Radeon 4870x2, VRM, How hot is too hot?

[moomooman]

Hi,

I have a Radeon 4870x2 and just fitted a "Arctic Cooling Accelero Xtreme 4870X2 VGA Cooler".

I'm worried about VRM Phase 3 on GPU 0, its idle at 57C but maxed out at 100C when I was running Civilization 5. I ran Civ 5 for temp testing as it always maxes out GPU 0 and doesnt use GPU 1, in past experience it runs video cards very hot, but is this too hot? Will it died?

I only noticed this because I installed Riva tuner to test the temps, previously I just checked the GPU temps in Catalyst control centre, so maybe this is commonplace?

My GPU 0 now idles at 38C, maxes out at 50C (highest I've seen so far), that is with a room temp of 14C, case temp 26C.

Will the temp drop as the heat transfer pads get used, I only powered up the machine 45 minutes ago.

I cant find the ATI spec of what the highest acceptable VRM is before the card is going to die, but with the stock cooler I often noticed GPU temps of over 90C, I wonder what the VRM phase 3 was in that instance?

Any thoughts very much welcome!

 

[nforce4max]

Always use thermal pads or direct contact when it comes to cooling the power vrm phases. If you do not the card will eventually fail even when the cores are running cool. Always go beyond what you think the card's needs are to rule out any possible problems before they happen.

 

[moomooman]

Thanks for replying!

A 30 minute session of "Medal of Honor" saw a peak "VRM Phase 3" of 93C but it averaged about 78C. Soon as I alt-tab to the desktop it drops down to the high 50's in seconds....

I'm guessing its okay but I would love to hear what other people are seeing for VRM temps with similar hardware. I will look for a diagram to show which is VRM 3 and make sure I'm getting good contact there just in case.

 

[nforce4max]

Well so far as I know it is a heavily loaded phase but you need to check contact regardless.

 

[moomooman]

Hope this thread might help someone else though these coolers are quite old now.... posting my temps as a reference...

Tonight I stripped down the card, trimmed and applied the thermal pads from the stock heatsink over the VRMs with their new pads already fitted (against my own best judgement) but it must be making better contact with the heatsink as tonight I threw some extended gaming and benchmarks at the card and it was better temp wise.

Benchmarking with "Just Cause 2" saw VRM 3 peak at 100C and that was after an hour of playing, yesterday Civilization 5 hit 104C in five minutes and was still climbing when I exited. Today it hit max at 92C, so thats a bit better.

I wish I had noted VRM with the stock cooler but I know Idle was in the high 60's.

I applied Arctic Silver 5 on the GPUs after removing the original compound that came with the cooler, so hopefully I will see a little improvement there.

GPU0 - Idle 42C , Load 61C (Stock Cooler idle 58C, load 85C-ish)

GPU1 - Idle 36C , Load 59C

GPU0 VRM 1 , 2, 3: Idle 53C, 54C, 57C - Load 93C, 97C, 100C

GPU1 VRM 1 , 2, 3: Idle 45C, 47C, 45C - Load 91C, 93C, 90C

From what I can find online these VRM temps are common for this cooler, some people reported 140C on VRM3 at times!

I think I will leave it at that for fear of breaking something, main reason I bought this card was its silent! That I love!