MSI HD7950 TwinFrozr - Noise levels

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esperance

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Dec 26, 2012
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Hey all,

It's the first time I've posted in a while, but I'm afraid I've got another issue that I could do with some help with.

Recently I've upgraded my PC with some more RAM (16GB) and an MSI HD7950 TwinFrozr (OC Edition) which can be found here:

http://www.scan.co.uk/products/3gb-msi-radeon-hd7950-twin-frozr-oc-be-5000mhz-gddr5-gpu-880mhz-1792-cores-dvi-hdmi-mdport-plus-free

The problem:


When I first got the card (a few days ago) everything was great, there was very little noise and I managed to installed the 13.2 beta drivers without issue. However since then I have tried playing games, when playing Dirt 3, Guild Wars 2, BF3 and a host of other games my GPU seems to be VERY loud.

So, I opened up MSI Afterburner and took a look at my temps and discovered that I was idling, quite acceptably at 39C with my fan speed set (automatically) at 40% which was a perfect noise level.

My concerns are, when I go into a game it becomes very noisy. I've tried fiddling with the fan speed curve and setting my fans to manual but I've discovered that even when the fan speed is running low the Fan tachometer says that I have a very high RPM and at around 3800-4000 this becomes very loud. When running in game my temps don't tend to exceed 55c Which I believe is acceptable for the card. When running a 3D Mark or a burn test it is also very loud, however this is to be expected no doubt and my results are as expected.

I've also noticed that when idling my GPU usage seems to randomly spike to 84% around every 5-10 seconds, which doesn't seem quite right to me. The card is much louder than my previous GTX 460 even when it was under full load and from reading reviews both now and before I bought the card they're supposed to be fairly comparable in dB levels, and besides I'm sure no card should be as loud as mine is when in game.

Here's some images to illustrate my points:

Idling After Burner:


http://i217.photobucket.com/albums/cc17/mikeylegg/Idling_zps37ae2c92.png

In game After Burner:

Ingame_zps6e8b73a0.png


Whilst conducting a short 5 mins burn test:


Burntest_zps19a13c40.png


My basic specs:


CPU: I7 2600k
Motherboard: Gigabyte Z68X-UD3P-B3
RAM: 16GB Corsair Vengance (1600)
GPU: 3GB MSI HD7950 TwinFrozr OC
PSU: Standard 750W (Novatech)


What I've tried:

- Using after burner to increase the cards power limit
- Changing the fan speed curve
- Manually adjusting fan speed

So, do you think there's any way to make it quiet down a bit? I'm sure it shouldn't be this loud, it's sitting on thick carpet right now which if anything should be absorbing sound. I'm certain the the noise is fan noise as opposed to vibrations.

Thanks alot,

- Mikey

 
meowmix44

meowmix44

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Jan 3, 2013
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I have a very quite card but it wont be quiet without air. Simply open the side of the case since your card is made to exaughst hot air in the case. Trust me its alot quiter and cool looking. It even quiets my other componets
 
E

esperance

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Dec 26, 2012
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Meowmix44 - First of all, thanks for your reply.

I understand that Air cooling will always be a louder option than liquid cooling, the issue is not that it's loud because it's air, but that it is almost certainly louder than it should be.

I found that my previous card (I do realise that there will be a difference between cards, especially when comparing Nvida/ATI) was virtually silent whilst under full load, and I feel as if even though this new card is far more powerful, and therefore will almost certainly be at least slightly louder, it should not be as loud as it is, and the GPU usage should not fluctuate as it does when Idle.

- Mikey
 
E

esperance

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Dec 26, 2012
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Those are the stock settings it came at for some reason, realistically it should have come at 880Mhz, not sure what happened there!

I'll try push it down a bit and see what happens.

Thanks for the response

- Mikey
 
meowmix44

meowmix44

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Jan 3, 2013
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It might automaticly overclock on load. Dont lower any voltages just hertz
 
E

esperance

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Dec 26, 2012
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Hey, I turned down the clock but I'm still getting massive noise above 58C but It's taking longer to reach that temp. I'm thinking I might grab a BeQuiet side fan to pump the air out of my case and it'd be quieter than having a higher RPM.

Thanks

- Mikey

I'm still somewhat concerned about the idle flucuations!
 
meowmix44

meowmix44

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Hmmm I'd say you got lucky becaue MSI might have tooken a shortcut and overvltated your card manually. Your lucky :bounce: :ouch:
 
E

esperance

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Dec 26, 2012
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It's still silly loud and having GPU % fluctuations, perhaps getting a quieter side fan will help...shouldn't really have to buy more kit! Though I think side fans are fairly standard now.

- MIkey
 
meowmix44

meowmix44

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Just remeber your card is one of a kind but it wont last as long. MSI cheated by manually overclocking some batches of their card which means more heat. Kepler was limited by NVIDIA for a reason. Your card wont last long :(
 
E

esperance

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Dec 26, 2012
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Oh? I mean the card should be OC'd slightly above stock to 880Mhz, but it came at 950. What do you mean by they cheated by OCing manually?

- Mikey

 
meowmix44

meowmix44

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meowmix44

meowmix44

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The cards motherboard is modified. MSI afterburner cannot detect that its been modified as it is overvolted :wahoo:
 
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esperance

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Dec 26, 2012
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Raktron,

Will do, thanks.

Mikey
 
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