit modded MCW60 on card and waterblock mounting screws can now be installed directly into waterblock ties:

Pay close attention to:
HD 4770 GPU has no heat spreader – waterblock alignment error can lead to GPU corner damage. To avoid it, just put nylon spacer on ties between waterblock and card PCB. They should be 0.3-0.5mm smaller than the height between the board and GPU top point.
When finished I wanted to check temperature level under load:

If you ask me, that is a wonderful result – the temperatures delight my eye.