Sapphire 4870 idle at 66 celcius, Hot no?

[lanvin]

Hello,

i'm on a Intel Q9400 (factory clock), 2x 2 800mhz kingston DDR2 ram, and a Sapphire 4870 512DDR5. CPU each core average at 38-40 idle. But my GPU (using GPUz) is 66 at idle! is that a bit high, i don' t remember my other Sapphire 4830 having this reading.

My CPU case is Cooler Master Elite 330, with 1 120mm rear fan (that's all). I know i should add another, just wanan know what is the right or 'normal' temp for 4870.

Thanks.

 

[fruees]

For normal 4870s that would be normal. For your Sapphire, which has a better heatsink already installed, you should be seeing lower temps at idle.

Maybe, just maybe, it's got something to do with the fact you
ONLY HAVE ONE FAN IN YOUR CASE

Seriously man, it isn't even an intake fan!! I know you know this and sorry for having a go at you, but given the quality of your components you are crazy - how does air get in your case??

Apparently the cards scan run at 100C no probs and are rated at 125C according to ATI. Obviously never let it get this hot - my friend has the 1gig version of yours and it gets to 65 on load. But we all know why yours is so hot

 

[lanvin]

Thanks for the reply.

i knew i would get this, so no hard feelings. i know i needed more fans, My Personal system has two fans on the same casing with only a 4830. This is an office PC, bought by my superior for my office use. So i guess it's not right to ask for a fan when you're presented a gift

Anyhow, advice well taken, shall get myself a front fan soon
Thanks for the facts and info too!

 

[jitpublisher]

While nothing is hot, your CPU and GPU both are slightly warm for idle speeds...slightly, nothing to worry about. What you should look at however is how warm everything is getting under load. Yeah, adding a good intake fan would knock everything down a few degrees, especially when start stressing your parts and they start building heat, you'll want that increased airflow to help get the heat out of there!

 

[CharliesW]

Adding more case fans and cooling won't make that card be any cooler really maybe 3c but it will make it's tempture more stable so it wont rise much. The newest ati cards run hellz za hawt

 

[lanvin]

THANKS A LOT GUYS!.

i was thinking for my other computer, an E7300 (OC to 3.2Ghz 9.5x 333FSB), Kingston 2GB 800MHz x2 (unchange), a Sapphire 4830 (unchange), MSI p45neo2 mobo. Since i OC abit the temp is about 38 on idle and stressing with prime95 for about 8hrs, max temp on RealTemp is about 62. i would wanna ask your opinion on getting a Cooler Master Hyper 212 (or any brand in this price bracket) to replace my stockcooler. Is it advisable? maybe i would do the same for this Q9400 if i decide to just push it over 3GHz a little bit. As i found no matter quad or core, most of the time, there's only 1core function when you do simple things like serfing, and the speed of core really counts. Just what i observe, i'm new at this, if you have to blast , do blast with mercy. LoL

 

[SpinachEater]

I can't believe no one has asked you what your GPU fan settings are since that is an important piece of info and the quickest way to drop your temps....are you on auto fan settings or manual? Auto settings are crap. Usually for the best cooling just do manual settings in CCC up to the noise level that you can tolerate before you start gaming....and then maybe a hair past for assurance

Idle isn't so much what is important though. I would worry about your load temps. If you idle at 66 and under full load come in at 70 you are set. If you jump into the 90s under a load for example, then I would look into getting fans and possibly replacing the thermal paste on your GPU if you are comfortable doing so.

I guess the other thing could be dust. As it builds up you block your airflow through the heat sinks and you get higher temps. It is good to do a little dusting now and then. The 4870 isn't this old but my roomie had a VGA crap out on him due to dust build up over a period of a few years. Some people just never look in their case.

Regardless, I would look into more fans for your case as well. They are cheap so why not? More airflow in your case will help all of your components cool down. I always have a fan right over my RAM. If you overclock your CPU you could use a fan on your northbridge.....fans are good pretty much.

If If you can get more intake and outake fans...extra bonus...if not, fans inside the case pointed at various components just to get air circulating is good too...especially if you are planning on overclocking parts which = more heat.

 

[fruees]

If you want to manually control the GPU's fan, unlock Overdrive in CatalystControlCenter. Around 30 - 35% is fine for idle and barely audible. 50% should be fine for gaming, although if it's an office pc then you probably won't care about this.

Alternatively you can install Rivatuner, which automatically adjusts your GPU's fan speed - much better so than the inherent automatic fan control.
This article should show you how to set it up:
http://www.hardforum.com/showthread.php?s=211f450532643038c7bc7c8295f73809&p=1033029086#post1033029086

 

[lanvin]

i have recently found out why my 4830 is idle at low temp. It seems my computer had adjusted the clock speed of the GPU. i do not know what setting cause this as both my office 4870 and home 4830 only has catalyst control centre by ATI. all enable OC, although both are set at factory clock.

Can you tell me how to get this up to my factory clock? For your info, both PC using MSI boat 7512, with the MSI duo core centre software up and enable green power. thanks for helping,

here's the clock speed 'default' set by my computer. i tried to off the MSI green power (although i know that should not be the cause) and found no changes.

http://gpuz.techpowerup.com/09/02/28/6s6.png

 

[jeffokada81]

I recently recieved a Sapphire 4870 512 and the design is different. I wouldnt care if the temp was bothering me. My other Sapphire is the red one with the blower style fan, this new one has the fan with shroud around it.

FYI: I'm Running P5E3 Deluxe E6850 DDR3 4GB OC'd to 3.66GHZ on CPU and my case is well ventilated, PSU - Corsair TX850.

I've been messing with this thing for hours trying to get the temp to come down. I removed the shroud and seprated the GPU from the Heatsink and re-did the thermal compound with some decent Arctic Silver 5 and noticed the factory stuff was pretty much powder. I slapped everything back together leaving off the shroud to see if it would back a difference.... Not really. It was getting up to 89c just letting ATITOOL's 3d model run. Thats pretty sad. I even went as far as setting the little fan that the ASUS P5E3 came with i had extra ( since the OCZ Vendetta 2 CPU cooler was in the way) and put that next to the heat sink.

Does anyone have a setup that will bring the temp down? All that i did it stays around 80c'ish with the case open. LOL my CPU is idle 67f.. =)

 

[jeffokada81]

I returned the Sapphire 4870 with the Black shard/casing and found the first model with the red turbine style fan and now running dual (crossfire) under load @ 65c burn-in with furmark.

Why they changed the sapphire card to that crappy design blows my mind. cheaper? I suggest to anyone buying from Sapphire, stay away from the 2nd gen 4870 card. It re-circulates the hot air in the computer case as the other (red design) pulls from the case and out the back which draws more cool air from intake fans.