How hot is too hot for my X1900XT?

I got sick of the vacuum cleaner noise of the stock cooler, and was hoping for better temps, so I upgraded to a thermalright hr-03 heatsink. Load temps are around 85C at load, and that's with it running passive.

When I try to overclock to XTX speeds (650/775) though, Im right around 91C and that seems pretty high. What's the max safe temp for this card? I've searched around, and Im finding people say you shouldnt go over 85C but others claim these cards run just fine at 100C.

Id like to get a fan on it, but a standard 92mm fan is too thick and runs against the heatpipes on the BigTyphoon. Im looking for some workarounds, maybe a slim ~25CFM 80mm might do the trick.

Thanks!
Awake77

OMG 80+ look up on newegg.com for zalman gpu coolers

use ati tray tools or atitool or rivatuner to control fan speed

or mod the bios and reflash it to control fan speed

its because the bios is set for the fan to spin stupid slow. you turn it up you wont break 70c

You shouldn't be seeing +90C unless your ambient temp is >30C or you're using a really constricted case. I have the HR03 and I'm no where close to those temps. What are you using to measure the temp? Maybe use a thermal IR meter to validate the temp?

91C-95C is normal for stock cooler performance at full load. I don't think you'll see artifacts until 100C. But that depends on the VRM temps too.

you dont even need a heatsink. it helps, but just put on some AC ceramique.

freakdiablo said:

you dont even need a heatsink. it helps, but just put on some AC ceramique.

Click to expand...

he's right. I put ceramique on the core and the mem chips and load for me never rises to above 67ish with the fan just a tad louder than my CPU fan.

Just an update...I fitted a slim 15mm Delta 80mm fan to the HR-03, and have a silent 120mm fan blowing at the underside of the card. Now, even after 4 hours of gaming with all settings maxed out the card doesnt go over 55C.

That HR-03 is one bad a** heatsink, I can say that

Its always the simple solutions that work best

When I first got my 1900XT I benched it using the stock cooler and the temps were insane. Under load, the temps were up towards 95-100C which I thought was nuts. The temps got high even after I increased the fan speed. After water cooling, my temps never got above 60C under load. I usually average in the mid 50's.

Yeah, once I got the noise/cooling under control this card really is the business. I havent overclocked it past XTX speeds yet, but it still runs everything I throw at it maxed out in 1680x1050 without a hitch. So sharp and detailed too...

I wonder why they even bother selling these with that lame factory cooler - may as well sell the card bare with coupon for an HR-03 or a waterblock