Fan replacement - Sapphire 7970 OC w/ Boost

[cowboydude99]

Hi,
I am just wondering how I can remove the stock fans and put something much quieter on there?

The fan under load is loud. The specs I find are 34db idle and 40 under load:
http://hexus.net/tech/reviews/graphics/37009-sapphire-radeon-hd-7970-oc-dual-x-3gb/?page=10

Since this is not a reference designed card is there any aftermarket cooler I can use, or is it possible to replace these fans with much quieter fans?

 

[cowboydude99]

No way to do this I guess? The fan shroud vibrates... its really annoying. Happens when I hit around 70% fan speed.

 

[coozie7]

You could try removing the shroud, just keep an eye on the temperatures/fan speeds, I did this with a Zalman VF3000A (same problem, buzzing shroud) and there was no noticeable change in performance.
But why is it hitting 70% fan speed in the first place?
What case do you have?
How many fans are installed?
Where are they installed?

 

[cowboydude99]

You could try removing the shroud, just keep an eye on the temperatures/fan speeds, I did this with a Zalman VF3000A (same problem, buzzing shroud) and there was no noticeable change in performance.
But why is it hitting 70% fan speed in the first place?
What case do you have?
How many fans are installed?
Where are they installed?

I was playing Tomb Raider. I have a DiabloTek Evo - 4 case fans.
Front bottom - Pulling air in.
Top back & 2 on top pushing air out.

I thought it was normal for the fan to hit 70% when gaming. I just purchased 4 new Noctua fans - installing today to replace those that came with the case. The existing fans are too loud

 

[coozie7]

Suggest the following: 1 uprated fan in front, one on the side panel, both blowing in and one as exhaust, disconnect and cover the top fan, I found (in my case) the top fan was effecting the CPU cooler airflow and pushed the temperatures UP without helping the GPU temperature.
Have you switched to the overclocked BIOS on the card? Doing so will increase the fan speeds.

 

[cowboydude99]

Yes, I OC my card - 1200mhz & 1600mhz RAM (1.3v).

Not sure what you mean about the fans exactly.

My goal is to have a quiet computer. It is in my living room. I use it to game & for media center. So when people are talking on tv/video you can hear the fans... obviously that is annoying.

I was thinking of doing the following:
replace all fans with Noctua S12A ULN fans - supposed to be like 7 DB (current fans are 25db).

Front fan = replace - taking air in.
Back Fan = replace - push air out.
Two top fans = replace - push air out.

Are you suggesting that the top fans be completely removed? Using one of these top fans - put it on the side panel taking air in?

 

[cowboydude99]

I think I see what you mean. I'm reading reviews on newegg for my case. Seems a lot of people have removed that top front fan and use it to move cool air into the case- near the GPU.

Thanks- I'll try that to lower temps.

 

[coozie7]

Something you may have forgotten: Even small voltage increases cause a fairly large increase in the chip heat out put, forcing the fans to work much harder to keep the temperatures down and checking that review, they ran 1.25V feeling more could cause reliability issues.

 

[cowboydude99]

Something you may have forgotten: Even small voltage increases cause a fairly large increase in the chip heat out put, forcing the fans to work much harder to keep the temperatures down and checking that review, they ran 1.25V feeling more could cause reliability issues.

Which review? I haven't had any stability issues, except my GPU driver crashes every now and then... Something like this?

 

[coozie7]

The review you linked in your first post:
http://hexus.net/tech/reviews/graphics/37009-sapphire-radeon-hd-7970-oc-dual-x-3gb/?page=11

 

[cowboydude99]

Gotcha- so after replacing my stock fans on my case to Noctua S12A-ULN my temps on my CPU are up... Not sure why, but maybe I moved the heatsink (Hyper 212)? I'm not really sure.

I was idling at 29c before... now 35c.

 

[coozie7]

It is possible the cooler as moved mine is not 100% solidly held down.
How are the fans running now? Front intake, side intake, rear exhaust and top covered?
If the cooler is aligned up/down rather than left/right? that may explain it if you've covered or turned off the top fan/s.

 

[cowboydude99]

It is possible the cooler as moved mine is not 100% solidly held down.
How are the fans running now? Front intake, side intake, rear exhaust and top covered?
If the cooler is aligned up/down rather than left/right? that may explain it if you've covered or turned off the top fan/s.

Front and side intake
Back and top exhaust

Using a hyper 212... It should be held firmly down, which it is, but not sure if it slid a little when removing the fan from the heat sink... I needed room to work in the case.

Oh and I also turned over my psu so now it takes in air from the bottom of the case.

 

[cowboydude99]

Ambient room temps = 80 degrees F

CPU idle 35c = 95F

I am going to do the follow and see if it helps:
1. Rerun my psu cables - cable management...
2. Reapply thermal paste and cpu cooler.

If it is no better, I'll change the top fan to intake, but this will make 3 intake and only 1 exhaust.

I am also thinking of purchasing a fan mount for my 3 free 5.25 slots - for more intake.

 

[coozie7]

Had the same experience with my top fan, my 212 is pointing left/right so its airflow is aimed at the rear exhaust, turning the top fan on (exhaust) raised the temps by the amount you're seeing, seems the extra fan disturbs the airflow through the 212 reducing its efficiency.
How's the card doing BTW? Any better?

 

[cowboydude99]

I won't be able to test the GPU until either later tonight or Sunday...

I turned on Tomb Raider again last night for a few minutes. I didn't hear the fan buzzing/shroud problem... so maybe I'm not hitting as high temps.

I use TRIXX to OC... but maybe I can turn on AB for the OSD and monitor GPU usage/temps.

 

[cowboydude99]

Temps are back to normal - mostly around 28c-29c.

What I ended up doing what just re running all my cables in the case. I wasn't using the cable management of my case previously, so when I swapped the fans and PSU I had a lot of cables blocking the intake fans. Once I routed them appropriately, the temps came down nicely. GPU is benefiting from this as I'm not hitting such high temps.

The new side intake fan is helping to keep the GPU cool, supplying cool air.

Thanks for you help!