There are issues with this card. For those who have bought it, I hope you were lucky. For those who are thinking about it, caveat emptor.
The 100% fan speed issue seems common on versions of the XFX 7800GT Extreme Noise Edition...oops, Extreme LED Edition with model numbers ending in UDF3, UDE3, UDE7 and UDER. UDF7 seems a far better model. The UDE* models use a 4-pin molex instead of the standard 6-pin PCI-Express power connector, which might or might not be related.
There is even dispute about whether the LED edition has fan speed control at all. People are reporting that the LEDs are powered off the same wires as the fan. The LEDs require 12V. This seems to have been confirmed by using a Zalman Fanmate to change the 12V from the power header on the card to 5V (i.e. disconnect the power cable on the card, connect the Fanmate to the card's power header, connect the card's power cable to the Fanmate). This solves the fan noise issue, but results in very dim LEDs. I haven't tried it myself, I'm just passing on a report from XFX's forums.
There used to be a thread on the 100% fan speed issue there, but it was deleted by the mods. The issue is covered in other threads and there's a steady stream of new posters with the same problem.
There is no known fix. People have tried new PSUs, new motherboards, complete new PCs (some posters have a shop or access to one), at least 4 different fan control programs (RivaTuner, Expertool, etc), multiple drivers (I've tried 81.95, 81.98, 82.12 and 82.65), with the full monty install (uninstall, disable all autoloading software and all non-MS services, reboot to safe mode, CAB cleaner, driver cleaner, reboot, install new drivers, still with everything bar MS services disabled).
You can RMA the card to XFX...and you'll probably get a second-hand card in return (that's normal with manufacturer RMAs) that might or might not work properly.
I haven't RMA'd mine because of the reports of instability at stock speeds. Mine works fine.
I've also spoken online with some people who aren't bothered by the noise, therefore don't consider it a problem, and quite a few others who just modded the card's cooling anyway. Of course, bang goes your guarantee if you do that.
For anyone who is buying this card, my advice is to make very sure that the shop you buy it from will take it back if the fan speed is stuck at 100% and, if at all possible, make sure that you buy a UDF7 model and not a UDE7 or UDER, let alone a UDE3 or UDF3 (which probably aren't on sale any more). Despite being newer than UDF7, UDE7 and UDER are, IMO, a flawed design.
Facebook
Twitter
Instagram