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Any 3870 that doesnt have the 'fan problem'?

Forum Graphic & Displays : Graphics Cards - Any 3870 that doesnt have the 'fan problem'?

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I currently have two 3870s that are the Triplex version and both have the problem where they are stuck at 23% fan usage causing massive overheating. After the graphics curring out whilst playing Crysis i knew they were getting too hot.

They have now stopped working and i dont get any visuals at all so am sending them back to overclockers for a refund.

As i dont want the problems of trying to flash the bios on the cards to get them working or using RivaTuner to stop them overheating im looking for a make of card that actually has a working cooling system!

I use an Asus P5E so dont think i could switch to a GeForce card. Also, if the card that has a working cooling system on it costs loads i wont have crossfire anymore, ill just be happy with a card that doesnt burn itself up!

Basically im looking for a really good 3870 that has a working cooling system (1 or 2 depending on price) or a really good geforce (if my p5e can take one). I have a budget of around £280 providing Overclockers give me a refund!)

Any suggestions?

Thanks

Message edited by haydox on 01-19-2008 at 10:11:08 PM

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its not a problem

just set your fan speed and realize that state of the art means making a commitment.
a problem? no!

the card rocks - work with it!

------------------------------

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Reply to dragonsprayer

yea the 3870 is a dream.

im picking up 1 one friday, you sorta sound like a nvidia fan boy.

sorry if im wrong, but your complaining over nothin

Reply to macer1

Aren't there tools you can use to adjust fan speed maunally?

-mcg

Reply to MrCommunistGen

guys, not everyone of us loves to explore settings. sometimes we just want simple controls...just understand the guy.

------------------------------ Intel Pentium 4 630 3.0Ghz Shuttle XPC SB81P(intel 915G)
Patriot Dual Channel 2GB DDR400: Raid0 640GB 2pc WD3200AAJS
Powercolor ATI Radeon HD3870 PCS 512MB DDR4

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Reply to goonting

yeah lay off him you tossers.

Use rivatuner and in the fan speed section you should be able to change the fan speed in small steps to whatever you feel comfortable with.

Reply to spoonboy

Well, just how much simpler can it be? Especially with all the utilities bundled with the graphics cards nowadays...

Reply to ZozZoz

Ok, firstly i tried RivaTuner and couldnt get it to work, the next best option for fixing the fan speed is flashing the bios, the process that broke them in the first place (i just hope they will refund me). If im spending £150 on each card i dont want to have to risk breaking it or voiding the warranty just to get it to run as a reasonable temperature (i.e. not 90-100c under load).

So i thought i would ask if there were any 3870s that i could just use. I have no personal preferance over nvidia or ati, i just want a computer that works!

Reply to haydox

I ordered a set of these for my crossfire set up.....never liked any factory cooling....

http://thermaltakeusa.com/product/ [...] -g0102.asp

Reply to Earnie

Ah cool. Problem is that it wasnt the method of cooling that was the problem, it was the fact that the graphics card bios had the fan speed set constantly at 23%.

If overclockers dont refund me for my two cards and i manage to re-flash them i may consider some extra cooling like that if i need it.

The 3870X2 looks tempting, with dual GPUs surely ATI will sort out the fan scaling!

Message edited by haydox on 01-20-2008 at 05:46:21 PM

Reply to haydox

Why are you using rivatuner and not ati tray tools, then you can set temps to speeds, so the speed only goes up if it gets hot.

Message quoted 1 times

Reply to yay

I mounted an Accelro S1 cooler on my MSI OC'd 3870. I have pretty decent cooling in the case with side vents. After playing 3 hours of EQ2 my temp was at 45C. With the stock cooler I was at mid 50s. Whats worse is MSI fixes their fan speed to 80% on the OCd version. So not only did it get much cooler, it also got much quieter with the aftermarket cooler.

Reply to wht1986

yay wrote :

Why are you using rivatuner and not ati tray tools, then you can set temps to speeds, so the speed only goes up if it gets hot.

Really? I didnt see that anywhere which is why i tried flashing the bios! If i get a refund i recon ill get some of these, http://www.overclockers.co.uk/show [...] subcat=416, as from the reviews they seem to have working fan ratios out of the box. People reporting 50c under load. One guy said that they are locked at 100%, which is fine by me as my case blocks out a fair amount of noise and if im gaming speakers will be on and if im working music will be up loud!

Message edited by haydox on 01-21-2008 at 04:50:36 PM

Reply to haydox

Lay off the OP. Alot of the 3870's including mine (a Diamond) have crappy fan BIOS and require 3rd party tools to force fan speed increase or some people have to flash the BIOS of the graphics card.

FYI, CCC does not have a fan speed changer which sux!

------------------------------ Q9400 @3.2Ghz-HD4870 512MB GDDR5-2GB DDR2-1066
"You figured it out. All new CPU's are nothing but overclocked Pentium 1's with a few bells and whistles added, ask any ol timer whose been around."

Reply to bfellow

bfellow, thanks and what program do you use to force your speed? That one i found off overclockers appears to have its fan set permanently at 100% (according to a reviewer).

Reply to haydox

Im pretty sure the GeCube ones shipping out are with a fully working fan bios.
I flashed mine with the .071 bios and it works perfectly. The fan is 100% dependent on the VPU heat and load.
It also fixes the over clocking problem getting past 860 so you can go higher if you like.

Message edited by thecompukid on 01-21-2008 at 08:51:11 PM

Thanks compukid, ill check them out.
When you say you flashed yours you mean your diamond right? Just checking!

Message edited by haydox on 01-22-2008 at 08:42:24 AM

Reply to haydox

I got Powercolor Radeon HD3870 PCS which has Zerotherm cooler with built in sensors that would automatically adjust fan speeds depending on load/heat. So far Im testing it only with World in Conflict since thursday. All that matters to me is that I get smooth ride and adequate ventilation. CAn i flash mine too? or not because its factory OC to 800mhz already idles at 45-51Celsius

------------------------------ Intel Pentium 4 630 3.0Ghz Shuttle XPC SB81P(intel 915G)
Patriot Dual Channel 2GB DDR400: Raid0 640GB 2pc WD3200AAJS
Powercolor ATI Radeon HD3870 PCS 512MB DDR4

Reply to goonting

Did you ever find a solution? I have a P5E and two 3870's in X-fire and the fans stopped running. I knew something was wrong when my computer would reboot when playing COD4.

Reply to chiltonj

I have a Sapphire 3870x2 that suffered from the same problem, so I added 2 ZEROTherm 815s and it works fabulous now.

I recently picked up another card, Visiontek 3870 OC edition from Best Buy for $129 that comes with the ZEROTherm fan. It's clocked at 825 core and 1170 (i think) memory. It rocks, no fan speed issues.

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