GPU problems

Alactric

Hey guys, I was wondering if you could help me with a GPU problem that's really been annoying me lately. My recently bought Gigabyte 7950 has been emitting an unusual amount of noise as of late.

It was bought back in early July and was fine up until a week ago. It was dormant for a couple of days as I took some time off up the country, so my initial thought was that it was just dust build-up. I checked out the fans and there didn't appear to be any obvious problems but I gave them a good clean anyway, I also checked the case fans and the intake on the base (bottom mounted PSU) and made sure it's dust filter / mesh thing was secured. Popped it back in, and it sounded just as loud. And by loud I mean noticeable through some decent Sennheiser Headphones.

The case is a Xigmatek Asguard Pro which isn't exactly a case known for sound dampening, but the Gigabyte version of the 7950 hands down is supposed to be one of the quieter ones. So it got to the point where I stuck in an older card card, the 6870. It sounded considerably better, so much so that I tested the cards.

Game tested: Alan Wake (Both at 1080p / Max settings)

7950(Gigabyte)

Max Temp:59.0c
Min Temp: 30.0c
Fan Speed: 67%
RPM: 2915
Load: 82%
VDDC: 1.250V

6870(Sapphire)

Max Temp:66.0c
Min Temp:35.0c
Fan Speed: 40%
RPM: 1611rpm
Load: 62%
VDDC: 1.175V

I came back with this, not sure what the story is here. The 6870 has gotten nearly 2 years of constant use and doesn't seem to be sweating nearly as much the month old 7950.

If it is a defect I'm not really sure where I stand with RMA's. I guess if it truly is a defect you have a year to return instead of 30 days or something? It was also bought from Hardwareversand so I'm not sure what the procedure over there is, presuming it is wonky in the first place. Haven't a clue what to do really. Any help would be most appreciated.

...Also I should note that I haven't encountered any bizarre graphical problems or error messages when using the 7950 and it seems to run like it normally did when using much older games like GTA3 and Half Life 1 so I guess that's something?

game4it70

The 7950's fan speed @ 67% is high and is always going to be heard imo.

Have you setup fan profiles as its still cool enough for you to run the fan lower?

CS Hasuki

Coil whine?

Gumbi

That card is unfortunately not one of the queiter 7950s, but one of the louder ones. It has 3 75mm fans, other coolers have 2 90mm/100mm ones. Basically, your fans are moving a lot faster to push the same amount of air. At 67% I can imagine your fans being loud.

Having said all that, your cooling is actually really good (as a consequence of pushing so much air with 3 fans at high speeds). What you need to do is make a custom fan profile in MSI afterburner or Sapphire Trixx. Only let the fan go above 50% at 70 degrees, and ramp it up to 75% between 70 and 75 degrees.

In this way, in most games, your fan won't go above 50% fan speed.

Also, overclock the card by a small bit

Alactric

Gumbi wrote: »

Having said all that, your cooling is actually really good (as a consequence of pushing so much air with 3 fans at high speeds). What you need to do is make a custom fan profile in MSI afterburner or Sapphire Trixx. Only let the fan go above 50% at 70 degrees, and ramp it up to 75% between 70 and 75 degrees.

In this way, in most games, your fan won't go above 50% fan speed.

Also, overclock the card by a small bit

I must be imagining the sound increase from taking the week off so :pac: I''ll look into the MSI custom profile and see what happens. Anything that takes the edge off it, the PC is right beside me.

Wouldn't overclocking make it louder though?

Alactric

CS Hasuki wrote: »

Coil whine?

No thankfully, one of the first things I looked for.

Gumbi

Alactric wrote: »

I must be imagining the sound increase from taking the week off so :pac: I''ll look into the MSI custom profile and see what happens. Anything that takes the edge off it, the PC is right beside me.

Wouldn't overclocking make it louder though?

Not a mild overclock on stock voltage.

At 60 deg max you have 15 degrees thermal headroom to play with, yer grand temp-wise Relax the fan profile an you'll have a lot less noise. Then consider a mild overclock without increasing the voltage.

Alactric

Gumbi wrote: »

Not a mild overclock on stock voltage.

At 60 deg max you have 15 degrees thermal headroom to play with, yer grand temp-wise Relax the fan profile an you'll have a lot less noise. Then consider a mild overclock without increasing the voltage.

A mild overclock eh? Sounds interesting. Do you know of any all inclusive guides?
The overclocking and modding forum seems to be on a case by case basis. And the stickies are very old.

Gumbi

Alactric wrote: »

A mild overclock eh? Sounds interesting. Do you know of any all inclusive guides?
The overclocking and modding forum seems to be on a case by case basis. And the stickies are very old.

Just write something up on the Off-Topic thread, this forum is very active and you'll have an answer in no time.

I'll happy you out when I get back later from training.

BloodBath

You'r temps are still low. You're fine up until 75-80c. Just make a custom fan profile as suggested that eases the fan speed up until it reaches 75c, then have it ramp up faster to 100% at 100c.

Here's what mine looks like.

Gumbi

It's probably alright what you're recommending BB, some cards can be unstable at ~85 deg though (although that could be just for overclocks). Either way, he has tons of cooling headroom, he probably won't have to go above 50% fan speed in most games to stay under 75 deg.

BloodBath

I try to keep mine below 55%. It ramps up fast beyond 80c past 55%. You could have this ramp up point at 75c if there is stability issues. With my card at 1150 I rarely go above 50% fan speed or 75c.