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7800GT 100% fan speed issue - XFX's position

Angilion

Angilion

Angilion

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I'm one of the many people with a 7800GT that has the fan at 100% speed all the time. On the plus side, the GPU is cool. ~42C under load, ~35C idle. But it's so damn loud.

RivaTuner doesn't work, which seems to always be the case when the fan speed doesn't automatically vary as it should. I've looked at more than a dozen forums on various websites. Lots of people with the problem, no-one with a real solution that keeps your guarantee.

I phoned XFX UK tech support today. 60p/min, but maybe they have some answers. Maybe they do, but they aren't answering the phone. It rang unanswered for so long that BT terminated the attempted call. Twice.

Next stop, a search of the XFX forums.

It appears that XFX aren't just ignoring the issue. Some people report being told, by retailers and some card manufacturers, that 100% fan speed all the time is normal and as intended.

XFX appear to be offering a replacement card. This is a quote from a representative of XFX on XFX's own forums:
Yes they [XFX's R&D department] are in the process of trying to replicate the issue but have not been able to duplicate it. What I would like to do is arrange a replacement for the afflicted boards and get these cards in the hands of our R&D team. When you have a chance please call 800-880-3225, dial 1 for support and one of our reps will arrange the replacement.

Please note: If your outside North America please e-mail [email protected], include your contact information, reference this thread and we will have the appropriate regional support department contact you.
Click to expand...

Link to the thread
 
I asked this in another thread but nodoby seemed to notice :) So, second time lucky....... I've read about the fan speed controller problem in some threads and they all seem to be about BFG and XFX. Do the Leadtek and OcUk cards suffer from this bug too?

bliss
 
The fan speeds on my Leadtek 7800GT are set at 28% for 2D and 43% for 3D. This makes the card very quiet but also quite warm (46c idle, 70c load). I have no problems changing these parameters using Rivatuner.
 
Oh dear I'm awaiting delivery of an XFX 7800GT. Am i guaranteed this probem or is it luck of the draw? Will changing the fan make any difference?
 
I've found with my XFX 7800GTX that the fan speed only hits 100% under load (which is like a hoover), but luckily when it cools down, the fan speed decreases...

EDIT: Just checked RivaTuner, and it says that the fan speed is running @ 100% for both 2D and 3D applications, so don't think its reporting the speeds correctly, and i can't seem to set the speeds any lower, but its definately slowing down when the gfx card is cooler and not under load... :confused:
 
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I think the issue here is the difference between the NVidia reference cooler and the OEM coolers that various manufacurers are starting to fit instead. The 7800GT reference cooler does not vary fan speed according to the core temperature; rather the driver sets the fan to a predermined speed depending upon the type of application that is running. Fan speed profiles exist for 2D, low power 3D and performance 3D and they are chosen by the driver. The fan on the newer BFG (and on XFX?) cards is controlled by a thermal diode and therefore varies speed not according to what the GPU is doing but to the ambient temperature around the cooler hence the reason why the fan speed profiles in the cards BIOS are set at 100% and cannot be adjusted using Rivatuner. Clearly the noise/fan speed issues are as a result of these temperature sensitive coolers not being calibrated correctly.
 
My XFX 7800GT fan was noisy until i installed the 81.98 drivers, it then has seemingly been controlled, even in 3dmark05 it doesnt go as loud as it does when not in XP.

Where can i find out the GPU temp?

This is on an DFI Lanparty Ultra-D mobo with Opteron 146 CPU.
 
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Right-click on the NVIDIA settings icon that's in the "tray" on the task bar. Select NVIDIA display and click on the monitor you're using (If you have two, it probably won't matter which one you click on). A window appears with a secondary window to the left of it. One of the options in that second window is 'Temperature settings'. Click on that and your GPU temp appears in the main window.
 
BFG told me that the rev2 cooler they use has a separate controller card (you can see it in the heat sink), therefore cannot be controlled by drivers or software like rivatuner - at least not yet.

They also told me that changing the speeds using rivatuner will void the warranty (if it would work anyway!)

I have heard a few people saying the 81.98 drivers allows the XFX and BFG to change its fan speeds, but it doesn't work for me personally.
 
I've got the old cooler. Only bought the card a couple of weeks ago and I was a bit annoyed initially to have received 'old stock'. I've no idea if the new cooler is driver or temperature controlled.
 
well mine arrives tm, if it is the new stock then i hope its quiet! it looks like a bigger fan in the pic so it should be quieter and anyway, leadtek call it a enhanced noiseless design.
 
My OCUK card which actually turned out to be a PoV card varies speed according to application, reasonably quiet in windows and sounds like a hoover in COD2 but I can't hear it over the sound of battle!
 
a1ex2001 said:
My OCUK card which actually turned out to be a PoV card varies speed according to application, reasonably quiet in windows and sounds like a hoover in COD2 but I can't hear it over the sound of battle!
Click to expand...

What about watching films, any difference?
Still waiting on my XFX Led Version :(
 
Anyone tried using Expertool? If RivaTuner doesn't work then it's likely Expertool won't either, but it might be worth a try. It's the only program I can use to control my XFX 6800's fan speed, else it just stays on 100%.
 
TheVoice said:
Anyone tried using Expertool? If RivaTuner doesn't work then it's likely Expertool won't either, but it might be worth a try. It's the only program I can use to control my XFX 6800's fan speed, else it just stays on 100%.
Click to expand...

That needs a gainward card otherwise it fails to load. Doesn't work for me anyway! (bfg 7800gt)
 
The Fan only really kicks in on the OCUK card I have when playing games and seems to stay spinning at high speed for a little while after I stop them in 2D stuff word watching DVD's listeneing to MP3's it's in low speed mode still a bit too noisy but definately not unbeareable
 
As suggested by RyanXFX, from XFX, I contacted XFX support. Bear in mind that RyanXFX was explicitly offering an RMA and card exchange. XFX support replied:

"Sorry to hear you are having a problem with the fan, we are unsure of the exact cause, but does appear to be a configuration or driver installation issue, and we have confirmation that in at least one instance, a clean windows installation did solve the issue. But if this is option is difficult for you, ensure you remove any previous graphic card installations, ensure you have up-to-date mainboard drivers installed, you are logged on as administrator and close background applications be fore re-installing."



Which boils down to "We don't know what the problem is. Try a clean installation of Windows - that worked for one person."

I'm not satisfied. I paid a lot for this card and it does not work as specified.
 
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