Need some advice on what to do with my defective 7970.

I'm in the process of building a water cooled loop to cool two MSI Afterburner 7970s. I just bought the two cards, but one of them is over heating with the stock fan. When I stress test it, temps rise to 95C with the fan at 100%.

The other card (same model) holds a steady temp under load at 60C.

I'm debating if I should RMA the card before attaching the water block. Is it possible that the card is defective and will continue to have heat issues after water cooling is applied?

Replacing the TIM might fix it. It could just be a bad manufacturing job.
I suggest doing that first. Also it depends on your water cooling setup to cool it properly.

snowbrdd said:

Replacing the TIM might fix it. It could just be a bad manufacturing job.
I suggest doing that first. Also it depends on your water cooling setup to cool it properly.

Click to expand...

Can that be done without voiding the warranty? That's my biggest concern.

As far as my water cooling setup will go I'll be using the following components in the loop.

XSPC Razor Water blocks
D5 Dual Bay Reservoir/Pump Combo
Black Ice GT Stealth 240 Radiator (top case mount)
XSPC RX240 (Front Mount)

You guys think this will be sufficient to cool two 7970s?

One of your cards might be starving the other card of effective cooling if they are on the mobo right next to each other.

TheHutchTTU said:

One of your cards might be starving the other card of effective cooling if they are on the mobo right next to each other.

Click to expand...

I tested each card independently, so this is not the case.

Do I have to remove the four screws in the bracket shown in this pic to replace the TIM?

It's probably not defective. It's the top GPU isn't it? No room for the top GPU to get enough airflow. I have experienced this on more than one SLI rig (Xfire is the same).

Have you swapped GPUs to see if it's just that card?

If temps stay the same, RMA. If the temps swap, do you have a third GPU slot to give the GPU room to breath? If so try it. Run benchmarks if the results ain't bad then live with it.

Otherwise your quick parts list is missing things. It's easy to head to the 'Click n Buy' sites' and pick stuff.

Here, what that usually means is don't know water cooling yet.

95C is not an emergency, it's loud but won't break anything. If you want to watercool you need to treat it as a hobby and not "BUY STUFF NOW", it's not a smart idea and over the last 5 years I seen the rushed WC buys.

We have STICKIES Please read them, successful folks spend a few weeks learning.

Your XSPC GPU block is not bad, middle of the pack, out of stock at your link.
Your D5 res/pump setup.......... Ever hear of the other pumps that are on the market? You should do the research.
Your rad choice, the Stealth. It was great in 2007. There is better and you NEED to do your heatload calculations first.
You did well on your second rad, good stuff. Let me ask you. You know the FPI and why it's a better rad than your first choice?

You haven't mentioned tubings, fittings, hose, liquid, and biocide yet. There are things the yellow words and a bit of homework won't fix. It's a hobby and prep and knowledge can't be underestimated.

Maybe you know all the stuff and have WC before. If so, I see problems with your planned purchase.

teknic111 said:

Do I have to remove the four screws in the bracket shown in this pic to replace the TIM?

Click to expand...

Looks like my extensive first post about WC is totally lost here.

You need to ohh so carefully learn how vs GOOGLE to remove the top plastic cover where the fan is and yes the bottom screws also need to come off once you decode how to remove the top cover first. You need to buy new TIM paste FIRST and make sure you don't damage the TPads when you take the cover off.

Take pictures to remember. Read up on proper TPaste application before you attemp this. You don't know what your doing, POOF.

Use Google, learn FIRST.

Read my last post.