4870x2 cooling

[Roy-Kr]

My 4870x2 GPU has an idle temperature of 68-70 °C and it's at 80 °C while running Crysis with everything on high.

I've taken off the side panel because the GPU overheats when it is on, which causes the computer to restart.

The motherboard and CPU seem to keep a temperature of 32-35 °C.

What would i need to keep the GPU under 60 °C at all times?
I dunno which parts would fit the card.

Also, is there a way to control the GPU fan speed in the Catalyst Control Center?

[Lsdmeasap]

You can use ATITool or RivaTuner to control your fan speeds. As for aftermarket cooling, I dont game so you will have to wait for some of our gamers to let ya know what will work

[PrairieDawg]

Is it possible to add more case fans to your system?

[wayout44]

Originally Posted by Roy-Kr

My 4870x2 GPU has an idle temperature of 68-70 °C and it's at 80 °C while running Crysis with everything on high.

I've taken off the side panel because the GPU overheats when it is on, which causes the computer to restart.

The motherboard and CPU seem to keep a temperature of 32-35 °C.

What would i need to keep the GPU under 60 °C at all times?
I dunno which parts would fit the card.

Also, is there a way to control the GPU fan speed in the Catalyst Control Center?

These things like their 4850's brothers are known to run up to 90C without any probs but they're (as far as I know) running in well ventilated cases so it could be more useful if we knew what case you are using seeing as you are removing the side panel (these are highend cards & do require cases with fairly good airflow).

Also as stated before, ATITool or RivaTuner can increase the speeds of the fans as they are set rather low.

[Roy-Kr]

I'm using a Antec Performance P182 Miditower. I've got 3 case fans (think they're 120mm) set to turbo. Might be able to get another one in there.

I'll check out those tools right now.

[wayout44]

If you put another one in then cut a hole & put it in the side panel over the expansion slot area as that case is known for poor airflow in that area ( you will likely be able to turn the other fans down a bit).

[Roy-Kr]

ATITool messed up my computer so i uninstalled it.

used RivaTuner and got the idle temperature down to 36-37 by turning the fans up to 60% (think the default was 25%) and i've got the sidepanel on.

It's noisy so i might reduse the speed a bit to compromise between noise and temperature.

Thanks a lot for the help.

[BongWizard]

you can either do a softmod like the one you've got going now or you can hardmod the card such that the fan is controlled by the temperature and isn't constant. hardmodding the BIOS just requires you to edit the fan trigger slope, which will help you keep the card quiet and keep the temps down... i found that around 40% fan was good to keep the 4800 series cards cool and wasn't too loud with the stock fans, but during gaming I had to turn it up to around 65%, which got a little bit loud, but not too bad...

first of all you'll need to grab your BIOS from the card using WinFlash (which you can get here -> techPowerUp! :: Download Winflash 2.0.1.2), which you can also use to flash the BIOS later on.

you can mod the BIOS using Radeon BIOS Editor (which you can get here -> RBE - Radeon BIOS editor)... i'll make a couple of recommendations for the mod... for your boot clock values, use the defaults with default voltage... for the 1,4 and 7 values (that is your 2d clocks) use something like 250/450 with lower voltage... this will help to lower the temps you get in 2D modes... you can probably leave the rest as is, or you can lower the clocks and voltages for the 2, 5 and 8 values (your low 3D clocks) and even raise your 3, 6 and 9 clcoks (to OC your high 3D performance)... then move to the fan settings tab and set your Tmin to 35C and your Tmax to 90-95C... then set your duty cycle to 35-40% which will keep your card cool while idle... now just save the BIOS and flash your new BIOS using WinFlash

there's currently no aftermarket air coolers for this card, but there are a couple waterblocks if you wanna set up a water cooling system, but the blocks themselves are quite expensive, and a simple fan mod will get the job done just as well

a few reasons i recommend a hardmod is because it will work for you if your working in the mobo BIOS, you can lower/raise the clocks and voltages for cooling/performance purposes and you won't have to change anything when you start gaming

hope that helps you out... and if you need any help, drop me a PM whenever you need

[Roy-Kr]

I've had it on 50% since last i posted here.
It's not very loud and i haven't seen the temperature going over 51°C while playing, which seems acceptable.

The temperature difference between idle and running games is only 10-12°C, so the constant 50% seems appropriate.


I won't overclock anything since everything already runs perfect with max graphics, giving me as high framerate as the monitor is capable of showing.
Overclocking would probably just increase temperature, but i'll have a look at those tools since they look useful.

Thanks.

[BongWizard]

45-50% should be really quiet on that card... the only thing i recommend is slightly underclocking your card for 2d mode... this'll mean you can decrease the voltages and keep your system ice cold