XFX HD 6870 Idle Temperatures?

[lhaskew]

Hello,
I have 2 Radeon HD 6870's in Crossfire. I have an Antec DF-85 case, my ambient temp is usually around 23C. There is about an inch and a half between the two cards. I am not overclocked, but I am running three monitors. One 25'' at 1920x1080 and two 17'' monitors at 1280x1024. My idle temps are around 55C at 25% fan speed. My load temps are about 66 to 67C with fan speed at 45%. My question is, are my idle temps too high?

 

[Headspin_69]

Seems a l little bit high but really i dont see the matter so long as they are not running beyond TDP and your case probably lacks airflow a bit.

 

[Warmacblu]

It's weird that your load temps are so low while your idle temps are kinda high. Do your case fans slow down during idle, increasing the overall case temp and speed up during gaming?

 

[kajabla]

Well, bump up the idle fan speeds.
Is that idle with absolutely no programs running, after a few minutes of rest?

 

[lhaskew]

It's weird that your load temps are so low while your idle temps are kinda high. Do your case fans slow down during idle, increasing the overall case temp and speed up during gaming?

Nope, case fans are constantly on high. When I say idle, I mean boot up, run for ten minutes on desktop with nothing running except maybe a periodic webpage. Also, the second GPU is not used until I am in game, and it idles around 36C since it is off.
Thanks for your reply.

 

[lhaskew]

Well, bump up the idle fan speeds.
Is that idle with absolutely no programs running, after a few minutes of rest?

No programs running, and ten minutes of rest.
Thanks for replying.

 

[Warmacblu]

It's not really an issue but if you want to lower the idle temps, download Afterburner and increase the fan speed or create your own fan profile.

 

[kajabla]

Can you post a picture of your airflow?

 

[lhaskew]

It's not really an issue but if you want to lower the idle temps, download Afterburner and increase the fan speed or create your own fan profile.

I have already done that. I just don't want the noise it creates. Are there any good aftermarket coolers for the card?

 

[lhaskew]

Can you post a picture of your airflow?

I took a couple, but I don't know how to post them. I can't copy and paste and there is no insert image option that I see.

 

[kajabla]

Uploading to tinypic.com and posting the links is the easy way. You can also insert images by directing the forum to their locations with code as you would with italics, surrounding the image location with

. http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/32686-12-posting-images-styling-posts

 

[lhaskew]

Uploading to tinypic.com and posting the links is the easy way. You can also insert images by directing the forum to their locations with code as you would with italics, surrounding the image location with

. http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/32686-12-posting-images-styling-posts

Here you go. Thanks again for looking into it. 3 120's on front (pulling). 2 140's on top (exhaust). 2 120's on back (exhaust). and one side 120 for the graphics cards.

 

[kajabla]

Assuming the side one's blowing in, this should be fine, and your issue is coming from something else. This might be a background program (a virus, even, though that'd be pretty odd) or a bad heatsink set that would require an RMA if your load temps weren't so low.

 

[memadmax]

Yea, the side one is all you need. I have nearly the same setup as yours(minus all the crazy lights lol)
And I pull almost the same temps as you...

I've noticed that there is a kind of a "top out" you can reach with air cooling, where if you add more air flow it just don't make a difference because of the temperature of the air.... So I stuck my computer in front of an A/C unit =D

 

[lhaskew]

Yea, the side one is all you need. I have nearly the same setup as yours(minus all the crazy lights lol)
And I pull almost the same temps as you...

I've noticed that there is a kind of a "top out" you can reach with air cooling, where if you add more air flow it just don't make a difference because of the temperature of the air.... So I stuck my computer in front of an A/C unit =D

Haha. Yeah. I thought about water cooling. It was in the budget, but I am just too scared to try. I think they will be fine. I will probably search for an aftermarket cooler.

 

[lhaskew]

Assuming the side one's blowing in, this should be fine, and your issue is coming from something else. This might be a background program (a virus, even, though that'd be pretty odd) or a bad heatsink set that would require an RMA if your load temps weren't so low.

No viruses. Brand new installation of Windows was put on two weeks ago. Plus, I just ran a scan. I think it is just as low as it can be since I am idling with three HD displays. Thanks for the input though.

Also, RMA is out of the question. I had to break the stickers to pull off the heatsink when I put Arctic Silver on. Also, I cleaned with alcohol and hexane, and I am pretty experienced with thermal paste application... So this is not the issue. It was a previous attempt to solve the issue.

Thanks again.

 

[kajabla]

I think it is just as low as it can be since I am idling with three HD displays.

Oh, you should have said. You're fine, then.

 

[lhaskew]

Best answer selected by lhaskew.