7970/50 Arctic Accelero Users

[LtMatt]

The VRM's are rated to 125.c so you still are well within limits.

I have no idea what mine are as I cannot read them but tbh I'm not that bothered. If they overheat the card will shut down and I have not had that yet so all must be within tolerances.

I would not worry about the VRM's too much tbh and enjoy a nice silent card.

I know you are right Moog but i can't help it.

I wonder if the 7970 stock VRM pads would be better? Maybe i could put those on top of the accelero heat sinks? There was a long grey strip from my reference blower that rested over the VRM's.

Some cards play differently like I said
If your VRM's are at 90°C odd and you're not seeing any ill effects, then be happy.
Some cards will throw a complete wobbly with artifacts and glitches galore.

Its sleeping dogs SSAA what heats them up. Its brutal on the VRM's. So i use that as my safe maximum. Just wish i could keep the vrms down just a tad more than what they are currently.

 

[LtMatt]

I used the little right angled heat sinks on my VRM's. They are slightly bigger than the smaller straight ones you are meant to use. You should have these in the pack with the cooler. Could be worth a go... ?

Good shout. Will have to wait till i can get some more G1 or Adhesive.

 

[LtMatt]

Yeah, Sleeping Dogs Extreme was my test of choice for VRM worst case.

I know what you mean when you say you can't help it
I have a real thing about my CPU not going over 70°C for example (It doesn't). It was the same with the GPU core and VRM's.
The only difference was that I actually saw issues when the VRM's went over 75 or so, but that could've been down to a slightly dodgy card. Ymmv...



When I was researching coolers, I did read of a few guys that had a bit of success using those sinks. Worth a shot as they are bigger after all.

I know what you mean. Keep my cpu under 65c. Core stays under 60c now and vrms well under normal games under -70c 75c, but sleeping dogs 80-90c depending on the overclock.

I will reseat when i can and try those other heatsinks. Wish i could do it now but i have no adhesive or anything.

I'll also need some new adhesive rings for the spacers, all 8 of them. Suggestions regarding that?

 

[LtMatt]

I can only suggest asking Arctic for more adhesive rings and/or glue.
If you're gonna try installing new sinks, I'd try the Alpenfohn ones which come with a tube of pre-mixed thermal glue (It's not permanent. It dries like rubber sealant and just takes a little patience to thoroughly remove). You could also just use thermal tape.
Can't see them dropping more than 5°C or so, but that's pure guesswork

I'm quite happy to use the G1 stuff again or akasa tape.

Is this the G1 stuff?

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=TH-005-AC

I'll probably try the larger AC heatsinks, on a budget atm.

EDIT

Using vsync has lowered my VRM temps a fair bit. Saw a max of 60c in black ops just now.

If i limit fps to 45 with sleeping dogs id imagine they'd come down a fair bit. I was using vsync in sleeping dogs previously.

 

[LtMatt]

Looks like it'll do the trick.

Its not permanent though is it?

 

[LtMatt]

No idea mate. I'd imagine it isn't, but I guess Arctic or google would be the ones to ask.

Tbh, if you're not seeing any issues and Sleeping dogs is the only one that pushes the temps up, you're probably ok to just leave it as is.

Using those bigger heatsinks though peter could be 5c.

 

[LtMatt]

Petey, how would I go about removing the Arctic vrm heatsinks and how does the thermal glue clean off. Really not happy with my vrm temps which are going over 90 and sometimes touching 100. Going to try the Alpenfohn 1's. Great cooler otherwise.

Although strangely I was able to run a constant oc of 1185/ 1625 no problems. Then my ssd containing windows failed. So bought new ssd, clean install of windows (with same gpu drivers) and now I can't get that clock to run stable. Getting artifacts in Heaven now, whereas none before.

I am going to give watercooling a try in the New Year at some point I think. Need a project.

What asic, voltage and gpu and memory clock settings are you using ?

 

[LtMatt]

I know i know, but i strive for perfection.

I'm going to rebuild mine as soon as i can find some suitable replacement gear. I'm going to use those slightly bigger AC heatsinks on the vrms i think. Even if it only brings temps down a few c ill consider it worth it.

@Five stars i would try a fresh driver install, do a atimanuninstaller driver sweep first.
If that doesn't work go for a windows reinstall. It could also be your memory or gpu core is too high for the voltage supplied. Try lower one then the other until you find the culprit. If i had to guess i reckon it would be either the gpu or memory is slightly too high.

QUESTION

Would this akasa tape be ok to use on the spacers if i was to rebuild? I have no double sided adhesive and there is no way i can reuse my current ones. I'm amazed they even worked the first time after i butchered them.

 

[LtMatt]

Your card is running perfect it's well within the tolerable limits. There is nothing to gain from running them a few .c cooler, they will not perform any better or effect the rest of the card. The power delivery system has a max temp it will work at and unless you are hitting temps beyond this and experiencing issues there is nothing to gain from removing the heatsinks you have fitted other than possibly damaging the card in the process.

I don't think ill damage it by reseating the heatsinks, the G1 stuff comes off pretty easily it seems.

I'll just use the rubber/alcohol on the vrms to clean them up then use some thermal tape to re-apply.

 

[LtMatt]

But what are you going to achieve ?

The tape could even be thermally worse than the glue so you could end up with worse results.

If thats the case then ill have to use the glue again. If im doing the VRM's its really not much of a hassle.

I'm having trouble finding Arctic G1 actually, ocuk don't seem to sell it.

 

[LtMatt]

Sounds more like you are bored and wan't to fiddle tbh....

I have no idea why you wan't to take the card apart risking damage to hopefully save a possible couple of .c that will make no difference anyway.

That's how i roll.

I won't be doing anything just yet, not until i have all the parts. Just ordered some Akasa tape in preperation. Now i need to find some G1.

 

[LtMatt]

That's Matt all over. Now stop fiddling with your GPU and go fiddle with something else............

It seems your VRM temps are fine, is it really that important to you to lower the temps a few degrees?

I'm happy at the moment, but i can't rule out further tweaking in due course.

I wonder how Westie is getting on.

 

[LtMatt]

If you cap fps then temps on the vrms stay nice and cool.

Just played a good hour+ of battlefield 3, vsync on fps cap at 59 and saw gpu temps of 54c and vrm temps of 71c. This was with an overclock of 1172/1719 and a bump in voltage from 1.112 to 1.156.

 

[LtMatt]

I'm looking for some spare G1 Glue that came with the accelero. If anyone has any spare (if you didn't use it and used something else like thermal tape instead) can you drop me a trust and we can sort something out. (££)

 

[LtMatt]

Many thanks to Tommy as well. Accelero refit version 2 is due to take place within the next week. Operation lower vrm temps by 5 c will soon be in place. Stay tuned for updates.

On a side note its a sad day that Westie never returned to let us know how he got on.

 

[LtMatt]

Hey i got it done first time ya gits. Have some faith.

 

[LtMatt]

Wow! If you guys want to give your Accelero a workout, try Far Cry 3. Running most games at 5760x1080, the highest core temperature I've seen was in Sleeping Dogs where it hit 80C. Last night played FC3 at Optimal settings (mix of High, Very High and a medium) and my 7970 was sat at 89-90C all the time even though the fan was at 100%! Looks and plays beautifully but that game really does work the graphics card hard.

P.S. this is a launch 7970 flashed to GHz BIOS running 1125/1575 on stock voltage.

Are those core or vrm temps stu?

 

[LtMatt]

Core temps. Will have to set up GPUz later and have a play to see what VRMs are doing, once my kid's finally off COD and I can actually get on my PC...

Something is seriously wrong if your core is getting that high. Even when i put my voltage all the way up ive never seen my core go much higher than 60c.

I think a complete rebuild should be in order for you.

 

[LtMatt]

Sounds good to me (any excuse to fiddle with my hardware). Any chance someone could post a max core temp with a fairly demanding game/benchmark so I can compare apples with apples? May hook up just one screen and run it to see if I'm in the ballpark or way out. Cheers.

How about 3 continuous runs one after the other of the sleeping dogs benchmark at 1440p? Will be using the HIGH SSAA setting rather than extreme to keep solid high fps.

Will record my highest vrm & core temps.

Will run these clocks

1225 core @ 1.2 volts (stock is 1.112)
Memory at 1600 (stock memory voltage)

 

[LtMatt]

Sounds good to me (any excuse to fiddle with my hardware). Any chance someone could post a max core temp with a fairly demanding game/benchmark so I can compare apples with apples? May hook up just one screen and run it to see if I'm in the ballpark or way out. Cheers.

How about 3 continuous runs one after the other of the sleeping dogs benchmark at 1440p? Will be using the HIGH SSAA setting rather than extreme to keep solid high fps.

Will record my highest vrm & core temps.

Will run these clocks

1225 core @ 1.2 volts (stock is 1.112)
Memory at 1600 (stock memory voltage)

Settings Used (taken at end of third run)




Temps




TL : DR

Core 61c
VRM 96c
Mem 72c