MSI AMD Radeon HD 6870 Bare Card Heatsink Removal Linus Tech Tips

The video provides a close, hands on teardown of the MSI AMD Radeon HD 6870 bare card, focusing on the structure and cooling solution of the reference cooler. The host walks through the card’s main components visible under the heatsink, noting the GPU in the center, eight memory chips, and the VRM area protected by additional heatsinks. He highlights the three heat pipes forming a copper base with aluminum fins, and explains how the shroud and heat pipes are mounted separately by screws, allowing some movement. The airflow path is demonstrated, with air entering from the fan, passing through the fins, and being directed out the side by a curved plastic piece. The host emphasizes practical constraints for water cooling on this reference design, acknowledging that a full water block would require significant copper to clear tall components, and muses about potential solutions from cooling vendors like EK, with an eye toward mid range cards. He briefly contemplates the feasibility of lightweight, tall blocks and mentions the possibility of adding RAM sinks and a GPU block for an effective water cooling loop, while noting that this particular card is not water-cooling friendly in its current form. The video ends with a practical takeaway: a naked look at the Radeon 6870 cooler, a reminder of Linus Tech Tips’ emphasis on real hardware exploration, and a nudge to viewers to subscribe for more teardown content.

Topics · technology · hardware · pc_components · teardown