Got my 6970s today - Mixed bag so far...

[DuckThor Evil]

I assume your after-market cooler covered the VRMs somehow? Coz otherwise they'd buuuuuurrrrnnn, of course... Heck, even with cooling for the VRMs they sometimes get ridiculously hot, didn't Anand report that one of the sets of VRMs for the 5890 cracked 120C under GPGPU loads and caused the card to throttle?

Yes the VRM chips had their own heatsinks and also good airflow to those. Previous models of that cooler has had problems with VRM chips, but I thought the new model had them sorted out. I can't say for certain that I installed it perfectly plus the card was overvolted. However when it broke it wasn't overvolted that much and I used EVGAs own tool, that has quite low limits on maximum volts and I wasn't even close to tapping those either.

Still I kinda knew at the beginning, when I removed the stock cooler that It'll end in tears well atleast I get to try this AMD card now hehe.

 

[Neb]

I dont see graphic cards being smaller in the future so that mean I will need to change my precious and usefull case I've had for about 4 years. To bad.

 

[Grall]

Weird though that the card's driver/BIOS/microcontroller wasn't watching the VRM temps. I know my now almost old 4890s have temperature diodes integrated into them, you got a nice graph readout of their current temp in GpuZ. With such a capability it should be quite hard to wreck the graphics card. If neccessary, just lock up the OS to protect the hardware...

Actually, I downloaded the latest GpuZ today, and my 6970s don't get that temp display, I dunno if that means they just haven't figured out how to read the diodes yet (you can't see the amps drawn either currently), or if in fact there aren't any diodes or ampmeters in the particular VRM selected for these cards...

 

[swaaye]

Maybe they heated up too rapidly? Or maybe they don't monitor each individual VRM and one was way hotter due to poor cooling?

BTW, I have a fairly small Coolermaster Centurion uatx case with a Phenom II X4 and I ran a 8800GTX in it for over a year. I just put a 6970 in and I think the 8800GTX and it have similar heat output. The case has more than adequate airflow. I have 2 80mm fans and a 120mm all at 7v so they are quiet. The new 6970 is the loudest component when it occasionally spins up during games. It makes me miss my 8800 with the Thermalright HR-03 I had on it.
http://www.coolermaster.com/product.php?product_id=27

 

[DuckThor Evil]

I don't know what sort of methods the card have in measuring the VRM temps, but atleast on nVidias cards there is no way for the end user to see those temps, so I dunno if there is any.

I might have spilled little bit of the thermal glue to the circuit board, but I don't think it caused the problem. It's probably combination of poor install, overvolts and the overal nature of the VRM cooling solution, can't say for sure though...

The big heat sink is not in connection with the chips, instead there are smaller aluminium sinks for them and for the memory chips. It had absolutely incredible cooling performance for the GPU and it was pretty much silent even with 85% fan speeds, but sadly that is of little use now.

I'm pretty happy now with the new AMD card, initial reaction wasn't so positive, but I think my mind was clouded, because I ran the 570 with such a high clocks and that's why it was so much more powerful.

The airflow in my case is very good, so the fan never really make itself known.

edit: Did some Furmark testing. When the fan is on auto mode, the max temp rose to 81c at 35-36% fanspeed. 100% fanspeed dropped it to 54c. Even 50% manages to keep it at 63-64c and 40 % at 73-74c

100 % of course sounds like entire nations are being massacred and 50 % is not quiet by any strech of the imagination, but all in all not so bad. Still my case SilverStone Raven 2 with the Air Penetrator fans is pretty good at keeping temps low. The card was 910/1415mhz and case fans on low.

 

[Mize]

I have a 6970 in my rig now also... With my superior skills I managed to fry couple VRM chips in my GTX 570.

Interesting. Three weeks into an unmodified, non-overclocked GTX 580 I started getting the dreaded checkerboxes of vram failure. Fortunately it was from a local brick and mortar and I made a quick change for a new one from a slight better reputation VAR. Still, I'm wondering if dual 6950s might have been worth the extra $100. Neither my first nor this 580 ever make a peep, but they're in a basement office (cool) and in a Coolermaster HAF case...

 

[Davros]

just noticed asus are selling cards that differ by max resolution

 

[Xenus]

It was an EVGA board so changing the cooler doesn't avoid the warranty, but I think my chances of getting a free replacement is pretty slim.

EVGA in my experience is very good with RMA's so you might want to at least ask the worst they say is no and you are back where you started.

 

[DuckThor Evil]

EVGA in my experience is very good with RMA's so you might want to at least ask the worst they say is no and you are back where you started.

Yeah I'll try that as soon as I find one piece of the original casing. Where the hell is it?! :smile:

 

[gongo]

I like to make some points about the cooling too...

Half slot vents....been said before by me....i really like the idea that the next AMD GPU uses back full slot exhaust..

So you have the Vapor Chamber now...and yet I wonder why does the TIM application always suck..too thick...dried out sometimes...if it has to go down to user reapplication...i like to see a very easy dismantle cover..unscrew-detach easy. I like to see more cooling done to the VRMs....could the VC be designed to be in direct contact with those..rather than using pads.

I also wondered how the intake is setup...it is basically a blower..rite..i mean, would it have helped if we returned to the batmobile cover but with actual intakes? I think that may helped more for CFX than a slanted front used by GTX580. As of now, the boxy and grilly design of Cayman made me feel cool air is harder to reach and flow past the pcb?

 

[swaaye]

They use pads because to get the very tight tolerances for all of the metal surfaces you want would be difficult. I really think "enthusiasts" get way too caught up on paste applications and pads. As long as everything is running within spec there's nothing to gain unless you are a crazy overclocker.

I think my primary complaint with the stock 6900 cooler is that the plastic enclosure amplifies the noise of the fan motor. These blowers tend to have rather raspy motors.

 

[Silent_Buddha]

So you have the Vapor Chamber now...and yet I wonder why does the TIM application always suck..too thick...dried out sometimes...if it has to go down to user reapplication...i like to see a very easy dismantle cover..unscrew-detach easy. I like to see more cooling done to the VRMs....could the VC be designed to be in direct contact with those..rather than using pads.

I'd imagine part of the reason for the relatively thick TIM would be for manufacturing and assembly tolerances. A little too much is better than not enough to make contact. Considering you basically have one piece that must meet multiple chips, there's going to be variances between cards in the distance between X chip and heatsink, Y chip and heatsink, Z chip and heatsink, etc... It's a lot simpler to design an application using the minimum amount of TIM if you only have the heatsink assembly having to cool one chip.

Regards,
SB

 

[swaaye]

Hey that's what I said.

 

[Silent_Buddha]

Bah, I had thought his post was the last one in the thread and didn't see yours.

Regards,
SB

 

[DuckThor Evil]

In GTX 500 series the Vapour champer is only in contact with the GPU and has thermal grease. Metal cover plate covers mem and VRM chips. Mem chips have pads, but atleast most of the VRM chips had different kind of solution, that looks little bit like Blu tack.

 

[Mize]

This baby looks like a sweet upgrade for a crowded 6970 CFX system (if you have the room between the card and the case side.

2-slot cooler that drops temps 20 degrees or so:

http://www.scythe-eu.com/en/products/vga-cooler/setsugen-2.html

Might have to see if I have clearance in my case...

 

[swaaye]

Apparently ye olde Accelero S1 can be used as well as long as you attach fan(s). It's on the edge but it can manage.

 

[Mize]

Apparently ye olde Accelero S1 can be used as well as long as you attach fan(s). It's on the edge but it can manage.

Any idea if that still fits in 2 slots? My lower card is nearly up against my PSU. I could move the PSU to the top of the case, but that would be a headache.

 

[swaaye]

Accelero S1 only fits in two slots if you go fanless. Unfortunately a 6900 is way too hot for that.

 

[Mize]

Accelero S1 only fits in two slots if you go fanless.

I read a thread over at [H] and sorta figured that out. Bummer. So as of now the only 2-slot cooler I've found is the Scythe - which would be perfect except it's manual fan speed control (which I detest). Oh well, I'll live with hotter cards for now.