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MSI Twin Frozr III 7950 OC running loud & hot.

harvey88

harvey88

harvey88

Associate
Joined
20 Feb 2010
Posts
16
Hi there,

Recently bought a TFIII oc ed 880/1250, idle temps 37c, fans at 30%, great! I started BF3, and within a matter of seconds it jumped to 75c and fans at 85%, both slowly increasing and after an hour I just had to stop playing as the fans were driving me and my partner crazy. I peaked at about 87c, 100% fan speed and 100% GPU usage for the whole time playing.

I don't think this is an air flow issue, I have a Corsair 300r, 2 140mm intakes at the front, both hd trays removed, 1 140mm exhaust at the top, 2 120mm on h60 loop push/pull and 2 low rpm side intakes.

I've had loud cards before, but this is just a constant annoying whine.. even with my headset on all I can here is this card, and if I set the fans manually to an acceptable level with afterburner (about 70% is my limit with this card..) the temps just go up and up and up, what can I do? My friend has an identical card, and under load he doesn't go above 52c, 50% fan speed, have I just got a baddun? What are the rules with replacing, exchanging, etc etc? If i'd known I was buying a whining card in the first place, i'd have opted out and gone for the asus cu instead, as I can tolerate a loud noise on load, just not this jet engine type whine..

What do I do? :(

Regards,

Rob.
 
you have poor gpu-to-heatsink contact. no way you should reach those temps at stock, and with that fan profile. you can either carefully unscrew the heatsink and reapply thermal paste, or you can return the card under dsr/free of charge, depending on whether poor heatsink contact by the manufacturer counts as a fault or not.

reapply thermal paste if you feel 100% confident, otherwise return. if you're careful thermal paste application should be really easy, though on the flipside if you're clumsy and mess up you've just blown a huge wad of cash
 
I was highly considering reapplying thermal paste, although I've never reapplied paste to a GPU, I *hope* think that I have enough knowledge to do so, I've done a few cpus in the past with no mistakes, have been looking at arctic cooling mx-4, if I can get to the point where I don't need higher than 60% fan usage, then I'd be thrilled, as this is bearly audible, with the knowledge that my friend can run 50% fan and barely break 50c on BF3 on ultra, i'm just hoping that this is where mine will be.

What I really can't bare though, is if I can still hear that whine, it's just unpleasant, with a loud reference card, it's just loud, but with the TFIII, it's whiney, if I'm going down the route of reapplying thermal paste, are there other permanent options for in the long-run, such as aftermarket GPU coolers that might even be more beneficial? I can't afford to buy a new GPU, but I can muscle up enough for a cooler if there's enough benefits of doing so..
 
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modern cpus have integrated heat spreaders that give you a lot of leeway in terms of tightening, and it doesn't matter much if you're clumsy. gpus are bare silicon so it's not quite the same thing. but people reapply paste/replace cooler all the time - you just have to be careful.

but i have that card and the cooler is loud no matter how well applied the paste is. i didn't think i'd need to overclock but honestly some games make you want to, and when the time comes and you're hitting 70% fan speeds all the time you'll wish you had an aftermarket cooler. the only reason i don't get one is because my headphones are excellent at isolating :p
 
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Unfortunately the MSI 7950s have been notoriously bad with regards to temperatures. I would DSR it and get another brand 7950.
 
I'll be honest and say that I'm unfamiliar with the DSR term, what exactly does this stand for? As far as other branded 7950s go, what's the most preferred? I was always tempted and gutted that I didn't choose the Asus Direct CU card.. £30 more, impulse buying I guess.
 
Distance Selling Regulations

Basically if you buy something online you get 7 (14 at OcUK) days to decide if you want to keep it. If not you can return it to the shop no questions asked and get a refund. Just make sure it's in the packaging it came in etc.

The MSI cards are very good 7950s it's just beef a bad product for them in terms of reliability.

I would get a Gigabyte WF 3x 7950.
 
That'll be my downfall then being outside of that 14 day bracket, purchased from their shop too, I think I may have to try alternative routes, my task for this weekend will firstly be reapplying thermal paste, if I fail to achieve audible sound levels I will have to go down the aftermarket cooler route, how does the MK-26 fair? My obvious choice would be the tech labs apache version, as I have 2 120's on my H60, and can vouch for their performance.. Would that be a noteable gain from a TFIII cooler?

Really bugs me how the TFIII has performed.. It was my first choice purely based on how it looks, it's a stunning looking card. :(
 
The MK-26 is good and would be a notable gain from the TF3.
I'd stick some good 140's on there though (Definitely not the Spectre pro's).

Before I did that, I'd try and reseat the original cooler first. Which you are doing :)

Edit: I say 'good 140s'. The Apaches should be good enough.
 
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I'll probably update this post in project page come this time next week, as I intend to transfer my current setup into a 600T Silver. If reseating this week fails to satisfy my needs, I will also complete an MK-26 fitting with 2 140mm Akasa Apaches :)

Thanks all for the input, in future I will refer to the knowledge of you guys at ocuk before making rash decisions.. MSI, not going to be my first choice in future..
 
Tbh mate, that card may be part of a dodgy batch from a few months back. They're not all like that :)

Btw, if you do go for the MK-26, get a thread going. Don't keep it to yourself :D
Myself and another member or two are having an aftermarket 7970 cooler shootout very soon for a bit of fun and you'd complete it with the MK-26 :)

Alpenfohn Peter vs Arctic Accelero vs Prolimatech MK-26 (If you do get it) would be very informative for prospective buyers.
 
Funny, it was a couple months back I purchased it, infact it was when the new shop opened, I missed the 7970 for all of £200? So I couldn't leave empty handed and paid more for a 7950, impulse buying is never healthy. So perhaps it was a dodgy one, if that's the case, would it be worth RMA'ing it to get an 'up to scratch' card, then apply the gpu cooler?

I'll definately complete your line-up, seeing as though I've never fitted an aftermarket GPU cooler, I will make a build thread, as one rookie to all others wanting to try something new, I've had my eye on that MK-26 Black Edition for some time anyways, what a better opportunity to make the leap :)
 
MSI would replace the card in all likelihood. Problem is, they'd probably replace it with a boost edition which doesn't come on a 7970 pcb like yours does :(

Check the back of the card to see if there are any security stickers on the screws.
If there are, you may want to just get an RMA rather than risk your warranty on a paste/reseat experiment that may not solve the issue.

If there are no security stickers, go ahead with the reseat and take care not to damage any of the screws as this will make it obvious that you've removed the cooler.

EDIT: Then again, since you've bought it from OcUK, you're ok to try it. MSI cards bought from OcUK can have their coolers removed without voiding the warranty :D

As for fitting an aftermarket cooler, no worries there. It's very easy as long as you follow the instructions. Myself and more than a few other members can help with any questions you might have :)
 
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shankly1985 said:
100% GPU usage, Are you using vsync? if not then this might be why you running the GPU very hot.
Click to expand...

Oh? Can't say I really know, i'm on the laptop at the minute, is this an option in CCC or in-game?


@petey, I'm going to stick with what I've got, the hassle of RMA'ing is just too much for me, rather spend a day attaching a new cooler than waiting weeks with no gpu at all :) can't wait til the weekend now!
 
harvey88 said:
Oh? Can't say I really know, i'm on the laptop at the minute, is this an option in CCC or in-game?


@Petey, I'm going to stick with what I've got, the hassle of RMA'ing is just too much for me, rather spend a day attaching a new cooler than waiting weeks with no gpu at all :) can't wait til the weekend now!
Click to expand...

Its in Both but always check the in game option. If you have Vsync off then the card will run at 100% and try to output as meny frames per second it can, hence the Reason for it getting very hot.
Check the vsync is on and try again and see what your temps are like.
 
@shankly - I set the fans at 50% manual to keep it a fair test and ran with vsync off, as it already was in CCC then with it on always, without, it leapt from 35 to 65 in a matter of seconds, so I restarted with vsync always on in CCC, with, it rose to 50 quite quickly, then slowly kept increasing upto 63 after about 5 mins where it began to drop and rise consistently, so yes, that's going to fix the high temps, 100% usage and constant 100% fan speed, but I still dislike the sound that I'd have to put up with to play in the 50s :P
 
MK-26 is still my plan for this card, it's just nice now to know that I won't have to play at 100% fan speed for the rest of the week :P when are you having your shoutouts for the 7970 coolers?
 
harvey88 said:
@shankly - I set the fans at 50% manual to keep it a fair test and ran with vsync off, as it already was in CCC then with it on always, without, it leapt from 35 to 65 in a matter of seconds, so I restarted with vsync always on in CCC, with, it rose to 50 quite quickly, then slowly kept increasing upto 63 after about 5 mins where it began to drop and rise consistently, so yes, that's going to fix the high temps, 100% usage and constant 100% fan speed, but I still dislike the sound that I'd have to put up with to play in the 50s :P
Click to expand...

Dont touch the CCC option, use the In game Vsync mate. Put the fan on Auto and it should match the GPU temp like 60%=60c etc
 
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