Got my first 9800GX2... couple questions

First off, I had planned on just running my GTX260s and simply stumbled on this card. My first concern is that it runs pretty warm. With the fan set for 100% it sits at around 70c... is this too hot? Second, what kind of shader clocks are safe/standard for these cards?

For comparison, my GTX260s ran at 50% fan (pretty quiet) and never went above 55c, so I know my case temps arent the problem here.



This is the exact card I got:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130338

Temps are now 78c and 74c full load. Please advise before I blow it up haha.

They like to run that warm, They are the hottest running card I have ever run into. My 3 XFX 9800 GX2 cards run @ 675/1854/1055 unless I have 2 or more in a board and I have to dump the settings down quite a bit. Sounds like you got quite a deal for a 10k a day card!

My GTX280 runs at 70-80C, most of the time. I used to worry about it, and adjust the fans up manually, etc. Under auto control, the fan right now is at 50% with core temp at 78C. The case has no door on it, atm.

Now, I let the driver auto control the fan, all the time. I've never seen the card get above 81C that way, and the card seems just fine with it.

I wouldn't advise running the fan at 100% duty cycle. That will cause premature fan failure and that fan failure may cause the resulting heat increase, to destroy your card (maybe your mobo as well).

You get very little increase in air flow above 85% fan duty cycle. If you must set it manually, set it about there, and then move your clock speeds down as needed until your core temps reach 75-80C. That's the best advise I can give you, but check your card's website forum or data for further info. I have no idea what your card is built to handle as far as temps go.

I was able to knock off over 10c by removing the plastic shroud. It now maxes at 65c/61c. I was going to take it apart to put AS5 in it but it looks like a nightmare. I think I'll stick with just that shroud off.

So what should my target temps be? is 75 fine? I'd like to turn the fan speed down to around 50% if possible so I can't hear it.

Argh, the cost of another one of these beasts is nuts. Gonna have to stick with my GTX260s to make my max PPD.

SuperMotarded said:

I was able to knock off over 10c by removing the plastic shroud. It now maxes at 65c/61c. I was going to take it apart to put AS5 in it but it looks like a nightmare. I think I'll stick with just that shroud off.

So what should my target temps be? is 75 fine? I'd like to turn the fan speed down to around 50% if possible so I can't hear it.

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I think around 75 will be fine. Just keep an eye on dust more than normal since those cards are little ovens. They need all the cooling they can get.

SuperMotarded said:

Argh, the cost of another one of these beasts is nuts. Gonna have to stick with my GTX260s to make my max PPD.

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Typically you can pick up used ones around 200. I found one on craigslist for 150 but it sold in a day.