Completely lost - 6950s

[Ruger22C]

I have two 6950s, and one hits 86º with 60% fan speed!

I can't lower the memory clock or core clock in afterburner to cool it down, when I change and apply the settings they stay the same..

The other card has 2 fans and I'd like to use that, but even when I plug the monitors into that card, it uses the other one....



And a bunch of other problems, but if I can fix even one of these I can play my game.

Help, please?

 

[jackstar7]

Can you be specific with which models you've got and can you get a pic of your case?

If possible, you might have to physically switch the two GPUs in the PCIe slots to get the other to be the dominant, but it sounds like it will just dump heat into the case.

Overall, even mid-80s isn't something to seriously be worried about on a GPU. Does the temp go higher if you drop the fan speed from 60%? You might get into an area of diminishing returns between extra noise/fan speed and heat removal.

The more info you can provide, the more likely someone here can help you out.

 

[Nintendesert]

First thing that comes to mind is if you're running CF one of the cards is getting bad airflow or having the other card dumping its heat on it.

 

[Ruger22C]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814161359
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814102945

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811119160 (Not USB 3 version)

I did try swapping GPUs.
I even reinstalled the OS after doing so.

The hot GPU was on the bottom, it's the single-fan, and being on bottom it had unhindered air flow.

Can you be specific with which models you've got and can you get a pic of your case?

If possible, you might have to physically switch the two GPUs in the PCIe slots to get the other to be the dominant, but it sounds like it will just dump heat into the case.

Overall, even mid-80s isn't something to seriously be worried about on a GPU. Does the temp go higher if you drop the fan speed from 60%? You might get into an area of diminishing returns between extra noise/fan speed and heat removal.

The more info you can provide, the more likely someone here can help you out.

 

[Ruger22C]

Bump QQ

 

[Elixer]

How many fans you got, what configuration ?
What is the temp of the other GPU ?
What about system temps?
Is that idle temps?
As was mentioned, these do run hot.

 

[Ruger22C]

Elixer, not to be rude but not one of those questions are relevant to lowering the clock speed or making it use the other GPU.

 

[hdfxst]

Did you change the cfg file in afterburner so you can change the clock settings?I never had good luck with afterburner(voltage settings never worked),sapphire trixx works better

 

[Spikesoldier]

actually you probably have the cards in the optimal configuration thermal-wise.

the top card (master) in a CF configuration outputs the display and also tends to run about 10*C hotter than the bottom card given the same cards with same frequencies and cooler.

IMO having the card with better cooling on top is a good idea. vice versa and i think you will have even worse thermals than before.

btw: 86*C @ 60% isnt bad. 86*C @ 100% is bad.

 

[trollolo]

First thing that comes to mind is if you're running CF one of the cards is getting bad airflow or having the other card dumping its heat on it.

this would be my first assumption

 

[Ruger22C]

How can I get it to use the top card, the sapphire, to run my games and not the bottom, the HIS? It runs significantly cooler even with the 'restricted' airflow.

actually you probably have the cards in the optimal configuration thermal-wise.

the top card (master) in a CF configuration outputs the display and also tends to run about 10*C hotter than the bottom card given the same cards with same frequencies and cooler.

IMO having the card with better cooling on top is a good idea. vice versa and i think you will have even worse thermals than before.

btw: 86*C @ 60% isnt bad. 86*C @ 100% is bad.

 

[Ruger22C]

Well, it works.. Not sure what all I did, but it started working after disabling/enabling in device manager, enabling/disabling crossfire, and plugging the monitors into the card I do NOT want to operate the game (so in this case, the bottom card.) and making sure the monitor was set as primary.

It even lets me change memory clock, etc now. Not that I need to any more.

 

[Elixer]

Elixer, not to be rude but not one of those questions are relevant to lowering the clock speed or making it use the other GPU.

True, but you were concerned about temps as well.

I was just pointing out that the temp issue can be caused by lots of things.

 

[m3t4lh34d]

Actually my card with the "better" cooling, my Powercolor PCS+ 6970 with its quad heatpipes and dual-fans actually runs WAY hotter in the top position because there are no built in recesses in the shroud so that when its snug against another card in a Crossfire or Tri-Fire scenario, it gets absolutely no air and rockets up in temps. I've been forced to put my PCS+ in the far bottom PCI-E slot in my Quad-Fire setup to alleviate the issue.

Yes with Regular crossfire spacing it would work fine, but some mobos have tighter spacing even when using regular crossfire. AMD's reference cooling setup actually does BETTER than alot of non-reference fancy cooling designs because of how they perform when fit snugly against other cards in crossfire...