Way to hot!!!! Dual 4870 x2

[Sqzink]

Guys, i seem to have a major problem with my current graphics cards and dont understand why. I currently have dual 4870 x2 meaning 4 cards and the temps are just of the chart. On idle i was hitting 84C which is what the hell. Nothing is overclocked. The CPU is using its stock cooler and im using the stacker 830. Dont think its the fan. My biggest woory when building it was the little to no space between the two cards. Perhaps thats the problem.

I read quite a few reviews saying that these specific cards suffer much more then others when concerning poor cooling though 84C. Thats just insane. Pls help as im stick in the dirt and hope not to have to resort to water cooling.

My mobo is the P5E3 Premium is that helps and CPU Q9550. Thanks guys. Hope u can help.

 

[aznguy0028]

go download riva tuner 2.11 and turn up the fan speed on your 4870x2, at stock speeds, those things can get hot.

http://downloads.guru3d.com/download.php?det=163

 

[dagger]

Guys, i seem to have a major problem with my current graphics cards and dont understand why. I currently have dual 4870 x2 meaning 4 cards and the temps are just of the chart. On idle i was hitting 84C which is what the hell. Nothing is overclocked. The CPU is using its stock cooler and im using the stacker 830. Dont think its the fan. My biggest woory when building it was the little to no space between the two cards. Perhaps thats the problem.

I read quite a few reviews saying that these specific cards suffer much more then others when concerning poor cooling though 84C. Thats just insane. Pls help as im stick in the dirt and hope not to have to resort to water cooling.

My mobo is the P5E3 Premium is that helps and CPU Q9550. Thanks guys. Hope u can help.

That looks pretty normal to me. 4870 runs hot. It's just a fact of life, gotta deal with it.
http://en.expreview.com/2008/06/24/first-review-hd-4870-and-hd-4850.html/6

A lot of people run it stock at that temperature, and they're still fine.

 

[dagger]

that above statement just isn't true, why post it?

Isn't true in reality or in your imagination?
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Diamond/HD_4870/24.html

That temperature is normal.

 

[Mad_Cow20]

I must admit my 4870x2 does run hot...I did not fix the fan speed though. I figure if it burns out with the standard settings it is on now then I will just use my warranty.

 

[dagger]

I must admit my 4870x2 does run hot...I did not fix the fan speed though. I figure if it burns out with the standard settings it is on now then I will just use my warranty.

Exactly. The gpu also tends to tolerate higher temperatures than others, so it balances out. They're known to hit 100C without losing stability or even artifacting. My g92 8800gts idle at 40C, load at no more than 60C, and artifacts at 80C. Temperatures are not absolute. People run it at that temperature all the time, and they're just fine. This fear is unfounded.

 

[aznguy0028]

Exactly. The gpu also tends to tolerate higher temperatures than others, so it balances out. They're known to hit 100C without losing stability or even artifacting. My g92 8800gts idle at 40C, load at no more than 60C, and artifacts at 80C. Temperatures are not absolute. People run it at that temperature all the time, and they're just fine. This fear is unfounded.

agreed! these cards do tolerate quite a bit.

 

[Guest]

stranger stranger is just himself.. just ignore him... unless he has something insightful just ignore him

 

[Sus-penders]

I'll direct you to an interview with Eric Demers (one of ATI's to engineers)... http://www.rage3d.com/interviews/atichats/undertheihs/

the relevant section for you is:



R3D: On to a rather burning issue: looking back, do you still think it was a good idea to setup the RV770 cooling solution as you did, with a focus on silence rather than thermal performance?

Eric: We went through a lot of feedback we received, as well as further investigating the topic, and it turns out that the majority of users are far more sensitive to the noise associated with the cooling solution, than they are to GPU temperatures, which led as to aim for the most silent possible operation. Considering that, for stock operation, the cooling solutions we have implemented are more than adequate in terms of thermal performance, as they keep the chips well within specifications- we rate the chips to work up to 105o C which is quite a bit higher than the temperatures you'll be normally seeing. Of course, if you're considering significant overclocking, you'll probably be better served by the alternate cooling solution that our AIB partners bring, as some of those are better suited to such a task than our reference design.


105 celsius...toasty indeed! So there you have it, they went for quiet operation rather than cool operation.

My own HD 4850 idles at 80 celsius, so it's not too far from your 84. If it burns up, well, that's Visionteks problem then

 

[spathotan]

Just because it can tollerate such high temps dosent mean its fine. Ambient temps, anybody?

 

[dagger]

Just because it can tollerate such high temps dosent mean its fine. Ambient temps, anybody?

Meh, since the stock dual slot cooler in 4870/4870x2 vents hot air outside the case, it shouldn't be an issue. Doesn't matter how hot the air is as long as it's outside.

Don't put your hand behind the case though.

 

[invisik]

that's pretty hot but the card can tolerate those temps.
to be safe just increase fan speed.

 

[geofelt]

The cards are hot, and can tolerate heat.
Still, what can you do to help?
Is there sufficient airflow to feed the case?
The 830 has room for a bunch of side intake fans, and you can make them high airflow if you want. Take the side off and direct a strong house fan at the innards and see if it helps. If it does, then spend some time on case cooling.

Is your wiring neat?

 

[spathotan]

Meh, since the stock dual slot cooler in 4870/4870x2 vents hot air outside the case, it shouldn't be an issue. Doesn't matter how hot the air is as long as it's outside.

Don't put your hand behind the case though.

The back of the chip still gets hot. My NB temps rose almost 10c from the 8800GT to 4870 switch.

 

[aznguy0028]

The back of the chip still gets hot. My NB temps rose almost 10c from the 8800GT to 4870 switch.

get a case with better airflow or slap a fan on your NB

 

[spathotan]

Dont need tips on case ventilation, no offense. Its besides the point here.

My NB cooler is a Thermalright IFX, dosent get any better as far as passive/non water goes. It has a 80mm/92mm fan bracket for it but they didnt really think it through. Using a Xiggy S1283, the only way you can fit the fan on it is if you are using a water block really. I even had to bend it by the pipes at the base because it was touching the back of my 4870, was obviously spiking the hell out of temps I couldnt even touch the thing longer than 2 seconds.

Here is what Im talking about, ive since put my Xiggy back on after lapping it, this pic was taken beforehand.

**EDIT** Got one current also. Ignore the poor wiring on my part, important thing is its out of the way of my fans.

Fact is the 4870 runs too hot, no balking aorund it.

 

[the last resort]

i have a 4850 from visiontek. the other night i was running Folding@home for the GPU and forgot to turn the fan speed up. When the card hit 105 C, the fan was put to 100% for about 3 seconds, which made me think of the fan speed. When i looked at GPU-z, the card was at 105C, with 25% fan. I turned the fan up to 40%, and the load temp dropped to <80C.

 

[spathotan]

40% seems to be the sweet spot for my 4870 also. I usually keep it at that unless its extremely hot in here, then ill put it at 45%. 50% + is just way to loud. Im currently pondering a small water cooling setup for the GPU alone. Im done with upgrading for the forseeable future, I cant aford it anymore, so this card needs to last and be well protected.

 

[The_Blood_Raven]

2 4870 x2s in Crossfire will make a HUGE amount of heat. Adding my single 4870 x2 increased my CPU temps by 8c idle and 5c load!

 

[dagger]

Dont need tips on case ventilation, no offense. Its besides the point here.

My NB cooler is a Thermalright IFX, dosent get any better as far as passive/non water goes. It has a 80mm/92mm fan bracket for it but they didnt really think it through. Using a Xiggy S1283, the only way you can fit the fan on it is if you are using a water block really. I even had to bend it by the pipes at the base because it was touching the back of my 4870, was obviously spiking the hell out of temps I couldnt even touch the thing longer than 2 seconds.

Here is what Im talking about, ive since put my Xiggy back on after lapping it, this pic was taken beforehand.
http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e137/spathotan/IMG_0019-1.jpg

**EDIT** Got one current also. Ignore the poor wiring on my part, important thing is its out of the way of my fans.
http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e137/spathotan/DSC04484.jpg

Fact is the 4870 runs too hot, no balking aorund it.

Lol, that looks like it's almost touching. With that kind of close distance, the back of the pcb heats up the heatsink and raise chipset temperature. Reverse cooler.

Err... anyway, most motherboard chipset heatsinks aren't so close, so they shouldn't be affected as much.

 

[spathotan]

Yea thats what was happening, the back of the PCB WAS touching the heatsink, thats why i had to bend it upwards like that. Was causing BSOD's out the @$$. The stock heatsink was just pure trash, it was sitting at like 58c idle with no OC. This one rides around 32c with an OC. Cant really tell from those pics buy I also have Thermalright HR05's on the 2 MOSFET rows. The board looks really badass striped down with no parts on it, I ment to take some pics when I took it apart to lap the Xiggy and CPU.

 

[stoner133]

I watercool my pair of 4870's, now under normal use in a 70f room they run at 31c. When I play Crysis after a couple hours in that same 70f room the gpu's hit 41c and thats after the water cools the cpu. Before watercooling them they would be at70c under normal use and climb to high 80's. Didn't have any problems with them using air cooling but I think putting the waterblocks on was a huge improvement.

 

[Guest]

Hi guys... Just installed the ATI HD 4870 X2 , and it idles at 67 C ....

Is this normal??

------------------
System Information
------------------
Time of this report: 11/13/2008, 13:51:47
Machine name: INTEL-EXTREME
Operating System: Windows Vista™ Ultimate (6.0, Build 6001) Service Pack 1 (6001.vistasp1_gdr.080917-1612)
LanguageRegional Setting: English)
System Manufacturer: System manufacturer
System Model: Rampage Formula
BIOS: BIOS Date: 04/24/08 17:24:47 Ver: 08.00.12
Processor: Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Extreme CPU X9770 @ 3.20GHz (4 CPUs), ~3.2GHz
Memory: 8190MB RAM
Page File: 1428MB used, 15003MB available
Windows Dir: C:\Windows
DirectX Version: DirectX 10
DX Setup Parameters: Not found
DxDiag Version: 6.00.6001.18000 64bit Unicode

 

[hallowed_dragon]

^^^ Come on... enable Ati Overdrive and set the fan speed to 40-45%!!!! Is it that difficult? I'm sick of people complaining about the temps on this cards. You have to spend about 5-6 seconds of your time and make your GPU's temps drop about 20 degrees C and the noise is not that bad. I set the fan speed of my 4870 to 50% and I can still sleep with the comp in the same room.

 

[Guest]

^^^ Come on... enable Ati Overdrive and set the fan speed to 40-45%!!!! Is it that difficult? I'm sick of people complaining about the temps on this cards. You have to spend about 5-6 seconds of your time and make your GPU's temps drop about 20 degrees C and the noise is not that bad. I set the fan speed of my 4870 to 50% and I can still sleep with the comp in the same room.

Just enabled the Overdrive and did an Auto Tune, the temp dropped to 42 degrees C . But does it have any side-effects on the card over time??