Just got an MSI 7950, advice?

[Geosurface]

With it locked at 56 with CS:GO having gone a while it seems to float around 79 or 80 temp

 

[Geosurface]

I just unlocked the fan speed while CS:GO was running, all other settings except voltage same as yours... once unlocked fan speed shot up to 73, then tapered downward... now it's at 59 with temp 66

 

[Face2Face]

The way I look at it, you spent over $300 on a sweet video card you hope with last a couple years. Wouldn't you want one that can overclock decent and not annoy you with high temps and high fan speeds?

 

[Face2Face]

I just unlocked the fan speed while CS:GO was running, all other settings except voltage same as yours... once unlocked fan speed shot up to 73, then tapered downward... now it's at 59 with temp 66

Okay, that's not bad. You should try a more demanding game though... Like BF3

 

[Geosurface]

The way I look at it, you spent over $300 on a sweet video card you hope with last a couple years. Wouldn't you want one that can overclock decent and not annoy you with high temps and high fan speeds?

Absolutely. I fully agree.

I already was questioning my decision to buy this card when the 570 had really been doing a pretty good job for me.

Now if I'm going to have to put up with crazy loud fans or my card burning up... no question, I'll RMA this thing in a heart beat.

I'm just trying to make sure it's not my own noobishness going on here, and I really appreciate you helping me get to the bottom of it.

I don't have BF3 I'm afraid... I'll have Far Cry 3 when that comes out thanks to the promo thing Newegg gave with this card, three free games. Speaking of which, I wonder what happens to that if I return this thing for a different card or just want a refund to stick with the 570... if I've already redeemed the codes for the games, what do they do I wonder?

But I'd like to keep this card or this type at least. I'd like to make it work.

What do you think the fastest fan speed I should ever be seeing it get to is?

 

[Geosurface]

I'm off to bed I've already stayed up too late, thanks again and I'll unfortunately be gone all day until the night tomorrow at fiancee's parents' place for thanksgiving. Mind if I check back in with you for further questions either tomorrow night or the next day?

 

[Face2Face]

I'm off to bed I've already stayed up too late, thanks again and I'll unfortunately be gone all day until the night tomorrow at fiancee's parents' place for thanksgiving. Mind if I check back in with you for further questions either tomorrow night or the next day?

No problem man, I am glad I could help. You can always PM me as well. This thread should attract some other 7950 TF3 guys and they can add to this as well. Happy Thanksgiving!!

 

[KingFatty]

Your symptoms seem like classical case of mis-applied thermal paste.

Have you tried applying your own fresh layer and re-seating the heatsink?

As a poor test that isn't definitive, you could feel the fins of the heatsink to see if they are cooler than usual (because the heat is staying in the GPU and not transferring well to the heatsink/fan).

 

[lavaheadache]

Your symptoms seem like classical case of mis-applied thermal paste.

Have you tried applying your own fresh layer and re-seating the heatsink?

As a poor test that isn't definitive, you could feel the fins of the heatsink to see if they are cooler than usual (because the heat is staying in the GPU and not transferring well to the heatsink/fan).

was just gonna post this. I would try reapplying tim before an RMA.

I would like to add that I have a Lightning 7970 with a similar cooler and don't have this problem

 

[AnandThenMan]

3rd'd on reapplying the TIM. I've seen so many cards with terribly sloppy applications, it's ridiculous how bad some of them are. A blob on the corner of the GPU and they slap things together.

 

[Rvenger]

Or even try to see if the heatsink will tighten down any further.

 

[Geosurface]

I've messed with thermal paste on a CPU heat sink before but never on a graphics card, can anyone advise me on this card where I should be looking/applying paste if I do that?

Couldn't I potentially void my ability to RMA it if I mess with it in that way too?

Happy Thanksgiving

 

[Face2Face]

You can remove the four screws on the back holding down the HSF. I use alcohol wipes to remove the TIM. I recommend you do this, but I dont think its going to fix it. I did the same with my first TF3 & it lowerd the temps by 2c. Not enough to do anything. Take it easy.


Posted from Anandtech.com App for Android

 

[Face2Face]

It wont void your warranty either.


Posted from Anandtech.com App for Android

 

[lavaheadache]

I've personally done bad enough tim jobs a couple times where the card was unstable. All it takes is an uneven surface with uneven initial mounting pressure for the Tim to spread the wrong way.

 

[Geosurface]

In that case I'll just RMA it. Not going to try my first ever gf card paste experiment on a new expensive card.

It must be faulty or it wouldn't get so loud doing games that aren't that intense

Thanks for all the help guys, wish me luck on the new one.

 

[zaydq]

TF3s are loud this time round. Mine can get awful annoying. I think MSI has been doing a shoddy job of the TIM application. I never bothered remedying it, but it's definitely louder than what you'd expect.

 

[lilvaratep]

my tf3 reached 82c max while playing metro 2033 highest settings except aa = 4x and DOF and tesselation are off. is that normal?

 

[Geosurface]

Okay well today I sent my 7950 back to Newegg. Unfortunately it won't reach them in California til Friday.

They shipped my card from New Jersey and it got here lightning quick since I'm in Connecticut. If only I was sending the card BACK to NJ also.

Going to suck to wait this long just to probably find out the replacement card does the same thing...

Question, how many monitors does the MSI 7950 support at once?

 

[Geosurface]

In other words, if I want to simultaneously run 3 displays with this card:

http://www.msi.com/product/vga/R7950-Twin-Frozr-3GD5.html#?div=Specification

in the following configuration:

40" Samsung TV on other side of the room hooked in via HDMI cable
27" Dell monitor hooked in via DVI port
23" Dell monitor hooked in via DVI to HDMI cable using HDMI to mini displayport adapter at the card

that should work, right?

tv and 23" would be 1080 res, 27" is 1200.

 

[Geosurface]

UPDATE:

Got the RMA'd replacement card today and just hooked it up. I immediately knew something was different when, upon starting CS:GO, the card was quiet in menus. The *menu* of CS:GO had made the first card go nuts on sound.

Playing the actual game also it's quiet. I haven't tried any OC on it yet.

I'm going to run further tests, Far Cry 3 and what not... but so far, it seems like the first one really was a dud of sorts, and this one seems legit.

Unfortunately I misdiagnosed an adapter included with the first card as being HDMI to mini displayport so I just had to order one that really is that from amazon, before I can get my TV hooked up along with my 2 monitors.

 

[raghu78]

UPDATE:

Got the RMA'd replacement card today and just hooked it up. I immediately knew something was different when, upon starting CS:GO, the card was quiet in menus. The *menu* of CS:GO had made the first card go nuts on sound.

Playing the actual game also it's quiet. I haven't tried any OC on it yet.

I'm going to run further tests, Far Cry 3 and what not... but so far, it seems like the first one really was a dud of sorts, and this one seems legit.

Unfortunately I misdiagnosed an adapter included with the first card as being HDMI to mini displayport so I just had to order one that really is that from amazon, before I can get my TV hooked up along with my 2 monitors.

one thing which is happening with MSI HD 7950 Twin frozr cards is poor TIM (thermal interface application) at the factory. cards are having too much TIM applied and that negatively affects heat transfer between GPU and cooler.

Facry 3, BF3, Crysis 2, Hitman Absolution are demanding games and should be used for stability testing. 1 Ghz on stock voltage should be fairly easy. at those clocks you should stay below 70c on core temps and below 90c VRM temps. :thumbsup: