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Radeon HD4870 idle temp

OptimaLnrg

OptimaLnrg

OptimaLnrg

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Not exactly a popular topic, lol.

Just gave my brother my old hd4870 to replace his gts250, which struggles with some of the games he plays at 1680x1050. I noticed the idle temps were 88c, so I reseated the cooler with mx-4 and it now idles at 72c, not cured yet either so may get better.

Is that a normal temp for a 4870? I wasn't so clued up on hardware when I owned it so never checked the temps.

For reference, under 99% load in kombuster the card reaches around 88c, what it was idling at before, so there doesn't seem to be much difference between idle and load.

quick google brought up lots of posts about high idle temps but I thought I'd ask away anyway
 
yea @ 72 degrees is runs at '18%' in afterburner. drop to 66 and it wants to run @ '2%'

just found a review that states idle temp of 70 so I think it's normal.

.. thread over
lol
 
While not a desirable idle temp, it's not at all uncommon for those cards to run at those numbers. They can handle it, though. Just keep it clean to prevent dust build up. You could always buy a very cheap second hand cooler, some of which do a very good job. However, this is unlikely to be absolutely necessary.
 
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That's ridiculous. Ideally you don't want any card (released in the last 4 years or so) to be higher than 50 degrees c during idle state.
 
Looking at reviews the reference design HD 4870 idles at around 70°C, it's just how they're designed.

If it has a non-reference cooler then you'd hope the temperature would be lower.
 
It's an XFX reference. I found that review just after posting this thread -_-.

My bro has made his own custom fan profile so I'll just leave him to it seeing as the temps are fine. No need to get an aftermarket cooler because the case airflow isn't great tbh. I think you can get blower ones too but probably not worth it.

I did notice the heatsink was significantly larger than the ref gtx 670 ;D LOL.

As for keeping idle temps under 50c, my 580 phantom idles at 51c with case fans at max or 54 on low. Lol.
 
You can drop the idle temps by reducing the idle clocks on the card. I dropped my HD4890 idle clocks from 400/1000 or whatever it was to 250/250 and it ran 15 degrees cooler and consumed 40W less energy just sitting at the desktop. I used ATI Tray Tools to do it and it basically switched between 2D and 3D modes automatically. There was a thread on here about it...

Ah found it..

http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=18163651&highlight=power+draw

Worked very well. A slight flicker when switching modes but quieter operation and power saving is always a win in my book.

And ok maybe my memory of much lower temperatures might have been a rose tinted spectacles thing but I do remember the 40W difference correctly :)
 
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An Akasa Vortexx Neo AK-VC03-BLUV VGA worked wonders on my 4850 for around £14. It sometimes squeals like a pig when the pc starts but as i type this the highest of the 4 temperatures in gpu-z is 43c.
 
Tealc said:
You can drop the idle temps by reducing the idle clocks on the card. I dropped my HD4890 idle clocks from 400/1000 or whatever it was to 250/250 and it ran 15 degrees cooler and consumed 40W less energy just sitting at the desktop. I used ATI Tray Tools to do it and it basically switched between 2D and 3D modes automatically. There was a thread on here about it...

Ah found it..

http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=18163651&highlight=power+draw

Worked very well. A slight flicker when switching modes but quieter operation and power saving is always a win in my book.

And ok maybe my memory of much lower temperatures might have been a rose tinted spectacles thing but I do remember the 40W difference correctly :)
Click to expand...

This is essentially what I do with the HD4870 sat in my wife's computer.

It has a Accelero Twin Turbo Pro on it but even still it will idle at mid 50's. The idle clocks are set at something stupid like 600/900 (down from 750/900). Applying a profile using Afterburner on start up which sets the voltage to 1.1v and clocks at 375/600 or whatever the lowest Afterburner will apply dropped the temps by 10 degrees easily.
 
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