Gfx card too hot/Any ATI tray tools experts?

Deception · 10 Jan 2012 at 12:36

platypus said:
I've got an Antec 300 and the card only just fits in. There isn't a right lot else in the case though, an SSD and a 500GB hard drive, and the airflow feels good, of course it might not be.

I have an H50(?) sucking air in from the back for the CPU, and a 120MM extractor fan on the top.

Whats the fan set up like, is it just those 2 fans?

platypus · 10 Jan 2012 at 12:50

CinderzFTW said:
The Antec 300 isn't a great air cooling case, so there could be the reason!

Damn, wasn't really looking to spend much/anything on my computer this year.

Deception said:
Whats the fan set up like, is it just those 2 fans?

Two fans drawing air in from the front of the case as well.

CinderzFTW · 10 Jan 2012 at 12:52

platypus said:
Damn, wasn't really looking to spend much/anything on my computer this year.

Two fans drawing air in from the front of the case as well.

Hasn't the Antec 300 got a side fan panel on it too?

Add in a side fan, it will blow air directly onto the GPU which will cool it.

Deception · 10 Jan 2012 at 13:31

platypus said:
Yes to these, I'm running two 24" widescreens.

Before blaming the case, try running it on one monitor and see what the temps are then.

platypus · 11 Jan 2012 at 11:03

I'll try a single monitor tonight.

CinderzFTW said:
Hasn't the Antec 300 got a side fan panel on it too?

Add in a side fan, it will blow air directly onto the GPU which will cool it.

If I do that, I'll have four fans blowing in and only the one exhaust at the top - will that be ok?

Baldrick1001 · 11 Jan 2012 at 11:52

The 300 is a good case for the price. First thing i would do is turn the h50 around so that it expels air from the case, this will help build positive pressure in your case, basically your fans aren't working together at the moment. I know that Corsair recommend that the fan draws cool air into the case - buts its not a particularly a good idea for your other pc components. Cool air should ingress your case from bottom front with warm air egressing top rear

Clav · 11 Jan 2012 at 11:56

Baldrick1001 said:
The 300 is a good case for the price. First thing i would do is turn the h50 around so that it expels air from the case, this will help build positive pressure in your case, basically your fans aren't working together at the moment. I know that Corsair recommend that the fan draws cool air into the case - buts its not a particularly a good idea for your other pc components. Cool air should ingress your case from bottom front with warm air egressing top rear

What he said, ignore what Corsair say about the H50. You need to reverse the airflow and blow the hot air out of your case not into it!

Deception · 11 Jan 2012 at 12:43

If you've got the spare fans, then might as well stick the H50 on a push/pull configuration (Get a splitter too), so it will pull the cold air and exhaust the hot air.

ThomasTheTankEngine · 11 Jan 2012 at 12:51

Guys I think you've missed the obvious thing in those screenshots.

According to GPUZ his fanspeed is almost the same at idle, as it is at load. 30% vs 36%.

Platypus, you're going to want to setup a custom fan profile using afterburner. It's pretty easy to do, and you should be able to get both the idle and load temperatures down quite a bit.

Deception · 11 Jan 2012 at 12:57

jimbob27 said:
Guys I think you've missed the obvious thing in those screenshots.

According to GPUZ his fanspeed is almost the same at idle, as it is at load. 30% vs 36%.

Platypus, you're going to want to setup a custom fan profile using afterburner. It's pretty easy to do, and you should be able to get both the idle and load temperatures down quite a bit.

Good catch. Completely missed that one when we got on to the topic of the case.

platypus · 11 Jan 2012 at 15:51

Cheers for all the advice guys!

I've gotten a hold of afterburner, any good resources I can read through?

Deception · 11 Jan 2012 at 15:59

platypus said:
Cheers for all the advice guys!

I've gotten a hold of afterburner, any good resources I can read through?

In terms of fan profiles, I found this with a lil googling:

Fan Profiles

platypus · 11 Jan 2012 at 19:47

Deception said:
In terms of fan profiles, I found this with a lil googling:

Fan Profiles

Thank you Deception

. Ok upon setting a custom profile based on that, my fan took off like a rocket, because the idling temp was 60oC. Now bear in mind that I'd literally just turned the monitors on (I know the gfx card is still working), but is it working as much with no picture?

Just going to disable my second monitor to test temps.

platypus · 11 Jan 2012 at 20:11

Ok with second monitor disabled, it still seems to hover around 50oC idle. Surely running a second monitor (with nothing gpu intensive on it) can't do that much to temps can it?

And the trouble with the curve, is with it idling at 50oC, the fan noise is way too loud! I'm going to try sorting out airflow in the case.

Deception · 11 Jan 2012 at 21:26

Depending on howmuch it raises the clocks when adding the 2nd monitor, it could be normal. What are the idle clocks when adding the 2nd monitor compared to one monitor?

platypus · 12 Jan 2012 at 10:43

It was idling at 500mhz with one and two monitors.

~>Dg<~ · 12 Jan 2012 at 11:53

have the same card you have the fan set a bit low really yes can be noisy but try setting it to 50-60 in fan profile.

JustBen · 12 Jan 2012 at 12:11

my card (6970 tfIII) idles between 55-60oC and in games hits the 90's, i don't see it as much to worry about, the card works and are well made so shouldn't be affected by the slightly warmer temps.

Baldrick1001 · 12 Jan 2012 at 13:51

always4lora said:
my card (6970 tfIII) idles between 55-60oC and in games hits the 90's, i don't see it as much to worry about, the card works and are well made so shouldn't be affected by the slightly warmer temps.

I think you are right - the card manufacturer has traded off heat with noise and is clearly happy for the card to run at 81C - hence why the fan is only increasing from 30% to 36% under load - i.e. 1400 to 1900ish RPM. Even if he changes his case cooling it probably won't change the temp of the card as the fan profile will still use the same temp metrics as it does today - unless you use rivatuner/afterburner etc to create a custom profile.

That said, I don't like temps like that sitting in my case, so I would be very tempted to create my own fan speed profile - I would also drop an email into the manufacturer querying the optimum operating temp of the card. I use to have a BFG 8800GTS that got equally warm, I ended up fitting an aftermarket cooler that not only dropped the temp of my card but also reduced my case temp by 6C as well..

And finally - to OP - I wouldn't sweat it too much - fast cards do get a little toasty. You can either do what I did, and throw money and time at it to reduce the temps by a few degrees, or live with it in the knowledge that the warranty on the card will pick up any future issues. By the time the warranty runs out the card will be out dated anyway :-)

JustBen · 12 Jan 2012 at 13:55

Baldrick1001 said:
That said, I don't like temps like that sitting in my case, so I would be very tempted to create my own fan speed profile - I would also drop an email into the manufacturer querying the optimum operating temp of the card. I use to have a BFG 8800GTS that got equally warm, I ended up fitting an aftermarket cooler that not only dropped the temp of my card but also reduced my case temp by 6C as well..

I have only just replaced my 8800GTX, i never bothered checking the temps since i got it back in early 2008 however whenever i touched the card it used to burn it was that hot! That card lasted me 4 years running that hot