How good is the 4870 stock cooler

[error8]

I'm thinking of buying the card, but I'd like to know how well does the stock do.

I know that if you don't tweak the fan speed you can fry eggs on it, but what happens when you increase its speed? How much does the temperature drop.
I have an Accelero S1 that I can recycle from my GT, but dropping 150W of heat inside the case doesn't look that good...

 

[sonnygdude]

At stock my HD4870 was 71-73 idle, 91-92 loaded. With the fan tweak set to 40% (from the original 23%), I'm now 48 idle, 72 load

 

[error8]

Originally posted by: sonnygdude
At stock my HD4870 was 71-73 idle, 91-92 loaded. With the fan tweak set to 40% (from the original 23%), I'm now 48 idle, 72 load

72 C load is not bat at all. What happens if you set the fan at more then 40%? It becomes noisy?

 

[Narynan]

i didnt notice it over the 4 120's set to high in my antec 900 till about 53%. I was having idle of 41 load 62

 

[error8]

Ok, so even at 50% is still pretty quiet. I guess that the stock cooler is quite good, if you mess with the fan.

 

[Stern]

Is it easy to mess with the fan? I'm currently in the process of deciding on a graphics card for a new rig, and am comparing cards.

Are you guys talking about the single 4870 or the 4870X2?

Thanks

 

[error8]

Originally posted by: Stern


Are you guys talking about the single 4870 or the 4870X2?

Well the title of the thread suggests 4870, isn't it? Why would they talk about the 4870X2??????

 

[jcwagers]

The simplest way to figure out what works for you on the fan is to install the beta of Ati Tray Tools that supports the 48xx series cards and then play with the fan setting. It's under the overclocking section and there is a tab for fans. You can adjust it wherever you want and hit apply and it will ramp the fan speed up to what you have chosen. I settled on 42% for mine and it idles from 48-52c and load is usually under 70c. Just be aware that Ati Tray Tools will set your clock speed at 500/900 instead of the 750/900 that is stock. You can make a profile that will autoload when you start the computer and set the fan speed and the clock speed both in it. It may take some tinkering to figure it out but it'll be worth the effort.

 

[toyota]

Originally posted by: Stern
Is it easy to mess with the fan? I'm currently in the process of deciding on a graphics card for a new rig, and am comparing cards.

Are you guys talking about the single 4870 or the 4870X2?

Thanks

nice step by step video
http://enthusiast.hardocp.com/...wxLCxoZW50aHVzaWFzdA==

discussion
http://www.hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1344651

 

[BTRY B 529th FA BN]

Make sure windows is set to show hidden files.

First Enable Overdrive in the Catalyst Control Center.

Next Create a new Profile using the Profiles Manager in the CCC and make sure Save All Catalyst Control Center Settings is checked.

For Vista 32/64

Then go to the following location and open the following file for editing "C:\Users\Your Windows ID\AppData\Local\ATI\ACE\Your CCC Profile.XML. The xml file will have the same name as the Catalyst Profile you saved. right click and hit edit.

For XP 32/64

Then go to the following location and open the following file for editing "C:\Documents and Settings\Your Windows ID\Local Settings\Application Data\ATI\ACE\Your CCC Profile.XML. The xml file will have the same name as the Catalyst Profile you saved. right click and hit edit.


Now go down the page until you see the following lines in the XML file ...

<Feature name="FanSpeedAlgorithm_0">
<Property name="FanSpeedAlgorithm" value="Automatic" />
</Feature>
<Feature name="FanSpeedRPMTarget_0">
<Property name="Want" value="0" />
</Feature>
<Feature name="FanSpeedPercentTarget_0">
<Property name="Want" value="23" />

Change the "Property name="FanSpeedAlgorithm" value=" from "Automatic" to "Manual"

Then change "Property name="Want" value=" from "23" to your desired fan speed.

Save the file, then reload the Profile you just edited in the CCC. Done.

 

[error8]

Originally posted by: BTRY B 529th FA BN

Make sure windows is set to show hidden files.

First Enable Overdrive in the Catalyst Control Center.

Next Create a new Profile using the Profiles Manager in the CCC and make sure Save All Catalyst Control Center Settings is checked.

For Vista 32/64

Then go to the following location and open the following file for editing "C:\Users\Your Windows ID\AppData\Local\ATI\ACE\Your CCC Profile.XML. The xml file will have the same name as the Catalyst Profile you saved. right click and hit edit.

For XP 32/64

Then go to the following location and open the following file for editing "C:\Documents and Settings\Your Windows ID\Local Settings\Application Data\ATI\ACE\Your CCC Profile.XML. The xml file will have the same name as the Catalyst Profile you saved. right click and hit edit.


Now go down the page until you see the following lines in the XML file ...

<Feature name="FanSpeedAlgorithm_0">
<Property name="FanSpeedAlgorithm" value="Automatic" />
</Feature>
<Feature name="FanSpeedRPMTarget_0">
<Property name="Want" value="0" />
</Feature>
<Feature name="FanSpeedPercentTarget_0">
<Property name="Want" value="23" />

Change the "Property name="FanSpeedAlgorithm" value=" from "Automatic" to "Manual"

Then change "Property name="Want" value=" from "23" to your desired fan speed.

Save the file, then reload the Profile you just edited in the CCC. Done.

Ok, nice guide. But how many degrees did you manage to take over the card?

 

[deerhunter716]

Stock cooler works just fine. OC my card to 790/1000 and fan speed set to 33% and it idles at 48-49 degrees. Can also oc the gddr5 to 1100 and temps still stay ver low even while gaming. I just do not oc the gddr5 with all the contraversey around how stable the gddr5 truely is with overclocking since it has not been fully tested, etc.

 

[error8]

Originally posted by: deerhunter716
Stock cooler works just fine. OC my card to 790/1000 and fan speed set to 33% and it idles at 48-49 degrees. Can also oc the gddr5 to 1100 and temps still stay ver low even while gaming. I just do not oc the gddr5 with all the contraversey around how stable the gddr5 truely is with overclocking since it has not been fully tested, etc.

But what do you get on load ? Idle temperature doesn't really mean much.

 

[dennilfloss]

Originally posted by: deerhunter716
Stock cooler works just fine. OC my card to 790/1000 and fan speed set to 33% and it idles at 48-49 degrees. Can also oc the gddr5 to 1100 and temps still stay ver low even while gaming. I just do not oc the gddr5 with all the contraversey around how stable the gddr5 truely is with overclocking since it has not been fully tested, etc.

Plus it's not like that card is bandwidth-limited in terms of memory already. As far as the results I've seen posted, it sure isn't and overclocking the memory yields very little return.

 

[ajaidevsingh]

I did note that 4870's heatsink is much much better than my 4850's....

With the fan mod@45% my 4850 CF goes up to mid 60's where as the 4870 does not break 50's with fan@45%....
Also in terms of noise the 4870's sound almost like my old 2900 when fan is around 60-70%. If you were to compare the GTX280's fan noise to 4870@40% fan the 4870 will make a bit more noise when not gaming but as soon as the GTX280 gets hot, hell breaks lose and the dam sound of the GTX280 fan travels through out the room...!!!

 

[nitromullet]

The stock cooler at stock speeds on the 4870 is adequate in my experience. I never messed with the fan speed settings, had the card clocked to whatever the max was possible with CCC, and had no issues whatsoever. The 4850 on the other hand comes with an inadequate stock cooler. I had two of them, and they would both intermittently crash the system under load. I can't be 100% certain that it was due to heat, but I can't really think of any other reason for the different results between the 4870 and 4850 in an otherwise identical system.

 

[deerhunter716]

Originally posted by: error8

Originally posted by: deerhunter716
Stock cooler works just fine. OC my card to 790/1000 and fan speed set to 33% and it idles at 48-49 degrees. Can also oc the gddr5 to 1100 and temps still stay ver low even while gaming. I just do not oc the gddr5 with all the contraversey around how stable the gddr5 truely is with overclocking since it has not been fully tested, etc.

But what do you get on load ? Idle temperature doesn't really mean much.

Mid 60's at load. No issues at all at the fixed fan speed. Stock cooler works just fine.

 

[sgrinavi]

Originally posted by: deerhunter716



Mid 60's at load. No issues at all at the fixed fan speed. Stock cooler works just fine.

What card do you have that gets those readings at stock fan speed?

I have had three, a PowerColor, A PowerColor O/C'd edition and a VisionTek. None of them ran anything near that cool with stock fan settings.

 

[videogames101]

My 4870 tops out at 45-48C at 60% fan, thats full load man!

it's COLD

 

[deerhunter716]

Originally posted by: sgrinavi

Originally posted by: deerhunter716



Mid 60's at load. No issues at all at the fixed fan speed. Stock cooler works just fine.

What card do you have that gets those readings at stock fan speed?

I have had three, a PowerColor, A PowerColor O/C'd edition and a VisionTek. None of them ran anything near that cool with stock fan settings.

Visiontek but it is not stock fan settings. I bumped it up to 33 or 34% and it drops temps down a LOT. I was idling at 70 until I made the fan setting switch.

 

[error8]

OK, so it seems that 4870 has quite a good cooler, so no need to change it. Thanks, for your help.

 

[semisonic9]

Yep. Wish things were this rosy for the 4870x2 crowd.

I'd gladly pay a few extra bucks for better stock TIM and an efficient and quieter non-reference cooler for that card.

-S

 

[Phew]

The cooler on my 4870 has some kind of intermittent vibration problem (random rattling sound). I wish someone made a cooler for this card that accepted an axial fan (centrifugal fans seem to have very poor flowrate to noise ratios). I don't use the PCI slots below the card, so some kind of cooler that allowed you to mount a 80mm or so axial fan to a duct blowing over a core/memory heatsink would be nice product.

To answer your original question, use ATI Tray Tools beta to set up a schedule of fan speed for different temperatures. The stock cooler does a great job when you bump up the fan speed, but it is very noisy.

 

[error8]

Noise doesn't bother me, if it cools enough.

 

[solofly]

I wouldn't mess with the fan. It's all automatic these days and if the chip needs more air it will speed up the fan on its own. I got 3 very hot HD4850s in tri-config and heat isn't an issue at all, with the right setup/case of course... (and my number 1 priority is noise so it has to be quiet above all)

I had friend's HD4870 for a week to play with and the cooling unit was as good as what nvidia puts out...