Help with 4870x2, bad card?

[pageboy81]

I've had my system (check sig) for about 2 months now. Everything seems stable but when the system calls on the Graphics card (PowerColor HD 4870 x2) I get problems. I've tried several different driver releases and always use driver sweeper to clean out the old ones first. The display would cut out playing Crysis, World in Conflict, even Half life 2 and my brief trial of Wow. When I would hit the restart button it would boot up to windows (after asking me if i wanted to boot in safe mode) with little red boxes over the screen which I think is artifacting. I overcame this problem by going into Catalyst Control Centre (CCC) and setting fan speeds to at least 80% before gaming.
I just played the Batman AA demo with overdrive and manual fanspeed control off. I came out of the demo after about 5 mins and in CCC the temps were over 85 and the GPU fan is still running at 27%. A few seconds later I get little red blocks over the screen and round the CCC and Steam windows that are open. Then the display cuts out.
I thought I might be able to get round these problems somehow. I even did a clean install of Vista and downloaded everything again. Is this a problem or is it normal to have to have fan speeds set high (and very loud) all the time when gaming on a 4870x2?
Any tips?
Thanks.

 

[Cold Fusion]

Does sound like its overheating to me, what is the air flow like in your case? if you don't have enough throughput of air it will quickly get hot.

My simple suggestions would be to make sure that there is plenty of room behind the case for the exhaust to dissipate the heat. Make sure the cabling in your case is reasonably tidy and make sure your case fans are clean. If you have any expansion cards in the PCI slots next to the GPU try moving it further away from the fan if possible.

I know there is a way to alter fan speed in the software suite and it seems you've used it. I would suggest doing some experiments with manual fan speed which is less audible and monitoring the core temps during gaming.

Finally a after market GPU cooler might be the way to go, im sure more knowledgeable people will be long shortly to help you out better than i can but sometimes simple solutions work.

 

[pageboy81]

Thanks Cold Fusion
I do have a network card a couple of slots underneath the graphics card but the intake fan is on the other end of the GPU so isn't obstructed. I have antec 900 case and all other components run at good temps. I've read that these cards run hot but maybe mine cuts out before CCC decides it needs to increase the fan speed. Thats what makes me think the card might not be able to deal with the temps it should do.
I don't know though!?!?

 

[Cold Fusion]

Have you tried looking at the Powercolour forums or using thier customer support systems, they would have a better idea of the normal operating parameters of the card (which I don't).

It may well be a fault with the card with the fan not speeding up properly and I've seen another thread on here with a similar problem a few weeks back. If its only 2 months old it should still be under warranty and at the very least you could invoke the RMA and see where that takes you.

 

[Nick1881]

Do you hear the fan spin up in game? I had a PC with reference cooler and it sounded like a tornado when in game, hence why I finally ditched it.

 

[pageboy81]

@ Cold Fusion
Looking for Powercolor forums now.

@ mr x plosion guy
Fans don't spin up at all in game if they're left to auto they stay at 27% and the card cuts out. I have to set them manually to run at 80% (for most games) all the time whilst gaming. I wouldn't mind noise whilst the fan ramps up to cool the GPU but a constant 80% on a 4870x2 is LOUD. Surely this card should be able to automatically handle cooling when running HL2 for example without the need for me to manually set the fan speed.

 

[johny dolan]

My fan is auto at 40% and i can hear mine spin up when playing games.When i run say 3dmark it spins up and down depending on whats on screen.

 

[pageboy81]

Interesting, can't register for PowerColor forums from UK (officially) Don't fancy my chances, last post in 4000 series thread was over a week ago! Anyone know what I might be doing wrong?

 

[pageboy81]

My fan is auto at 40% and i can hear mine spin up when playing games.When i run say 3dmark it spins up and down depending on whats on screen.

When I run mine at 40% idle i get temps in low 40's but it doesn't spin up when in use.
Do you know what temps you get on the card? Who makes it?

Thanks

 

[johny dolan]

My card is Gainward golden sample and uses a different cooler than the stock ati.My temps are 61c idle and the highest ive seen is about 85c load running benchmarks.I have a lian li case so everything is inverted so the gfx card fans point upward but my xfi card is right above it so hurts my temps a lot.My card takes up 3 slots.