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This week 'Silent Cooling solution' 4870?

Come on manufacturers. Surely it can't be that hard to make one of these with a quality stock cooling solution????
 
hi, im back and running vista 64 :P lol jus doing updates. well the card does make a noise and at the speed it is atm is slightly noticable. and damn the card is HOT! jus placed thje back of my finger on the heat pipe n it hot, not burning ** finger hot but enough 4 u 2 pull away quickly cus of the shock lol, gona install my stuff and do updates so ill post back later, im not sure how to do pics bt ill hav ago too.
 
I'm having an absolute nightmare installing this card. I'm at it 5 hours now and still no luck. I tried the latest drivers (Catalyst 8.7) only to have the video card go into sleep mode and give a blank screen just after the Vista startup sound. Apparently this happens with some combinations of Radeon cards and TFT's over a DVI connection for which there is no known fix. I found I couldn't uninstall the ATI drivers in Safe mode so I had to roll back to an earlier restore point. I am now trying the drivers that came with the card (Catalyst 8.6) and now during installation the screen went blank. The hard drive is still chugging away so I'll leave it for another while. All the while the fan noise is driving me nuts! I'm really beginning to regret not getting another Nvidia card.
EDIT: Up and running at last! I created a custom profile in CCC and have GPU temps of only 46c at 27% fan speed. Noise not too bad either, certainly wouldn't bother me when gaming. Now off to do some benchmarking...
 
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Hi guys,

I got one of these yesterday and have been playing about with it since.

Bito - the card has a heatsink over the VRMs, but have had a look with a torch, and yes, the chip does cover all 4 spaces on the board, as opposed to the 3 on the other 4870s.

GPU-Z also has 4 readings for VDDC Salve Temps for this card, and 3 for normal 4870s which I think confirms it.


Noticed last night the odd grinding-type noise at idle. Modded the fan profile in the bios to 5% initial speed, and this got rid of it - must just be an odd thing that only happens at certain rpm.


The actual fan does I think a pretty good job of cooling the GPU and memory - at stock fan settings the core was at about 60C idle due to the low fan speed, but was peaking at load during crysis at about 75C. Memory slightly lower. This is lower than the standard cards, which from what I've read are between 85-90 at load. I don't find the fan particularly noisy, though it's certainly not silent.


The VRM temps are definitely an issue though. Whilst the fan does a good job of cooling most of the board, it seems even with the heatsink on them, these aren't being cooled well. Even at my current setup, where I've modded the bios to increase the fan speeds at load, the VRMs peak between 95-110 in crysis. Bear in mind that I've also got a 120mm fan on the side of my case blowing straight onto the card, so the heat is a bit worrying. Think they're designed to take upto 125C.


Unless this is just a GPU-Z bug, I think if you're getting one of these at the very least a fan profile change would be a good idea. Take care about using the CCC profile method that's been mentioned, as this just put's the fan on at a fixed speed, so if you do use this, I'd make sure it's at least 20% on the PCS+.

JB
 
4870 cooling

Installed my sapphire 512mb 4870 today on my winxp pro.
Had no touble installing the drivers,off the cd.
At idle it is now 66%.
I played a game called WOV(battle of britain2)the temps went up to 73%.
looked in GPU-Z 0.2.7(i dont really understand these numbers)my vddc were 58, 60, 56,on load 66, 66, 60.
GPU temps were 66, 73mem, 72 shaders.
I dont know which is the vrm numbers to look at.
whether these numbers are okay or not ,i dont know.
Also whether i need the s1 rev2.
It is very quite,except when booting up,its like a vacuum cleaner for a few seconds,but when im playing the game,or in 2D mode,i cant hear it.
Could anyone tell me if those numbers are okay?
If they are i wont have to mess around with the s1 rev2.
Thanks.
 
I have yet to play a game and see how it performs, but I too can hear the "grinding" noise and its very annoying!

jb_fxt said:
Modded the fan profile in the bios to 5% initial speed, and this got rid of it - must just be an odd thing that only happens at certain rpm.
JB
Click to expand...

How did you modify the fan profile in the bios?
 
I'd like to know as well! At the moment I'm using the CCC profile method to set the fan speed to 5% for general Windows use. I have another profile for gaming which ups the fan to 30% speed but of course it must be activated manually. There is an updated version of Rivatuner on the way soon which might offer a more flexible way of controlling fan speed.
 
Royal - those temps are fine. Personally, I wouldn't want any GPU temps above 90C and yours are well below that. VRM temps are very low - possible that the stock fan position is better at cooling them than the fan on the PCS.

I don't know much about WOV, is that an old game? best to test for temps on the most demanding software you'll be using - for instance on 3D Mark 06 for me, the VRMs never get above 90, and the GPU only touches max 55 at current fan settings, compared to VRM ~ 115 and GPU ~ 65 on crysis.


Modding the bios -

First use GPU-Z to save a copy of the original bios, using the icon to the right of bios version.

Download Radeon Bios Editor 1.13 - http://www.techpowerup.com/downloads/1148/TechPowerUp_Radeon_Bios_Editor_v1.13.html

This allows you to change all the bios settings - note: from what I've read, modding the voltage in the bios will not do anything on 4800 series cards, a physical voltmod is needed.

Original Powercolor bios seems to use a step fan setting starting the fan at 60C at 2% moving straight to 38% at 70C. If the only thing annoying you is the grinding, you can just alter the 2% values to 5%.

Due to worrying about the temps, I've gone for the transfer function option, with min% at 5%, then sloping starting at 50C going to 100% at 80C.

Save the bios under a new name, then flash using Winflash - http://www.techpowerup.com/downloads/1122/Winflash_2.0.1.2.html

Best to close down any other programs before doing this, and be aware flashing any bios always carries a risk.

Note - seems Cat 8.8 drivers don't like being installed if you have a bios with modded clocks.

Hope that Rivatuner works with these soon, it is a lot easier than mucking about with the bios.

JB
 
jb_fxt said:
Royal - those temps are fine. Personally, I wouldn't want any GPU temps above 90C and yours are well below that. VRM temps are very low - possible that the stock fan position is better at cooling them than the fan on the PCS.

I don't know much about WOV, is that an old game? best to test for temps on the most demanding software you'll be using - for instance on 3D Mark 06 for me, the VRMs never get above 90, and the GPU only touches max 55 at current fan settings, compared to VRM ~ 115 and GPU ~ 65 on crysis.


Modding the bios -

First use GPU-Z to save a copy of the original bios, using the icon to the right of bios version.

Download Radeon Bios Editor 1.13 - http://www.techpowerup.com/downloads/1148/TechPowerUp_Radeon_Bios_Editor_v1.13.html

This allows you to change all the bios settings - note: from what I've read, modding the voltage in the bios will not do anything on 4800 series cards, a physical voltmod is needed.

Original Powercolor bios seems to use a step fan setting starting the fan at 60C at 2% moving straight to 38% at 70C. If the only thing annoying you is the grinding, you can just alter the 2% values to 5%.

Due to worrying about the temps, I've gone for the transfer function option, with min% at 5%, then sloping starting at 50C going to 100% at 80C.

Save the bios under a new name, then flash using Winflash - http://www.techpowerup.com/downloads/1122/Winflash_2.0.1.2.html

Best to close down any other programs before doing this, and be aware flashing any bios always carries a risk.

Note - seems Cat 8.8 drivers don't like being installed if you have a bios with modded clocks.

Hope that Rivatuner works with these soon, it is a lot easier than mucking about with the bios.

JB
Click to expand...
jb_fxt
thanks for the info on my 4870,so i will leave the s1 rev2 out for the moment,could you tell me where to look for the VRM figures in cpu-z 027 please?

Btw,WOV(Wings of Victory)known as Battle of Britain2 game,came out around 2000,but have since been taken up by some coders,who keep updating this game,in their spare time.
Over 200,000 people view the website,and play the game.
these people are from all over the world,and the game is very historical down to the planes and days of the battles,maps of the battles etc.
there is a campaign game and single game.
it is rated top sim for the A1 acrobatics,spitfires,hurricanes,me109s german bombers,are all there.
i used to play MOH,COD,etc,but only play this now,as it is so real,and really tense,and also a brilliant load of people on the forum.
I flew in a real dual cockpit spitfire last september in the usa,my dream come true,also flew 2 barrel rolls myself.
http://A2Asimulations.com
sorry this is a bit long.
Thanks
 
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That looks like a pretty good game royal, will definitely recommend that to one of my mates who's really into flying and flight sims.

The VRM temps are the bottom 3/4 in the pic below - they're called VDDC Slave temps.

2y4.png


JB
 
jb_fxt said:
That looks like a pretty good game royal, will definitely recommend that to one of my mates who's really into flying and flight sims.

The VRM temps are the bottom 3/4 in the pic below - they're called VDDC Slave temps.

2y4.png


JB
Click to expand...
jb_fxt
Yes,i see where the vrm temps are now.thanks for that.

This game is brilliant,and you can even start the spitfire with mouse when you are due to take off,but you need a joystick to play it.
Anyway,if your mate is into sims,he will love this game,he can order the game off the site as well,about £20.
If he wants to know anything about it,let me know,as there is a learning curve in the game.PM me.
THANKS.
 
Sorry if this is the wrong place but - is this Powercolor card the only non-ref 4870 out so far?

I've seen the Asus EAH4870 TOP reviewed on a couple of sites but there's no indication of a release date, and it appears to use the stock cooling too. I suppose after the new Cat 8.8s and BIOS updates the reference cards would probably be an ok choice now, right?
 
Me and my friend bought one of these.

He has just installed it on his, the grinding noise is ridiculous.

For that reason, im not even unboxing mine, it will be returned.

Why should the consumer have to download programs or bother changing fan speeds manually? It should be done from the factory, do they not bother to test these products before they sell them?
Last Powercolor product we both buy.

For the record of anyone thinking about buying one, they are NOISY at all speeds, a stock 8800GT fan, is quieter (and they were quite loud!)

To be honest, im sticking with Nvidia I think.
 
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Was thinking of upgrading my 8800gts to the 4870 but all this heat issue has got me slightly concerned. Used to have a 9800pro and that ended up melting because of heat.
How effective are non-standard coolers with the 4870? Can anyone recommend one? Easy to install?

if I did replace with a thrid party cooler i presume this voids the warranty?

the gtx 260 is looking mighty tempting because of this...
 
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