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

loltim · 30 Dec 2005 at 01:23

vishal said:
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.

I've had mine a few days, still waiting on the PSU

I have the new one then?:

vishal · 30 Dec 2005 at 08:59

yes you do tim, mine may not arrive today, it maybe tues bacause mon is a bank holiday here. let us know how you get on when you get the psu

loltim · 30 Dec 2005 at 11:16

Got the PSU this morning and its got no damn 24 to 20 pin power adapter :mad:

Edit - LMAO it has, its like a 24 pin plug but 4 of the pins can be seperately took off leaving 20 pins, whoops

http://img526.imageshack.us/img526/879/slide0002image0445cs.jpg

Back to setting it up, i'll let you know how loud the 7800GT is

loltim · 30 Dec 2005 at 14:52

vishal - its loud

Amps · 30 Dec 2005 at 16:25

I am having similer probs with my BFG and my 7800GT.

BFG do not return any of my emails. They returned one saying that the card runs as designed.

In my case the fan will not slow down until the pc has been on for 2+ hours. It stays at full load until then. Which is damn anoying.

I have tried phoning them but after waiting 20 mins on hold to America i have given up.

vishal · 30 Dec 2005 at 18:36

tim, did you try rivatuner? damn

loltim · 30 Dec 2005 at 20:18

Not yet, I cant install windows as I have no floppy drive to load the SATA drivers. GRRRRRR

But I remember with my 6800GT it quietened down once you loaded windows and its drivers. So i'll not know untill I get a damn floppy drive. But yeah, its really loud just sat at the BIOS screen.

Angilion · 30 Dec 2005 at 22:27

The problem is that many 7800GTs do not reduce the fan speed after Windows and the drivers have loaded. The ones that seem to be particularly prone to this are the newer ones that vary the fan speed according to the GPU temperature rather than what is being run (e.g. 2D/3D). It's a good idea...if it works.

loltim · 5 Jan 2006 at 21:23

Quick update:

I've got Windows installed now and the fan DOES clearly slow/quieten down when the drivers are loaded at startup, very happy

One interesting point though, Cool and Quiet has to be enabled in the BIOS or else the fan does NOT slow down.

vortura · 5 Jan 2006 at 22:23

I've got the same card as you Tim...

I've had it a few weeks and now it's having the same probs as everyone else. I'm pretty hacked off about it. Wondering if putting a 3rd party cooler on it will fix the problem.

Richard

Amps · 6 Jan 2006 at 00:40

I have had an email back from BFG.

There is nothing wrong with the card itself. The fan on that card runs at 100% all the time.

thats word for word whats in the email..

Well if thats the case surely they are falsly advertising the card saying it has a "silent fan"

Angilion · 6 Jan 2006 at 00:45

Over at XFX's forum, someone with access to a lot of hardware for testing has some interesting results pointing to a hardware issue. The "fix" is to earth a specific component on the card through yourself. This, apparently, works on the 4 or 5 faulty cards they tested in 3 different PCs. It has to be done each boot. It isn't a real fix, but maybe card manufacturers will use the information to make a fix.

Link to the thread. The relevant posts are from Percster on page 3.

Try it at your own risk, of course.

Angilion · 6 Jan 2006 at 00:49

Amps said:
Well if thats the case surely they are falsly advertising the card saying it has a "silent fan"

Yes, which makes their advertising illegal. You could inform Trading Standards.

The likeliest explanation is that the person who sent you that email either lied or is ignorant. If they lied then either they are stupid or the person who told them to do it is stupid, as there is evidence of their lie. So I'm going with ignorance.

loltim · 6 Jan 2006 at 01:51

Long shot?

http://www.ausfx.com/forum/index.php/topic,6056.new.html

loltim · 6 Jan 2006 at 17:12

vortura said:
I've got the same card as you Tim...

I've had it a few weeks and now it's having the same probs as everyone else. I'm pretty hacked off about it. Wondering if putting a 3rd party cooler on it will fix the problem.

Richard

I dont get it, my fan is always on 100% now but it definitely worked yesterday :\

brakeinup · 7 Jan 2006 at 16:20

Hi (first post!)

I have just purchased a load of kit from OCUK including a XFX 7800GT Extreme which also has a fan running at 100%. Although the card performs fantastically it makes my system too noisy overall. The fan never changes its speed throughout the boot process.

Am I within my rights to RMA it back to OCUK as it is still within 7 days of delivery? Or is there a fix that has been found yet - maybe a BIOS update for the card?

Thanks

brakeinup · 7 Jan 2006 at 17:21

Hell - it looks like there are quite a few with the same issue. These links may help:

http://www.xfxforce.com/forums/thread.jspa?threadID=2339&start=0&tstart=75

http://www.xfxforce.com/forums/thread.jspa?threadID=2568&tstart=60

http://www.xfxforce.com/forums/thread.jspa?threadID=1441&start=0&tstart=60

http://www.xfxforce.com/forums/thread.jspa?threadID=2351&tstart=0

http://www.xfxforce.com/forums/thread.jspa?threadID=2610&tstart=0

http://www.xfxforce.com/forums/thread.jspa?threadID=2283&start=0&tstart=0

http://www.xfxforce.com/forums/thread.jspa?threadID=2264&start=0&tstart=0

Angilion · 7 Jan 2006 at 18:05

brakeinup said:
Hi (first post!)

I have just purchased a load of kit from OCUK including a XFX 7800GT Extreme which also has a fan running at 100%. Although the card performs fantastically it makes my system too noisy overall. The fan never changes its speed throughout the boot process.

Am I within my rights to RMA it back to OCUK as it is still within 7 days of delivery? Or is there a fix that has been found yet - maybe a BIOS update for the card?

Thanks

I think you need an RMA from XFX, though I am not sure. Try phoning OcUK first, but I'm basing this on the entries for XFX cards that appear on OcUK pages:

2 Years Manufacturer Warranty - Call XFX UK on 09068354400 for technical support and RMA services.

Good luck if you try that. They fobbed me off with the old "reinstall Windows" line. Which doesn't fix the problem for me, or several other people who tried it, but you might get lucky. Ditto for XFX support by email.

There is a known issue with the fans on the XFX 7800GT cards containing "UDE" in their model code (UDE3, UDE7 and UDER). I have seen only one report of the UDF7 model with this problem. This is a known issue affecting many people. It is not a couple of malcontents who don't know what they're doing talking crap. One of the many people talking about the issue on XFX's forums has access to a shop and has tried multiple combinations of PCs and different 7800GT cards. The cards with the problem have it in each PC, which have different hardware and different drivers.

It appears to be possible to get an RMA from XFX due to this issue in the USA. Two XFX employees have stated this on XFX's forums (Pan and RyanXFX). Support elsewhere seems to be behind the curve.

It also affects some cards from other manufacturers, notably BFG.

The issue appears to stem from coolers that don't follow the standard nvidia spec, plus some unknown factor(s), but it does seem to be a fault with the cards themselves, at least in some cases. One person has reported a fix, but it involves earthing yourself and then touching a specific transistor on the card while your PC is on. I don't fancy trying it myself, especially since you have to do it every boot. If you do fancy trying it, see the 1st post from Percster on page 3 of this thread

Check out the threads that another poster has provided links for. There are hundreds of posts in a dozen or so threads, just on XFX's forums. There are many more elsewhere on the net.

red11 · 7 Jan 2006 at 18:39

I've just bought an XFX 7800GT Extreme LED Edition, with model code 'UDER', the fan runs 100%, I have a Leadtek 7800GT Extreme Edition as well, with older drivers the Leadtek was at 100% all the time, but once I installed newer drivers the fan speed reduced as soon as windows loaded (drivers kicking in).

However with this XFX, no driver has changed the fan speed, rivatuner doesn't affect the fan speed even though it changes the Leadtek's fan speed. I now see how this fan running at 100% can really annoy people, I hope there is a 'proper' fix for it soon otherwise I'll be buying another Zalman fan and rip the stock one off. I wasn't happy with the overclock I could get with the Leadtek and was the main reason I bought an XFX card. I'll be selling my Leadtek soon.

brakeinup · 7 Jan 2006 at 18:56

Thanks for the replies.

If I RMA through XFX direct I could be waiting for a month for a replacement - thats a no-go for me. I just spent £750 on hardware and theres no way I am waiting a month for a fix that is not guaranteed.

I think I am going to RMA the card back through OCUK as I am still within the 7 days grace period, but instead maybe go for the GTX 512 seeing as I am selling my 1210 MK3's record decks

and I know they are quiet.

The problem needs to be resolved as the product is not working to specification. If you put a 3rd party HS/fan on the card such as the NVSilencer you will void your warranty. Why they don't supply the cards with an NVSilencer type hs/fan in the first place s beyond me.