MSI 7870 Hawk Running Hot

[killxjoy15]

I recently built a computer with a MSI Radeon 7870 Hawk. The first card I received had some really strange issues. Eventually I RMA'd the card for a new one. So I have been using this new card for awhile and hadn't really seen issues.

Recently though I started playing Star Wars: The Old Republic and my GPU temps were sky rocketing and eventually I had to start running a frame limiter and run the game at 45 FPS just to run in the 80C range. At first I figured it was just something related to the game and my card. Now though I'm starting to play Planetside 2 and the card runs around 90C when I'm not in any action and gets close to 105C when in battles, sometimes getting close to 110C.

I do run the card with some overclock but it really isn't much (1200MHz GPU and 1300MHz memory) and I haven't touched the voltage settings at all. I tried removing the overclock and it didn't seem to have any effect on the temperatures. I could turn the graphics settings down in the game but with the power this card has it should be able to play most games with max settings. It seems like there is more of an issue going on than with this one game.

I noticed the card seems to be running quite hot during idle. Right now with just Chrome open it's idling at 55C while my CPU and motherboard temps are 32C and 29 C respectively. Even with just chrome open and my GPU fans running at 100% the temps haven't gone below 46C.

http://img839.imageshack.us/img839/5517/gpumonitor.png
The link above is an SS of my Afterburner hardware monitor after playing PlanetSide 2 for around 30 minutes and then letting the computer sit for awhile after closing the game.

I recently talked to a tech rep from MSI, notifying them of the strangely high temps, and he said that the temperatures were normal and I could re-apply thermal paste if I wanted. In reply, I asked if this would void the warranty and he said no. So I took at look at the back of the card and on one of the screws is a sticker that says "Warranty void if removed or damaged". I told him about the sticker and he said "that is fine". Will re-applying thermal paste really lower my temps enough to be safer or should I attempt to RMA the card with MSI even though they may reject it?

Thanks in advance for any help I can get with this.

 

[irrykuxeh]

Have you checked your core and memory clocks while idling? I once had a driver issue where my 7770 would stick at maximum memory clocks even while idling. This increased my temps considerably and caught my attention. This might not be your problem, but it's worth a look.

It seems the 7870 hawk is a particularly hot card from searching google for a few minutes, but 55C at idle still seems like an outlier. And 105C load temp is getting dangerous.

 

[killxjoy15]

It does look like the Memory clock is always maxed on MSI Afterburner, I knew that the core clock wouldn't always be maxed but I wasn't sure about the memory. So maybe that is my issue? Right now I just have chrome open and my mem clocks are at 1200 and have been like that for 30 minutes. You can also see that in the SS I posted, the core clock drops down but the mem clock is constant.

 

[killxjoy15]

Okay, it looks like my memory clock is always maxed because I run dual monitors. Turning off one of the displays in CCC lowered my GPU temps to 37C. Would this also explain why my temps are so high under load? I still have the other display on when I play full screen games. Though it's too late to test if turning off one display and then playing a game lowers the temps.

 

[killxjoy15]

Quick update: After turning on the voltage monitoring in MSI Afterburner I noticed that the voltage during load is 1150 mV even though the setting in Afterburner is only 1119 mV. Is this an issue that might be the cause of the high temps?

 

[Boulard83]

You re-applyed thermal paste ?

What case do you have ?

High idle and load temp is more than often beaucoup you lack of good case ventilation.

 

[killxjoy15]

No I haven't tried to re-apply thermal paste. Mostly because of a sticker on one of the screws holding the cooler on that says warranty void if removed. To screw it off I would have to damage the sticker. My case is a Corsair Vengeance C70 and I have seven case fans installed. 2x120mm fans are on my CPU cooler rad that exhaust out the back. A 140mm to exhaust out the top and 4x120mm in the front, 1 on each side of my hard drive bays for intake.

 

[Boulard83]

Room temp ? but at those 55°c idle and 90+°c gaming ... your room need to be at 30-35°c for those temp to be normal

Other than that, There is probably something wrong with the card itself. If it have enough fresh air, read your case move enough air in/out, your card is supposed to run at much lower temp IMO.

Try reapply thermal paste, factory card tend to have too much paste. I unmounted both my GPU cooler on the first day .... Apply a small amount of paste. Very small amount... the 7870 GPU isnt that big, the paste will spread and cover it all.

 

[killxjoy15]

Well, the temp on my mobo is 29C nearly always. As far as re-applying thermal paste I don't think I will simply because I don't want to void the warranty.

 

[Boulard83]

If the guy at MSI told you its ok, i think its ok ! These card are very easy to take appart.

In fact, all you have to remove are 4 screws in the middle, around the core at the back of the card.

Spoiler

Spoiler

Spoiler

 

[killxjoy15]

My only concern was that the thermal paste my not help. Then if the card goes bad from the temps they may not let me use the warranty even though he said it would be fine.

 

[irrykuxeh]

It sounds like the dual displays is causing the high temps. Try disabling the other display while gaming and see what happens. Also, if you can manage to undervolt a little in Afterburner, that would improve temps as well.

 

[killxjoy15]

I actually attempted just that last night and it seemed to help a little but even with setting the voltage in Afterburner to 1087 mV and turning off one of my displays the card was still getting to 86C while under load. I might just run this hot and if it dies I'll use the warranty because I don't think I could get an RMA for it from MSI right now, even though its obvious the card is having heat issues.

 

[Boulard83]

Temp from TPU review.

http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/MSI/HD_7870_HAWK/32.html

86 seems hot to me but you told your room temp is 29°c ? Its quite hot so 80's °c under load seems "legit" at your room temp.

 

[irrykuxeh]

I would fill out an RMA request real quick anyway. MSI may honor it if you describe what has been happening like you have on this forum. Send it in. Get a new one in a few days. You know it will bug you forever if your card is running hotter than normal and you're just waiting for it to fizzle out. It may be worth it for your sanity if you're anything like me haha

 

[killxjoy15]

Yeah I definitely agree. I'm actually already writing one up as we speak. Was just concerned they wouldn't accept it after speaking with that tech rep. Thanks for your help.

 

[irrykuxeh]

No problem. Let us know how it goes.

 

[Ivy]

Always difficult to handle with vendor. "What, its running to hot, but it works, so whats the problem?".

May give better success going in touch directly with manufacturer, in term its possible.

My general opinion on that card: Interesting design and stuff but still not full mature yet, so it can be of less hassle using other cards. Such a card was kinda exploding inside my PC, and i didnt even overclock or overvolt. First time i ever had such a issue.

 

[arrnox]

I have MSI Radeon 7870 Hawk edition and my idle temp is 35-40C(room temp =20/25C) and max loud temp was 79C.I havent got any case fan.

 

[Ivy]

The case fan isnt the most critical matter. Most important thing is not to have the fan intake covered from the GPU, else it gets problematic (absolutly any GPU).