Question for MSI 480 Gaming X owners.

TheMorningStar · 8 Dec 2016 at 10:49

Do your heatsinks move around? Is there a looseness to them?

Only just noticed but both of mine cannot be fully tightened and I suspect this is why I'm getting poor thermals.

There's a good few millimetres of play in each unit with light pressure it is moving around on the GPU die.

Temujin · 8 Dec 2016 at 11:11

I meant to respond to you in the other thread, I only installed the card the other day and whilst i didn't test for this specifically i'm pretty sure i would have noticed when looking the card over and installing it. So from me it's a no!

monster_munch · 8 Dec 2016 at 11:52

Just touched mine and nope, doesn't move.

TheMorningStar · 8 Dec 2016 at 13:10

akaFonzie said:
I meant to respond to you in the other thread, I only installed the card the other day and whilst i didn't test for this specifically i'm pretty sure i would have noticed when looking the card over and installing it. So from me it's a no!

I installed two without noticing, twice haha! Unless the spring washers have just slackened right off as they do kinda look flat. If they just had a washer under them, as well, that would apply the extra pressure needed for a fit you would expect. It's like they may have missed something like that out.

Am I right to expect a firmly fitted heatsink that doesn't have a few mm of play or have things changed since my last card?

Nasher · 8 Dec 2016 at 13:35

Heatsinks should not have any play in them at all. Even with quite a bit of force applied to it.

Bantu · 8 Dec 2016 at 14:15

mine feels rock solid.

victorzk · 8 Dec 2016 at 14:20

Mine is not loose.

Chong Warrior · 8 Dec 2016 at 18:45

Mine's solid

TheMorningStar · 18 Dec 2016 at 14:37

This is what I'm currently dealing with...

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These are 3Dmark stress test runs with a standard benchmark run included towards the start in crossfire mode.

Drollic · 18 Dec 2016 at 16:36

Return them. 87% fan for 85c+ over a short stress test with play in the heatsink isn't acceptable.

TheMorningStar · 18 Dec 2016 at 17:47

Drollic said:
Return them. 87% fan for 85c+ over a short stress test with play in the heatsink isn't acceptable.

Yeah, reckon I'll have too. Will have to wait until the new year, mind. I better get new cards back, and not scratched to **** refurbs like everyone seems to get, I really look after my kit.

Nelly · 18 Dec 2016 at 18:00

TheMorningStar said:
Yeah, reckon I'll have too. Will have to wait until the new year, mind. I better get new cards back, and not scratched to **** refurbs like everyone seems to get, I really look after my kit.

Make sure to raise an RMA within the first 30 days, you should be able to get brand new replacements, or a full refund. After 30 days, the retailer will just send them off for repair/replacement, then you will most likely receive refurbs.

http://www.which.co.uk/consumer-rights/regulation/consumer-rights-act

TheMorningStar · 19 Dec 2016 at 10:06

Nelly said:
Make sure to raise an RMA within the first 30 days, you should be able to get brand new replacements, or a full refund. After 30 days, the retailer will just send them off for repair/replacement, then you will most likely receive refurbs.

http://www.which.co.uk/consumer-rights/regulation/consumer-rights-act

Had these since October and have been struggling to figure out what was up with them since then. Spent around £4k on this system over the last year and I have never had this many problems with a new system. I can't even get cables that work like they should, I actually feel guilty going to customer support at this point, like some kind of hypochondriac nagging their doctor.

Nealio · 19 Dec 2016 at 12:22

I installed mine the other day and did check this before doing so.

When you say a few mm of movement, do you mean rotational movement? If so, then yes, with light force I can twist mine a little bit (not quite a few mm though, was that an exaggeration?) and to be fair I’d expect this; the face of the cooler unit is sat on a flat surface (the top of the chip/s), with (presumably) thermal grease between them. As far as I can tell, the cooler is not keyed to the board with tight fitting pins or anything like that, just clearance holes to the retaining screws around the chip.

Mine runs fine, only managed to get it up to 74° under stress testing (furmark).

Nealio · 19 Dec 2016 at 14:02

Have a look at this photo (originally from techpowerup) :

cooler2 by Biscuit Powered, on Flickr

The cooler contacts only the top of the actual Polaris chip (an area of maybe 2-3cm^2?) and there are only 4 screws holding the cooler on, right around the chip. Those holes will be clearance fit around the screws. They would have to be *really* tight to create enough friction between the base of the heatsink and the top of the chip to prevent any rotation at all.

Dave2150 · 19 Dec 2016 at 20:07

TheMorningStar said:
Yeah, reckon I'll have too. Will have to wait until the new year, mind. I better get new cards back, and not scratched to **** refurbs like everyone seems to get, I really look after my kit.

You'll most likely get scratched up/coil whining replacements. That was my experience with MSI a few months ago, at least.

TheMorningStar · 19 Dec 2016 at 20:13

Nealio said:
Have a look at this photo (originally from techpowerup) :

cooler2 by Biscuit Powered, on Flickr

The cooler contacts only the top of the actual Polaris chip (an area of maybe 2-3cm^2?) and there are only 4 screws holding the cooler on, right around the chip. Those holes will be clearance fit around the screws. They would have to be *really* tight to create enough friction between the base of the heatsink and the top of the chip to prevent any rotation at all.

What are your 2D temps and what kind of screen setup are you running? I'll compare it with mine. The temps that the sapphire card are capable of with less than 20% fan are far from achievable on my MSI Gaming with similar fan speeds and I have the better cooler.

I'm getting mid 50's in crossfire (2D only primary active) using one screen running at 60 fps, after system warm up of around 30 mins. Card is running at 300mhz and 0.75-0.90 ish vcore depending on what's going on in 2D, with 2 cards running (2D), a free slot between them and 2 140mm intake fans running at 600-700 rpm with an ambient somewhere between 25/30c.

I find it a bit odd they just have screws on spring washers with no other buffer, like a soft washer or something on the mounting holes.

TheMorningStar · 19 Dec 2016 at 20:15

Dave2150 said:
You'll most likely get scratched up/coil whining replacements. That was my experience with MSI a few months ago, at least.

Yeah, read a few posts like that, I'd go ape****.

Nealio · 19 Dec 2016 at 22:00

TheMorningStar said:
What are your 2D temps and what kind of screen setup are you running? I'll compare it with mine. The temps that the sapphire card are capable of with less than 20% fan are far from achievable on my MSI Gaming with similar fan speeds and I have the better cooler.

I'm getting mid 50's in crossfire (2D only primary active) using one screen running at 60 fps, after system warm up of around 30 mins. Card is running at 300mhz and 0.75-0.90 ish vcore depending on what's going on in 2D, with 2 cards running (2D), a free slot between them and 2 140mm intake fans running at 600-700 rpm with an ambient somewhere between 25/30c.

I find it a bit odd they just have screws on spring washers with no other buffer, like a soft washer or something on the mounting holes.

I think there are some foam washers around the screw holes on the back of the board, looking at the other photos on the techpowerup article.

I'm running 1920x1080, 60Hz.

Been on for a few hours. Temp is at 55°, fan off. 300MHz fluctuating, 2.049v (from CPUID). Everything is stock settings.

Only the one card, only other ventilation is the PSU fan and the 100mm fan on the CPU cooler radiator.

edit: turn your thermostat down a bit!

TheMorningStar · 19 Dec 2016 at 23:01

I'll need to check, but I'm sure I only have spring washers on the back, I had a good look over when I noticed the heatsink jiggle. If you could confirm for me that would be appreciated, man.