5870 alternative quiet coolers?

[ParadoxDenmark]

Alright, I'm using 2 x XFX 5870 cards in Crossfire, but they're extremely loud under full load.

So I was thinking, maybe it was possible to exchange the default fans with some other form of cooling, but it's an area I do not have much experience with. I've seen threads of people doing it from time to time, but it does look like quite the operation.

Maybe someone around here have some experience with doing just that. Any help would be appreciated, thanks.

 

[TemjinGold]

If you have no experience with it, it may be worth it to sell yours and pick up 2x Vapor-X models.

 

[ExcaliburMM]

I installed an aftermarket cooler to my 4870 with no problems. But you do have to be extremely careful with every movement you make. I almost knocked a capacitor off its pad when removing a screw and I was paranoid throughout the entire installation after that.

If you think you can do it without damaging the cards, its worth a shot. The first time you build a PC there's a lot of things you've never done before involved, but most of us have made it through that okay. And if we didn't try, where would we be?

 

[MrK6]

Are they reference models? The reference 5870 is dead silent under load, if you're running reference models I would check your fan settings rather than waste the time and money getting (unnecessary) new coolers.

 

[tweakboy]

the stock ones themeselves.



You dont need more then 55 fan speed. let the card go to 90c who cares its meant to... get hell hot.. or heaven cool with water/llquid but its a waiste on a video card your already gonna replace every 3 4 years.. No need.. OC's reach their limit who cares if its 70 compred to 90 ,, video cards espeicaly PCB they draw that temp they dont mind.. doesnt hurt it as idle ,, thank you

 

[MagickMan]

With my CF 5850s I run a T-Rad2 and VRM-R3/R4 setup, with added Scythe GTs. Even OCed to 1000/1300 they're silent under load with very reasonable temps (~70C in GPU heavy games).

As long as you're running reference cards, it's an easy install. If they use custom XFX coolers, I'm really not sure what you can do.

 

[ParadoxDenmark]

Thanks for the quick replies.

Yeah, they're using the standard XFX coolers.

I was testing the temperatures under the game that seems to be taxing them the most (Metro2033) and they go from idling at 34 degrees Celcius with 55% fan speed to around 76-80 degrees Celcius at about 80% fan speed.

It's really a lot louder than I'd like it to be. The cards were kind of expensive, and I expect I'll keep them for quite awhile (even if I get a new computer, I demote this one to mule) so, wouldn't mind spending a little extra for some really good and hopefully quiet cooling.

 

[MrK6]

Thanks for the quick replies.

Yeah, they're using the standard XFX coolers.

I was testing the temperatures under the game that seems to be taxing them the most (Metro2033) and they go from idling at 34 degrees Celcius with 55% fan speed to around 76-80 degrees Celcius at about 80% fan speed.

It's really a lot louder than I'd like it to be. The cards were kind of expensive, and I expect I'll keep them for quite awhile (even if I get a new computer, I demote this one to mule) so, wouldn't mind spending a little extra for some really good and hopefully quiet cooling.

Yeah something is screwed up. Your cards should be loading at about 30% fan speed tops, especially if they aren't overclocked. I know some versions of XFX cards needed a BIOS flash to fix their fan profiles, have you checked the XFX site/support?

 

[VashHT]

Yeah something is screwed up. Your cards should be loading at about 30% fan speed tops, especially if they aren't overclocked. I know some versions of XFX cards needed a BIOS flash to fix their fan profiles, have you checked the XFX site/support?

This is true, my 5870 never gets close to 55% fan, and I've never really noticed the fan on it spinning up. Does your case have good airflow? Have you tried taking out your cards one by one and seeing if both of them act the same way? If the cards are right on top of each other that kind of blocks one fan so maybe that could be spinning up more due to lack of cool air.

 

[ExcaliburMM]

OP, have you considered just cleaning off and re-applying good thermal compound, keeping the stock HSF? IIRC, many people reported this dropping their temps quite a bit.

 

[ParadoxDenmark]

OP, have you considered just cleaning off and re-applying good thermal compound, keeping the stock HSF? IIRC, many people reported this dropping their temps quite a bit.

Nope, didn't know that was a viable option with new cards, actually.

I Googled around a little, and found this thread. Seems like some cards were staying at 55% fan speed, which isn't the problem I'm having.

I can only check the fan speed on my secondary card in the CCC, is there some kind of software that will let me check the speed on the primary?

Also, what is this reference, non-reference thing? I'm not sure which kind I have.

 

[MrK6]

Use GPU-Z to monitor your cards - http://www.techpowerup.com/gpuz/

Reference models are those that follow the AMD design, non-reference ones are those developed/designed/tweaked by AIB's like XFX. If your cards look like the ones in the picture you posted (shroud cooler with the radial/blower fan), they're most likely reference design.

You can also try using MSI Afterburner (works on all cards) http://event.msi.com/vga/afterburner/download.htm to monitor your temps and control your fan speed. Try setting it to something like 30-35% and see how hot your cards get in a game.

 

[ParadoxDenmark]

Use GPU-Z to monitor your cards - http://www.techpowerup.com/gpuz/

Reference models are those that follow the AMD design, non-reference ones are those developed/designed/tweaked by AIB's like XFX. If your cards look like the ones in the picture you posted (shroud cooler with the radial/blower fan), they're most likely reference design.

You can also try using MSI Afterburner (works on all cards) http://event.msi.com/vga/afterburner/download.htm to monitor your temps and control your fan speed. Try setting it to something like 30-35% and see how hot your cards get in a game.

Ah, awesome. I downloaded those programs, and playing around with them now, trying to figure out how they work before I start changing things, hehe.

I just opened my box, and it seems like I have these Black Edition models where the fan is located in the middle, so guess it isn't a reference design.

Also, people on other sites have suggested flashing the bios with the 55% idle fan to a new XFX 5870 XXX bios that will apparently make the 850 MHz GPU core and 1200 MHz memory go to 900 and 1250, respectively. Sounds like the operation isn't without risk, though. Again, another area I have little experience with.

 

[atomicvai]

If you're still considering quiet aftermarket coolers, I highly recommend the Arctic Cooling Acellero XTREME 5870. I run it with the fans at 100% and can't even hear them. Playing MW2 used to put my card at 95 degrees, it now runs at 55 degrees full load. VRM's are way cooler as well, running under 80 degrees. This is with a minor overcock of 900. My room temps hover in the 26-30 degree area right now during the summer. They did a great job on this cooler. Yeah, it's a fair chunk of money, but I think it was worth it.

 

[ebolamonkey3]

I second Temjin, if you've got no experience w/ changing them, it'll be better if you sold your 5870s and got 2x vapor-x or MSI lightning models. With the cost of 2 aftermarket coolers, it might turn out to be the same cost.

As others have mentioned before, changing cooler is a messy process, and the risk of damaging your card and voiding your warranty is pretty big. Plus, every time you RMA your card you'll have to switch the stock cooler back and put the aftermarket one on again after you get it back, that's the primary reason I haven't used aftermarket coolers on mine yet.