XFX poor cooling fan

[MonsterMaxx]

I just got a XFX 7900 to replace my EVGA 7800.

no, I didn't upgrade for the speed. I needed a new card for a TV machine (MythTV) and the 7800 was pushing 2x 24" LCDs, but only one DVI, the XFX has 2DVI.

So anyway, compared to the fan on the EVGA the one on the XFX is kinda lame.

Lots of complaints about poor fans and overheated cards.

They are both running, the EVGA is 33°C and the XFX is 58°C

The the XFX is in a case with way better airflow too.


So, question is: are there overclocker's type fans available for the nVidia 7x cards. Seems like the XFX is a nice card, but it needs better cooling.

Thanks in advance.

[Conumdrum]

Buy an aftermarket cooler and heatsinks for the memory/mosfets.

[MonsterMaxx]

Buy an aftermarket cooler and heatsinks for the memory/mosfets.
Right, that's what I had in mind.
Suggestions as to who has the good goods?

I've way underclocked it for now, still too hot.

[jason4207]

I think the HR03RevA will fit. The HR03GT might work as well. The Accelero S1 is the bargain, though. Strap on a good fan and your golden w/ any of these.

[MonsterMaxx]

Those look pretty nice. One question immediately comes to mine: how many adjacent cards can I not use now with that (and a fan) in place?

set both cards for 450/660mhz
idle XFX 7900 runs 57°C(135°F) and the eVGA 7800 runs 42°C(135°F)
loaded XFX 7900, I aborted the test at 75°C(167°F) and the eVGA 7800 runs 51°C(123.8°F)

Note:
the eVGA is in a (what I consider) somewhat poorly ventilated SFF and to make it worse it's partially blocked by a nic card
the XFX is in a 3U w/ fan wall that's designed for terrific airflow.

Letting atitool run it's find max core test the eVGA artifacted at 557mhz on the core! 51°C, stock is 430.
I have to underclock the XFX to 250mhz to keep it under 60°C at idle!

Clearly need a different cooler for the xfx.

[MonsterMaxx]

So I just called XFX

I pressed '0' and got an operator in a few sec, she was very nice when I asked for vid card tech support. Then got a recorded message that the call would be answered in 3 minutes...37 minutes later Dave picks up.

So I tell Dave the story.

Dave says that as long as it stays under 70°C it's OK.

I said "Dave, I stopped the test after it went past 75°C."

"oh" he says, "then it's OK as long as it stays under 85°C, and they have operated cards over 100!"

So I say "can I please have your company's written temperature specification for this card?"

He says "85°C"


I think this is way too hot. Does anyone agree that 85°C is OK?

[Drinkyoghurt]

85c should be ok, cards can handle about 120c, but at around 100c they'll start to throttle back, heck my stock hsf on the 8800GT did 90c at stock fan settings, got the settings up to 60% and now it never goes above 75C

[Trap05]

I strapped an S1 to my 8800GT and it went from 53-55c idle to 35c idle same sort of 20c drop under load as well plus its quiet.

[MonsterMaxx]

Looks like neither of these will work in a 3U case :(

Other suggestions?

[Drinkyoghurt]

crank up the fanspeed?

[jason4207]

Can you take a pic of the inside of the case?

[MonsterMaxx]

crank up the fanspeed?
tried that, seems to ignore input

Can you take a pic of the inside of the case?
maybe later, it's in a rack and I have to unplug things to get it out & take the lid off for a photo. nuttin' special though, just a premium 3U case w/ fanwall. Basicly the lid is right at the top of any normal height card. In fact the XFX hit until I took off the top edge decoration piece. Whatever cooler I use it cannot stick up higher than the card is. All those heat pipe ones I've seen do that (need 4U size or bigger)

[MonsterMaxx]

I crashed it playing w/ ATItool so I shot a pic while down.
It'll take 600/800 but not 700/900 :)

here's a pic of the case as requested

[MonsterMaxx]

What if I called eVGA and bought a replacement heatsink from them?
It seems to be doing just fine on their 7800.

[jason4207]

Don't expect the memory to OC as well as the core. OC them individually.

What are you using to try and increase fan speed? Have you tried Riva Tuner?

[MonsterMaxx]

Scratch that idea. eVGA will not sell/ship the heatsink, must RMA the whole card.
I offered to buy the darn thing, not like I was trying to get it for free.
next...

Wasn't really making an attempt at OCing, just took a big jump for laughs. OC in steps and change only one thing at a time. Been there...;)
Used nvidia's panel to fan control. Will try riva.

[MonsterMaxx]

How odd....

two displays, one card, 2DVI

if I run atitool's brushcube applett on the primary display temps are 15-20°C hotter than if I run the same thing on the 2nd display.
I've repeated it several times.

I've seen reference to having better control, but cannot seem to implement it.

????


I also cannot seem to gain good control over the fan. Riva is the only app I've found that'll let me see fan speed (duty cycle.)
If I do nothing, it runs at 19.92%.
I can get manual control over the fan, but at 100% it runs hotter than at 20%. I assume the fan is cavitating. Seems best around 35%. At one point via fiddling I was able to get it to auto change between the 20% and 29%, but it's behavior seemed erratic.

Temps on display 1 seem to max out around 85, and 65 on display 2. :rolleyes:

[MonsterMaxx]

more strangeness.

If I use windoz display applett to switch the primary display to the other one the high temperatures switch as well.

Does that not tell us it's not hardware doing this?

???

[MonsterMaxx]

the frame rate is much higher on the primary display which is likely what's causing the big heat difference.

Atitool on the primary is like 500fps, on the 2nd display it's like 100fps