I built this particular computer last October and decided to go with an Obsidian 550D for the case and a IceQ 7870 GHz for the video card with a 750 Antec True New. Within a few weeks it was apparent that the bearing on the 7870 was either not lubricated or the fan was off its axis slightly as it began to click. The clicking is now a full fledged rattle that can't be ignored. Since the sticker on the 7870 is so thin it's impossible to stick some 3 in 1 in it to fix the rattle without voiding the warranty so I am going to RMA the card. I don't have a replacement so I plan to jump on another ATI card while the bundles are going, and sell this card after it's fixed.
Normally I would just get another IceQ. The actual card itself has been great but HIS has had less than stellar customer support and the turnaround on their RMAs are quite high because they use a 3rd party that is nowhere near me. Another problem that I am running into is that since I'm using the 550D for my case, ambient case temperatures are higher than in other cases. That is where the IceQ blower shines since it blows most of the air out the back. I prefer a video card with a radial blower but I realize most coolers just blow air to the front and side of the case.
How much worse would a traditional dual fan setup be with the 550D? IceQ GPUs are already quite a few degrees cooler so I'm worried that with such a warm case that adding a non blower fan will be as much as 10 degrees warmer than what I have now.
Right now I'm leaning towards either a 7870 XT whenever they are finally back in stock, a 7950 Dual-X or Vapor-X whenever they are in stock again and depending on the price gap between the two when they are, or going back with HIS again either with another 7870 IceQ or a 7950 IceQ. Should I just chalk this current IceQ up to unlucky and go for the 7950 IceQ which seems to be ideal? I would like to keep it near $300 give or take. I don't plan on overclocking. Any suggestions would be great.
Normally I would just get another IceQ. The actual card itself has been great but HIS has had less than stellar customer support and the turnaround on their RMAs are quite high because they use a 3rd party that is nowhere near me. Another problem that I am running into is that since I'm using the 550D for my case, ambient case temperatures are higher than in other cases. That is where the IceQ blower shines since it blows most of the air out the back. I prefer a video card with a radial blower but I realize most coolers just blow air to the front and side of the case.
How much worse would a traditional dual fan setup be with the 550D? IceQ GPUs are already quite a few degrees cooler so I'm worried that with such a warm case that adding a non blower fan will be as much as 10 degrees warmer than what I have now.
Right now I'm leaning towards either a 7870 XT whenever they are finally back in stock, a 7950 Dual-X or Vapor-X whenever they are in stock again and depending on the price gap between the two when they are, or going back with HIS again either with another 7870 IceQ or a 7950 IceQ. Should I just chalk this current IceQ up to unlucky and go for the 7950 IceQ which seems to be ideal? I would like to keep it near $300 give or take. I don't plan on overclocking. Any suggestions would be great.
Facebook
Twitter
Instagram