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OCUK 6970 TFIII (Lightning) review.

got mine and installed it, currently pretty much idleing at 73oC according to the catalyst control centre.
I've got a thermaltake kandalf case there's about 3 inch's below the card until it hits the bottom of the case, although it does have a 30cm fan next to it.
I'll look into getting some more fans for the case if it gets to hot during gaming.

Any advise on how to go about overclocking? never done it with a graphics card before.
 
It's not so easy tbh. The CCC tends to stop you overclocking. I only noticed that my clocks weren't actually doing anything the other day. When I enabled the overclocking in CCC it became very unstable.

I would be interested to know how to disable the TDP throttle if any one has figured it out. It's something to do with the CFG file in AB apparently !
 
do you need the catalyst control centre though? can you not just get the driver ?

my card does get hot! currently at 102oC with fans at 100% in kombuster

edit tell a lie it says 104oC max
min 22fps max 224 and avg 77
 
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I hear others have reported that there cards run 70 while idle. Mine was running at 39c idle but seem to be unlucky with other faults on two cards!

Actually thinking i'm going to see if i can change to a GTX580. I really don't want to have send back another card.

On topic tho i would use Afterburn to OC the card. Really nice tool and easy
 
Carl_Bennetts said:
I hear others have reported that there cards run 70 while idle. Mine was running at 39c idle but seem to be unlucky with other faults on two cards!

Actually thinking i'm going to see if i can change to a GTX580. I really don't want to have send back another card.

On topic tho i would use Afterburn to OC the card. Really nice tool and easy
Click to expand...

It doesnt matter what you use. Your overclocks are all fake unless you enable the overclocking in CCC. I found that out the other day. Look at the right, look at the max clock.
 
ive taken the side panel of my case and moved my pc into the open to get maximum cool air into it and still getting between 99-102oC in kombuster. i've touched the card and it doesnt feel too hot any ideas?

When using Kombuster do you get lines down the screen on the combined test?
 
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always4lora said:
ive taken the side panel of my case and moved my pc into the open to get maximum cool air into it and still getting between 99-102oC in kombuster. i've touched the card and it doesnt feel too hot any ideas?

When using Kombuster do you get lines down the screen on the combined test?
Click to expand...

Too hot, try taking the card out of the case and check to see if the cooler is making contact. I think the screws that hold the cooler down are spring loaded so if the cooler has been knocked it might not be making good contact.

When you say you've touched the card do you mean the outermost heatpipe at the top of the card? That should be hot when the card is being worked. With Kombustor or BF3 I can touch the heatpipe but it is too hot to hold my finger against.

Can't help with Kombustor I'm afraid I only tried the first furmark-esque test.

It seems like quite a few people are having problems with their cards. :(

Btw did you mean 73C idle or 37C idle? If it is 73C I'm sure the cooler isn't making contact properly.

For ref my card is 40C idle and 65Cish load in BF3 with 99% GPU usage and the case side off.
 
b3mor said:
Too hot, try taking the card out of the case and check to see if the cooler is making contact. I think the screws that hold the cooler down are spring loaded so if the cooler has been knocked it might not be making good contact.

When you say you've touched the card do you mean the outermost heatpipe at the top of the card? That should be hot when the card is being worked. With Kombustor or BF3 I can touch the heatpipe but it is too hot to hold my finger against.

Can't help with Kombustor I'm afraid I only tried the first furmark-esque test.

It seems like quite a few people are having problems with their cards. :(

Btw did you mean 73C idle or 37C idle? If it is 73C I'm sure the cooler isn't making contact properly.

For ref my card is 40C idle and 65Cish load in BF3 with 99% GPU usage and the case side off.
Click to expand...

73oC was idle. I will take the card out now and take a look. And yeh the outer heat pipes, whenever i used to take my 8800gtx out it used to be to hot to touch. if it is connected ok i'll send it back and ask for a refund or a swap out for a nvidia card as i have not had a single problem with my 8800gtx in the 3/4 years i had it.
 
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I purchased two. 1 of them was overheating so i sent it back. The only way i knew was i purchased two, and one of them kept hitting over 100c in Kombuster, while the other was around 70c.
 
always4lora said:
73oC was idle. I will take the card out now and take a look. And yeh the outer heat pipes, whenever i used to take my 8800gtx out it used to be to hot to touch. if it is connected ok i'll send it back and ask for a refund or a swap out for a nvidia card as i have not had a single problem with my 8800gtx in the 3/4 years i had it.
Click to expand...

Oh right well for some reason the cooler isn't making proper contact then. I don't hit those kind of temps under load, never mind idle. Outer heatpipes should definitely be hot, not cool or warm. I must admit it did strike me when I got the card out of the box that if the cooler is knocked the seal between the GPU and cooler could be broken as I'm sure there are little springs on the screws holding the cooler against the GPU, it isn't screwed down tightly IIRC, presumably so the chip isn't damaged.

I hope you get it sorted. :)

warmasice said:
I purchased two. 1 of them was overheating so i sent it back. The only way i knew was i purchased two, and one of them kept hitting over 100c in Kombuster, while the other was around 70c.
Click to expand...

Yep, mine hit 70C in Kombustor after about two minutes at a guess, I didn't test it any further. I'll save that for when I clock the beast! :D
 
i've taken mine out, taken the fan off and the paste looks like it was put on by a blind person which most likely doesn't help.seemed to be over the chip and then a bit of the card as well. I am going to contact OCUK to see if they can send me some thermal paste or if not i'll RMA the card. When i put the cooler back on and tightened all of the screws up (there were quite a lot not very tight) i get 60oC idle which is decent improvement.

Kombuster averaged at 85oC but still managed to peak at 94oC. Hopefully some well applied paste should help.

I want this card to work!
 
kerrgreg said:
So why is the model with "lightning" in the name and without a game more expensive?
Click to expand...

Because that's a Lightning card which has been fully tested at the overclocked settings.

The card you linked to, and which is the subject of this thread, is a 'Lightning' card but it hasn't been tested overclocked and so is being sold as a Twin Frozr III at standard HD 6970 clocks.

They're the same card but one has been fully tested by MSI at overclocked speeds and the other hasn't.

OcUK bought the cards cheaper due to the lack of testing.
 
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Posted this in the 6970 deal thread but I may as well post here also.

Does anyone know if one of these will have enough room to have an X-Fi Fatal1ty installed underneath it? Reason I ask is that my current 5870 is already a tight squeeze as it is and I don't want to resort to the onboard sound really. I have 2 more PCI-E slots underneath where the SC is but I'm thinking it'll get in the way of the bottom connections - Mobo is an Asus P6TD Deluxe.

Pic kinda illustrates what I mean.

la9RJ.jpg


Cheers
 
Wondering if anyone has got one of these installed in an antec 902? worried it might be a little long, i was thinking of getting a 1200... :p
 
Is the XFI a PCIE? if so what's wrong with the empty slot at the bottom?

The Lightning is a dual slot card dude. So it should have no issues going in where the card is now (if it's PCI).
 
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