Sapphire HD7970 3GB GDDR5 OC running hot?

[zulux]

Thanks for reading this,I got a Sapphire 11197-01-40G HD7970 3GB GDDR5 OC last week and it idles at 51c-54c,this seems hot to me, I am running the fans at 50%.The airflow in my case is pretty bad as I have a small PC and the cables that came with Corsair 700w psu are so much bigger and longer than the last psu I had have made the airflow worse,I did add a noctua FLX 120mm fan before I got the card,so my question is are these temps alright? or should I be doing something else to lower them.I want to get into gaming and overclocking in the future.any guidence will be gladly received.

 

[AdioKIP]

Temps are fine for idle. They would probably be slightly lower with better airflow in your case. The Sapphire OC cards use a dual fan design that while it keeps the card cool, it doesnt ventilate the hot air out of your case so airflow in your case is very important. The main thing to worry about is your max temp when utilizing the card. My Sapphire 7950 (OC'd to higher than a stock 7970) idles around 45, maxes aroudn 73. As long as you're not topping 80 when maxed I wouldnt worry. If you start to get into the 80's, then you might want to try to get more airflow in your case.

 

[zulux]

Thank you I'm relieved.

 

[vmem]

Hi Zulu, are you running multiple monitors?

I ask because I have the same card in a NZXT phantom full tower with very good wire management and have done my best to optimize air-flow with some fan mods, and the card still idles around 45C (ambient's around 25C). this is because the card doesn't down throttle quiet as much with 2 or 3 monitor connected compared to just a single monitor.

anyway, like adioKIP said, as long as you're max temps aren't too bad, there isn't much to worry about

 

[zulux]

Hi Zulu, are you running multiple monitors?

I ask because I have the same card in a NZXT phantom full tower with very good wire management and have done my best to optimize air-flow with some fan mods, and the card still idles around 45C (ambient's around 25C). this is because the card doesn't down throttle quiet as much with 2 or 3 monitor connected compared to just a single monitor.

anyway, like adioKIP said, as long as you're max temps aren't too bad, there isn't much to worry about

Hi vmem,I am running a second monitor while carring out some benchmarks allowing me to keep an eye on temps,is this what is raising my temp? glad you mentioned that seems obvious now.

 

[vmem]

Hi vmem,I am running a second monitor while carring out some benchmarks allowing me to keep an eye on temps,is this what is raising my temp? glad you mentioned that seems obvious now.

well, running that second monitor is what's raising your idle temps. running two monitors causes the card to idle at 500mhz rather than 300mhz for a single monitor. I looked at your temps and said (that's either extremely high for a single monitor set up, or he's running two...). glad we solved that mystery . you're card's idling a tad on the warm side, but no, it's nothing unusual for a dual monitor set up, and nothing to worry about

 

[zulux]

well, running that second monitor is what's raising your idle temps. running two monitors causes the card to idle at 500mhz rather than 300mhz for a single monitor. I looked at your temps and said (that's either extremely high for a single monitor set up, or he's running two...). glad we solved that mystery . you're card's idling a tad on the warm side, but no, it's nothing unusual for a dual monitor set up, and nothing to worry about

Thanks so much for your input,I love this website

 

[joedjnpc]

What are your max load temps? Idle is a bit high (I'm at 33 Degrees with a dedicated GPU 80mm fan) but that temp 24/7 wont do damage.

I'd recommend investing in a larger case and tuck the wires behind the mobo, they really aren't very expensive! You'll notice a big difference with good airflow.

 

[zulux]

What are your max load temps? Idle is a bit high (I'm at 33 Degrees with a dedicated GPU 80mm fan) but that temp 24/7 wont do damage.

I'd recommend investing in a larger case and tuck the wires behind the mobo, they really aren't very expensive! You'll notice a big difference with good airflow.

You read my mind joedjnpc I've been thinking about investing in a new case for a couple of days,only had this PC about 2 months ..bought it from a shop and didn't realise that I should have built my own I am quite a noob you see,but even at my level I know now I could have put a PC together for less money and with the componants I wanted,..my card gets up to 85c-88c under furmark 15min stress test,ran it a couple of times and quit halfway through a couple of times I don't really know what I'm doing yet I am getting triple Asus 23" monitors in about 4 weeks and I want to be more knowledgable about OC'ing by then,promised my nephews they are going to be playing crysis2 and Dirt3 on ultra settings..anyway,your dead right new case it is(now I'm thinking I want a better mobo) ho hum

 

[zakattak80]

well i really wouldn't use furmark is the basis for temps, there no game that well drive your temps like that. if you have some gpu dependent game use those.

 

[joedjnpc]

Replacing the mobo might cause problems with Windows, especially if you have an OEM version, you'd probably have to get a new version. Unless there is specific features or you can't get a stable overclock on your CPU I would stick with the mobo personally, PSU looks good anyway!

As far as overclocking your 7970 just set the power slider to +20% in Catalst Control Centre, to start I would test increase my core and memory by 100MHz each and work from there, going up 10Mhz or so at a time and seeing what's stable. It's really not hard to do within CCC to achieve a great GPU OC.

Good luck!

 

[vmem]

if you plan on doing some hardcore OCing in air, I would recommend this case:
http://www.amazon.com/SILVERSTONE-RV02B-W-Steel-Tower-Computer/dp/B002M78KZG

silverstone is well known for being a solid case builder. this is a well thought out and constructed case with plenty of room for everything. best part is it's an air-flow god and allows for some insane OCing

 

[zulux]

Replacing the mobo might cause problems with Windows, especially if you have an OEM version, you'd probably have to get a new version. Unless there is specific features or you can't get a stable overclock on your CPU I would stick with the mobo personally, PSU looks good anyway!

As far as overclocking your 7970 just set the power slider to +20% in Catalst Control Centre, to start I would test increase my core and memory by 100MHz each and work from there, going up 10Mhz or so at a time and seeing what's stable. It's really not hard to do within CCC to achieve a great GPU OC.

Good luck!

Thats great advice about OC'ing thanks for that I have the sapphire tweak utility TriXX and didnt know how to use it really,the thing with my mobo is that the memory modules are very close to the cpu and I wanted to swapout the cooler with arctic cooler but it looks tight also I only have two memory slots and I envy those with four,you know how it is..thanks again friend.

 

[vmem]

Thats great advice about OC'ing thanks for that I have the sapphire tweak utility TriXX and didnt know how to use it really,the thing with my mobo is that the memory modules are very close to the cpu and I wanted to swapout the cooler with arctic cooler but it looks tight also I only have two memory slots and I envy those with four,you know how it is..thanks again friend.

8GB is generally enough for just about everything you'd do with memory short of running 10+ virtual desktops. so you're fine with 2 memory slots buddy

also, whatever you do, do not set the power slider to +20% in catalyst control center until you get better temperatures. doing this increases the amount of electricity that gets sent to your video card (obviously), and can dramatically increase your load temperatures. for your current build, don't touch the power slider at all and overclock on stock voltage. either use sapphire trixx or CCC, and slide the core clock to 1050mhz or even 1100mhz, and the memory to 1500-1600mhz and do some test runs. slide them back down if it's unstable. overclocking's that easy and without changing the voltages, your temperatures would only increase by a few degrees (on load, not idle)

 

[MANOFKRYPTONAK]

You read my mind joedjnpc I've been thinking about investing in a new case for a couple of days,only had this PC about 2 months ..bought it from a shop and didn't realise that I should have built my own I am quite a noob you see,but even at my level I know now I could have put a PC together for less money and with the componants I wanted,..my card gets up to 85c-88c under furmark 15min stress test,ran it a couple of times and quit halfway through a couple of times I don't really know what I'm doing yet I am getting triple Asus 23" monitors in about 4 weeks and I want to be more knowledgable about OC'ing by then,promised my nephews they are going to be playing crysis2 and Dirt3 on ultra settings..anyway,your dead right new case it is(now I'm thinking I want a better mobo) ho hum

WOW 88c at only 15 minutes? I have a 680 vanilla that idles at about 30c and under full load of furmark for an hour will hit 70ish. So you are already getting a bigger case that is good (if you don't mind size get a huge one! My family always comments that they have never seen a computer as big as mine full ATX case). Your PSU isn't fully modular (from what I read), mine isn't modular at all, one thing I did was zip tie my cords to parts of my case for better cable management, and the excess is ziptied and put on top of my dvd drive ( my PSU is a top mount) You could add a CPU aftermarket heat sink to help with case temps. I like the cooler master hyper 212 series (for the money that is, others will have suggestions listen to them too.) get a push pull fan system, 2 fans. Also make sure your case is sealed that the only air coming in or out is the air being sucked in and pushed out. More case fans too, your 750W PSU should handle all of this no problem.

Perhaps you could look at an aftermarket GPU cooler, just my 2cents good luck!

 

[MANOFKRYPTONAK]

Oh and don't get to caught up with wanting better, it's tech better comes out every month!

 

[zulux]

Roger That. Just ran a benchmark with power+20 and got good oline score(2nd) with clock and memory upped +100.Then I read your msg..no damage though,wont do that again till I get a second noctua 120mm for the front of my case -and a new case.Thanks again.

 

[zulux]

WOW 88c at only 15 minutes? I have a 680 vanilla that idles at about 30c and under full load of furmark for an hour will hit 70ish. So you are already getting a bigger case that is good (if you don't mind size get a huge one! My family always comments that they have never seen a computer as big as mine full ATX case). Your PSU isn't fully modular (from what I read), mine isn't modular at all, one thing I did was zip tie my cords to parts of my case for better cable management, and the excess is ziptied and put on top of my dvd drive ( my PSU is a top mount) You could add a CPU aftermarket heat sink to help with case temps. I like the cooler master hyper 212 series (for the money that is, others will have suggestions listen to them too.) get a push pull fan system, 2 fans. Also make sure your case is sealed that the only air coming in or out is the air being sucked in and pushed out. More case fans too, your 750W PSU should handle all of this no problem.

Perhaps you could look at an aftermarket GPU cooler, just my 2cents good luck!

Your input is appreciated ..which type of aftermarket gpu cooler would fit over my card?it alreadey has two fans and a cowling over it..I didnt know there was such a cooler,.

 

[zulux]

if you plan on doing some hardcore OCing in air, I would recommend this case:
http://www.amazon.com/SILVERSTONE-RV02B-W-Steel-Tower-Computer/dp/B002M78KZG

silverstone is well known for being a solid case builder. this is a well thought out and constructed case with plenty of room for everything. best part is it's an air-flow god and allows for some insane OCing

Those cases are awesome the one you recommend is not available in U.K but I have a similar Silverstone picked out and on my Amazon wishlist many thanks.

 

[zulux]

well i really wouldn't use furmark is the basis for temps, there no game that well drive your temps like that. if you have some gpu dependent game use those.

Will do friend I've never gamed on the PC before just xbox so I dont have any games yet ..Dirt3 is on the way to me from Amazon £7 it should be here by friday so I will use that as a gauge for temps as your advice,thanks again.

 

[AdioKIP]

Someone mentioned an aftermarket GPU cooler, you can do the same for your CPU if you want to bring down temps. Dropping the temps of your cpu will help drop the overall temps in the case which will help slightly with your GPU.

Also, if not a silverstone, check out antec cases. I love my antec 1200, the dust filters are one of the best features, not sure why all manufacturers arent including them now.

http://www.amazon.com/Antec-Twelve-Hundred-V3-Gaming/dp/B004INH0FS/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1340732194&sr=1-1&keywords=antec+1200+v3

http://www.amazon.com/Antec-Fleet-DF-85-Gaming-Computer/dp/B003JH7MIO/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1340732246&sr=1-1&keywords=antec+df-85

 

[zulux]

Someone mentioned an aftermarket GPU cooler, you can do the same for your CPU if you want to bring down temps. Dropping the temps of your cpu will help drop the overall temps in the case which will help slightly with your GPU.

Also, if not a silverstone, check out antec cases. I love my antec 1200, the dust filters are one of the best features, not sure why all manufacturers arent including them now.

http://www.amazon.com/Antec-Twelve-Hundred-V3-Gaming/dp/B004INH0FS/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1340732194&sr=1-1&keywords=antec+1200+v3

http://www.amazon.com/Antec-Fleet-DF-85-Gaming-Computer/dp/B003JH7MIO/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1340732246&sr=1-1&keywords=antec+df-85

Checking those out right now many thanks.

 

[vmem]

the current aftermarket coolers for the 7970 are the accelero xtreme 7900, gelide icy also recently got one of their coolers certified for the 7970.

however, I'll mention that on just about every benchmark I've seen, the sapphire dual-x is one of the coolest 7970 cards on the market, only surpassed by the MSI lightning in some instances. getting an aftermarket cooler will help you, but probably not significantly. I wouldn't expect a temperature change of more than 5C.

oh, and the antec and cooler master HAF series are all great cases for cooling. I just personally dislike the way they look

 

[zulux]

the current aftermarket coolers for the 7970 are the accelero xtreme 7900, gelide icy also recently got one of their coolers certified for the 7970.

however, I'll mention that on just about every benchmark I've seen, the sapphire dual-x is one of the coolest 7970 cards on the market, only surpassed by the MSI lightning in some instances. getting an aftermarket cooler will help you, but probably not significantly. I wouldn't expect a temperature change of more than 5C.

oh, and the antec and cooler master HAF series are all great cases for cooling. I just personally dislike the way they look

Many thanks for the info,I expect my temps to drop with a new case and probably wont need a gpu cooler although it's good to know about,I have picked out a Silverstone fortess as my next case I thought the Antec was good having dust filters but it would'nt fit under my desk.Thanks for your time and interest,by the way You Americans should really appreciate the prices you pay over there here in the UK we pay so much more than you do,I was just drooling on Amazon U.S so cheap! not to mention $9 gas prices over here,thanks again friend.

 

[vmem]

you're very welcome! and yes, I really do appreciate the american prices, especially the gas haha.

best of luck with the silverstone fortress. it should solve all your problems and give you amazing OCs . feel free to come back if you don't see a dramatic temperature drop or if you need any other advice. fyi my sapphire card tops out at around 67C on gaming load and 75-ish running furmark for an hour. this is all on stock voltage with ambient temps around 25C.

best of luck and have fun with your new build!