Fan speed hack for ATI HD4870 X2

[daw123]

I have installed my new Powercolor ATI HD4870 X2 and I was getting GPU temps of 65C at idle.

I had a look on the web for the fan speed hack. The hack was vague regarding the location of the .xml profile in WinXP 32 bit and I had trouble finding it.

I tried Rivatuner 2.11 but found that the fan control settings I set in Rivatuner 2.11 were being reset to the default values by CCC when my PC booted up, despite creating Rivatuner profiles, schedules, etc.

Any way after about an hour of faffing about, I found the location of the .xml profile in Explorer.

I have therefore created the below guide for people who have WinXP 32 bit and who (like me) are not familiar with using CCC 8.9.

After using the following hack my GPU temps are 37C at idle (a 28C drop) with the fan speed set from 27% to 100% (my hearing is not very good, so I don't care about the noise)

1. Make a new profile in the ATI Catalyst Control Center. Open ATI Catalyst Control Center and click the down arrow adjacent to the ?Profiles? tab then select ?Profiles Manager...?. Enter Your CCC Profile Name in the ?Enter or select a profile name? text box. In the ?Composition? tab expand ?ATI Radeon HD4870 X2? in ?the following settings:? check box. Check ?ATI Overdrive? only. Then check ?Desktop shortcut? in the ?Activation? tab. Click the ?Activate & Close? Icon.

2. Enable the overdrive feature by unlocking it; click ?ATI Overdrive? in the ?Graphic Settings? menu tree. Then click the padlock icon in the ATI Overdrive main menu to unlock the overdrive settings.

3. Enable hidden files in Windows Explorer by using the Control Panel. Click the ?Folder options icon?, then the ?View? tab and then check ?Show hidden files and folders?. Finally, click "Ok".

4. Find the following file directory in Windows Explorer: C:\Documents and Settings\Your Username\Local Settings\Application Data\ATI\ACE\Profiles\Your CCC Profile Name.XML.

5. Right click ?Your CCC Profile Name.XML? and open with Notepad.

6. Make the following changes to the text in Notepad:

<Feature name="FanSpeedAlgorithm_0">
<Property name="FanSpeedAlgorithm" value="Manual" /> Change from ?Automatic? to ?Manual?
</Feature>
<Feature name="FanSpeedRPMTarget_0">
<Property name="Want" value="0" />
</Feature>
<Feature name="FanSpeedPercentTarget_0">
<Property name="Want" value="0" />
.
.
.
.
.
.
<Feature name="FanSpeedAlgorithm_1">
<Property name="FanSpeedAlgorithm" value="Manual" /> Change from ?Automatic? to ?Manual?
</Feature>
<Feature name="FanSpeedRPMTarget_1">
<Property name="Want" value="0" />
</Feature>
<Feature name="FanSpeedPercentTarget_1">
<Property name="Want" value="??" /> Where ?? = the fan speed percentage you want

7. Save the file then re-activate your profile in the ATI Catalyst Control Center; Click the down arrow adjacent to the ?Profiles? tab then select ?Activate profile? then click on ?Your CCC Profile?.

8. Your GPU fan should ramp up to whatever speed percentage you chose.

 

[daw123]

Does anyone know how to get the profile (I only have one profile) to load automatically on boot up?

I have tried copying and pasting the desktop profile short cut into the startup folder, but this didn't work. I have also looked on the net without success.

Why the hell can't ATI make this easier for people to choose the fan speed? You shouldn't need to use a hack.

Thanks for reading this post and any help with the above is appreciated.

 

[daw123]

Ignore my previous post, CCC does seem to automatically load the profile after all.

 

[daw123]

Well, it turns out that sometimes the profile loads on boot up and sometimes it doesn't. Very weird. Any suggestions why this could be happening?

To be honest if I can't find a solution, then I'm not that bothered. I can live with having to click the profile shortcut on my desktop.

At 29% GPU activity the temp is about 40C at 100% fan speed. Not bad.

 

[Tempered81]

It engages after you've run 3d i believe. If you reboot, and it doesn't work, you might have to open a game, then close it out to the desktop and then your fan settings should be working.

Cat. 8.10 betas have the fan control slider in the ccc.

 

[daw123]

Thanks for the info jaredpace.

 

[Tempered81]

yah np. nice guide you've written.

 

[hclarkjr]

the next catalyst will eliminate all this anyway as it will have the manual fan control in the overdrive utility.

 

[error8]

Use this guide here http://www.hardforum.com/showp...1033022384&postcount=6

You can control your fan speed depending on the temperature, using only Riva Tuner and nothing more. You will also be able to reduce power consumption in idle, if you look harder in that thread.

I find it odd, that after all this time since this guide has been released, people are still struggling with the CCC fan profile, which is buggy and difficult to use.

 

[Hauk]

Great guide for Riva but scary for a cherry.

Hell I'd rather flash the bios (which I did)..

 

[pontifex]

Originally posted by: error8
Use this guide here http://www.hardforum.com/showp...1033022384&postcount=6

You can control your fan speed depending on the temperature, using only Riva Tuner and nothing more. You will also be able to reduce power consumption in idle, if you look harder in that thread.

I find it odd, that after all this time since this guide has been released, people are still struggling with the CCC fan profile, which is buggy and difficult to use.

how is it difficult to use? its pretty easy imo.

 

[error8]

Originally posted by: pontifex

Originally posted by: error8
Use this guide here http://www.hardforum.com/showp...1033022384&postcount=6

You can control your fan speed depending on the temperature, using only Riva Tuner and nothing more. You will also be able to reduce power consumption in idle, if you look harder in that thread.

I find it odd, that after all this time since this guide has been released, people are still struggling with the CCC fan profile, which is buggy and difficult to use.

how is it difficult to use? its pretty easy imo.

It never worked for me with Catalyst 8.9. And even if it did, you have only one fan speed in there and that's it. With this guide you can set your fan at 20% for example at 50C ( gpu temp) and after that, when your gpu hits 60C during gaming, then it can speed up to whatever you want it to, maybe 70% or 100% and so on.

 

[pontifex]

one thing i get confused about is that people say how loud their gpu fans are at high speeds. in all of the cards i;ve used that i have adjusted fan speeds, i never heard much difference from 30% to 100%. I had both my 4850s running at 100% the other day and i couldn't tell that any difference in sound.

 

[daw123]

Originally posted by: jaredpace
It engages after you've run 3d i believe. If you reboot, and it doesn't work, you might have to open a game, then close it out to the desktop and then your fan settings should be working.

Cat. 8.10 betas have the fan control slider in the ccc.

Yep, I've just upgraded to CCC 8.10