Is my 5870 running to hot?

[JE78]

Last night while playing Battlefield: Bad Company 2 BETA my 5870 got up to 86c. This is the highest i've seen it. The card usually tops out at 79-80c so I'm not sure why it got up to 86c. The card is stock, no OCing at all, great airflow though the case. I have the card setup for automatic fan control so the speed increased when the card gets hot, well the fan speed only went up to 30% when it was at 86c. Should I override it and crank it up before I start gaming or is 86c acceptable? I didn't notice any lag while gaming either.

 

[Hauk]

Sounds like that's a Crysis-like game that really stresses the gpu, giving higher temps than what you see with "average" games. The default fan profile for 5870 is very modest IMO, only 22% at idle, and only 30% at that temp.. very modest.

If you have CCC installed, use it to set to, say 40% and run the game again. With good airflow and normal room temps, you'll probably see a significant drop in load temps. That will be a good indicator if you should consider a permanent fan boost. Several ways to accomplish that of course. I don't like fixed fan ratios, rather I boost the minimum fan speed in a bios mod and reflash the card. Most would prefer a software solution however such as Riva. If interested in a bios mod though, I could point you to the required software..

 

[JE78]

Thanks Hauk, your right its only that game that I notice the higher temps. Most of my other games my high is in the mid 70's. My fan speed at idle is the same as yours, 21% so I guess ATI was very modest with this card. I'll try 40% the next time I play and see what the temps get up too. Would you suggest a BIOS flash or just use CCC?

 

[MJinZ]

If I remember correctly 86C is the threshhold for fan blast.

Test it by running Furmark. You'll see that when the card gets to 86-87C the fan will suddenly blast itself to around 50% momentarily to bring the temps back down.

Anyway, AMD decided to configure the fans for quiet operation rather than cooler running chip.

 

[JE78]

Thanks I'll give Furmark a try. Like I said, I didn't notice any graphic lag so I guess it wasn't getting too hot.

 

[MrK6]

The cards are designed to run at 85-90C. If you're running lower than that, it's due to colder ambients/great case airflow/less stressful application etc.

 

[Hauk]

Thanks Hauk, your right its only that game that I notice the higher temps. Most of my other games my high is in the mid 70's. My fan speed at idle is the same as yours, 21% so I guess ATI was very modest with this card. I'll try 40% the next time I play and see what the temps get up too. Would you suggest a BIOS flash or just use CCC?

Using CCC it is the easiest (and safest) way to increase fan speed. Rethinking my mention of bios flashing.. I don't want to be the one recommending it to first timers. Use CCC for a fixed fan speed. 40% is not too loud, with it, my 5870 temps stayed under 60c at load, in the high 30s at idle. Nice.

When asking if your temps are safe, you'll always get a response that the gpu/card was designed for such temps; but if a fan boost can produce such dramatic results, it's well worth it IMO. Why let 86c gnaw at your sanity?

On bios flashing, just know it's out there. I've flashed 10 48xx/58xx cards to date with no issues. Instead of grabbing an unknown bios off the web, I save my card's bios using GPU-Z, modify it using RBE (Radeon Bios Editor), then flash with ATI flash using a USB. Although Wizzard's guide is a few years old, the steps and software pretty much remain the same:
http://www.techpowerup.com/articles//overclocking/vidcard/34/1

Nice mobo by the way. Nice setup.. when you gonna oc that cpu? Another project perhaps..

 

[MarcVenice]

Using CCC it is the easiest (and safest) way to increase fan speed. Rethinking my mention of bios flashing.. I don't want to be the one recommending it to first timers. Use CCC for a fixed fan speed. 40% is not too loud, with it, my 5870 temps stayed under 60c at load, in the high 30s at idle. Nice.

When asking if your temps are safe, you'll always get a response that the gpu/card was designed for such temps; but if a fan boost can produce such dramatic results, it's well worth it IMO. Why let 86c gnaw at your sanity?

On bios flashing, just know it's out there. I've flashed 10 48xx/58xx cards to date with no issues. Instead of grabbing an unknown bios off the web, I save my card's bios using GPU-Z, modify it using RBE (Radeon Bios Editor), then flash with ATI flash using a USB. Although Wizzard's guide is a few years old, the steps and software pretty much remain the same:
http://www.techpowerup.com/articles//overclocking/vidcard/34/1

Nice mobo by the way. Nice setup.. when you gonna oc that cpu? Another project perhaps..

Why would you let it 'gnaw' at your sanity? Some people simply have to get it through their thick skulls that it doesn't matter. It has been mentioned allready, but 85/86c is where the card will start upping it's fanspeed. It has been designed that way and 85c won't significantly, if at all, shorting the lifespan of the gpu.

I don't understand why people would put up with higher acoustics just so their gpu runs cooler? Madness I tell you.

 

[MJinZ]

Why would you let it 'gnaw' at your sanity? Some people simply have to get it through their thick skulls that it doesn't matter. It has been mentioned allready, but 85/86c is where the card will start upping it's fanspeed. It has been designed that way and 85c won't significantly, if at all, shorting the lifespan of the gpu.

I don't understand why people would put up with higher acoustics just so their gpu runs cooler? Madness I tell you.

Depending on some setups however, fan speeds from 20-33% don't make any discernible noise difference because their other fans will be louder.

Personally, I wish I could change the fan behavior myself because using CCC to lock a certain fan speed can actually be dangerous if it does not cool enough for the situation.

 

[scooterlibby]

Not great, but not fatal either. I concur with the others advice on manually cranking it up a tad.

 

[MrK6]

Why would you let it 'gnaw' at your sanity? Some people simply have to get it through their thick skulls that it doesn't matter. It has been mentioned allready, but 85/86c is where the card will start upping it's fanspeed. It has been designed that way and 85c won't significantly, if at all, shorting the lifespan of the gpu.

I don't understand why people would put up with higher acoustics just so their gpu runs cooler? Madness I tell you.

Another voice of reason. I just never understood why some people think they know better than the engineers who designed the damn thing. 85C is fine for operation.

Depending on some setups however, fan speeds from 20-33% don't make any discernible noise difference because their other fans will be louder.

Personally, I wish I could change the fan behavior myself because using CCC to lock a certain fan speed can actually be dangerous if it does not cool enough for the situation.

There's several ways you can reset the fan curve should you want a cooler running card (for example, to stabilize an overclock). You can do it through software with a program like MSI Afterburner or you can rewrite the BIOS with RBE.

 

[dflynchimp]

I prefer manually dialing my fan up before gaming, usually to 50-60%, so my temps stay well under 80C (4870X2)

up to you really, I know ATI's recent high end chips seem to shrug off heat, or are designed to handle a higher thermal envelope.

 

[Tempered81]

Just override it, and set it to 40-50% range (wherever the sound level is comfortable for you) and start playing BC2 again. Likely the temp wont go over 85 again, if the fan was at only 30% before.

 

[Tempered81]

On bios flashing, just know it's out there. I've flashed 10 48xx/58xx cards to date with no issues. Instead of grabbing an unknown bios off the web, I save my card's bios using GPU-Z, modify it using RBE

Care to give me a hand with this via PM?

 

[Hauk]

"Thick skulls, another voice of reason?" Dodgy insults IMO. I could list quite a few enthusiast forums where you'd not see someone called out like this simply because they suggested a way to improve on load temps.

I don't give a rats ass if it was designed to handle it, I want it to run as cool as possible at a noise ratio that works for me. I presented my opinion, deal with it. I gave mention that there will always be a response saying it was designed to to handle it, but in no way was I insulting anyone.

Maybe I should have thrown a paragraph of concessions in there that "although engineers designed it to run that way, and there's a varying number of people who'll say that 85c is just fine, blah blah blah.."

 

[Hauk]

Care to give me a hand with this via PM?

Sure, do you have a bootable USB drive? If not, you could click that link above and work on that in the meantime. It's on page 5..

 

[MarcVenice]

"Thick skulls, another voice of reason?" Dodgy insults IMO. I could list quite a few enthusiast forums where you'd not see someone called out like this simply because they suggested a way to improve on load temps.

I don't give a rats ass if it was designed to handle it, I want it to run as cool as possible at a noise ratio that works for me. I presented my opinion, deal with it. I gave mention that there will always be a response saying it was designed to to handle it, but in now way was I insulting anyone.

Maybe I should have thrown a paragraph of concessions in there that "although engineers designed it to run that way, and there's a varying number of people who'll say that 85c is just fine, blah blah blah.."

I apologize if it looked like I was trying to insult you, I didn't mean to. It has just been bothering me for some time that people actually think their gpu runs to 'hot', when it actually performs just fine.

If you want to, or can live with more noise, crank it all the way up. I just hope people will one day realize it doesn't matter, and won't have to live with more noise, yet can still sleep at night, knowing their gpu ran a little 'hot'.

 

[JE78]

Thanks for advice guys. I think I'll hold on flash my BIOS, I turned the fan speed up to 37%, 40% was annoying and launched BC2, the temps leveled off at 75c so i'm already 10c under what I was so I'm happy with that.

 

[Tempered81]

Sure, do you have a bootable USB drive?

Yes, I do. I sent you some pm's. Thanks

 

[zerocool84]

When I run Furmark my 5870 gets in the high 80's as well.

 

[Phil1977]

These cards are designed to run at these temps and run the cooler as slow as possible...

No need to change anything. Just enjoy the card. Or put another way, if you never new about GPU temps, would you even worry? Just let it be

 

[Hauk]

Yes, I do. I sent you some pm's. Thanks

This is a quick guide to adjusting minimum fan speed via bios flashing. This is NOT something I recommend for the faint of heart. It's easy enough, but there is the risk of a bad flash and "bricking" your card. You can always recover with a blind flash using the original bios but it's a pain in the arse. The risk is there but it's a remote risk at best if you're savvy.

I recommend playing around with a trash bios file using RBE to see if you want to move forward. Here's one:
http://www.techpowerup.com/vgabios/63278/XFX.HD5870.1024.091126_1.html


So you're ready, on to modding..

First download GPU-Z:
http://www.techpowerup.com/downloads/1709/TechPowerUp_GPU-Z_v0.3.8.html

Launch, click the icon pictured below, select save to file. Default name for 58xx is Cypress.bin:

Safeguard your original file! Create a copy and name it something different, 5870mod.bin for example. Don't mess with your original bios.bin file. Mod the copy.

Download and run RBE BIOS EDITOR:
http://www.techpowerup.com/downloads/1748/TechPowerUp_Radeon_Bios_Editor_v1.24.html

Open your saved mod file with RBE, navigate to the fan settings tab and:
1) Click "set all fan settings to recommended values"
2) Adjust the default min duty cycle to desired value.

35% is a suggested starting point, though depending on your rig's noise level, 40% may be tolerable. I suggest using CCC prior to all of this to get an idea of what min fan speed works for you. Remember, fan will run at this minium from here out.

With my 4870s and 5870s, 35% meshed very well with other case noise, 40% was audible over other fans, and anything higher was noisy.

Here's a pic of the RBE tab you'll be working in:

Save the file, note that RBE changes the extenstion to .rom. You can leave it or change it back to .bin. ATI flash will work with either extension.


Make a USB boot drive per instructions. You can also do CD/DVD, or floppy:
http://www.techpowerup.com/articles/overclocking/vidcard/34/5

Download ATI Flash. DO NOT use the Windows version. It's not as reliable as the DOS version:
http://www.techpowerup.com/downloads/1731/ATIFlash_3.79.html

Print ATI flash instructions:
http://www.techpowerup.com/articles//overclocking/vidcard/34/8

Unzip and move atiflash.chg and atiflash.exe to the bootable USB.
Copy modded biosfile to the bootable USB.


Notes on ATI flash:
A card in primary PCI-E slot is card 0. A card in secondary PCI-E slot is card 1.

Typical command prompt for a single card flash:
atiflash -f -p 0 biosname.bin

Change mobo bios settings to boot using your USB drive. Pretty much one command as noted above and you're done.

Other considerations on this, you are modding the bios which technically can be playing around with your warranty, but IMO, a simple fan speed adjustment is not a serious modification. You've not changed clocks or anything. I suppose it would be up to the manufacturer. That's if they even [cough] noticed the fan speed was set higher in the bios.

 

[Hauk]

Thanks for advice guys. I think I'll hold on flash my BIOS, I turned the fan speed up to 37%, 40% was annoying and launched BC2, the temps leveled off at 75c so i'm already 10c under what I was so I'm happy with that.

Yea 37% seemed to be the magic mark for me as well. Funny those few points going to 40% really change the acoustics.

 

[Hauk]

I apologize if it looked like I was trying to insult you, I didn't mean to. It has just been bothering me for some time that people actually think their gpu runs to 'hot', when it actually performs just fine.

If you want to, or can live with more noise, crank it all the way up. I just hope people will one day realize it doesn't matter, and won't have to live with more noise, yet can still sleep at night, knowing their gpu ran a little 'hot'.

No worries, I fully understand (esp from a mod standpoint) the repetitiveness on people posting their concerns, and the desire to quell their fears.

Temps though in my opinion are a big part of running a rig. To me, they're just as exciting as an overclock, or how little voltage it took to get there. I love seeing those temps well below "average." Many old schoolers do. Remember, 60c was voodoo years ago..

 

[solofly]

The cards are designed to run at 85-90C. If you're running lower than that, it's due to colder ambients/great case airflow/less stressful application etc.

Cool... I get 81C max while playing Crysis. Room temp at 22C...

Cards are o/ced to 875mhz...