Sapphire 4850X2 is LOUD!

[Goi]

It's so much louder than the 9800GTX that it replaced in my system. Is there any way to reduce fan speed? Thanks.

 

[AmberClad]

You have the latest version of Catalyst and CCC right? There should be an option to tweak the fan speed in the Overdrive section of CCC.

 

[Goi]

I've installed the latest Sapphire drivers from their website yesterday. The fan speed manual control only goes down to 20%, while the default auto control is 12%, so it doesn't really help

 

[venkman]

one of the fastest single video cards on the planet and you didn't expect it to sound like a jet engine?

 

[toyota]

Originally posted by: venkman
one of the fastest single video cards on the planet and you didn't expect it to sound like a jet engine?

um the 4870x2 is more powerful but quieter. the Sapphire 4850x2 card just uses a shitty loud cooler.

 

[daw123]

Originally posted by: toyota

Originally posted by: venkman
one of the fastest single video cards on the planet and you didn't expect it to sound like a jet engine?

um the 4870x2 is more powerful but quieter. the Sapphire 4850x2 card just uses a shitty loud cooler.

I've got the 4870X2 and I can live with the fan speed at 50%. If what has been said previously is true, then the stock heatsink must be bad, if the OP cannot live with the fan speed at 12%.

 

[toyota]

Originally posted by: daw123

Originally posted by: toyota

Originally posted by: venkman
one of the fastest single video cards on the planet and you didn't expect it to sound like a jet engine?

um the 4870x2 is more powerful but quieter. the Sapphire 4850x2 card just uses a shitty loud cooler.

I've got the 4870X2 and I can live with the fan speed at 50%. If what has been said previously is true, then the stock heatsink must be bad, if the OP cannot live with the fan speed at 12%.

the cooler on the Sapphire 4850x2 is loud according to reviews

 

[theAnimal]

Try ATI Tray Tools instead of CCC.

 

[daw123]

Originally posted by: toyota

Originally posted by: daw123

Originally posted by: toyota

Originally posted by: venkman
one of the fastest single video cards on the planet and you didn't expect it to sound like a jet engine?

um the 4870x2 is more powerful but quieter. the Sapphire 4850x2 card just uses a shitty loud cooler.

I've got the 4870X2 and I can live with the fan speed at 50%. If what has been said previously is true, then the stock heatsink must be bad, if the OP cannot live with the fan speed at 12%.

the cooler on the Sapphire 4850x2 is loud according to reviews

I wonder why ATI specified a crapper fan; it's not as if the 4850 X2 is a cheap graphics card.

Either that or the 4850 generates a lot more heat than the 4870, which I don't understand.

 

[Goi]

The Sapphire 4850X2 is a proprietary design using Sapphire's own cooler. It's basically 2 separate conventional heat sinks (1 per core) with a huge metal shroud that encases them. This is unlike ATI/nvidia's usual reference designs where there's a single blower at the end that cools the 1 piece heat sink, which then exhausts the air back through the rear vent. So it's not ATI's design but rather Sapphire, AFAIK.

theAnimal, what is ATI Tray Tools? Sorry, the last ATI card I used was a 9700Pro so it's been a while.

 

[THERESONATOR]

I am also finding this to be the case for my Gigabyte 4870 1gb - That is when I fiddle with CCC and tweak the fan speed in ATI Overdrive. It says 50% and is unchangeable until you click the Unlock button, but when you actually apply 50% its like 4 times louder! That said, as I write this, the card is running at 29 degrees Celcius LOL. I wonder what its like on Oblivion (with unofficial patches, improved larger textures and parallax lighting and infinite view distance, 8x AA, max res etc) or Crysis.

BTW when you tweak the fan like that the CCC recommends you overclock it to the max. Use AutoTune and it goes weeeeeeeeeeee.

 

[Qbah]

From what I've read there's loud and there's 4850x2-loud.

As for the fastest card remark, the newest Xbitlabs review shows that the GTX285 is quite comparable, if not a bit better. Without the scaling issues and quite a lot quieter too. There's also the HD4870x2 and the GTX295. Both of which are quite a bit faster and quieter.

So in general, it's the custom Sapphire cooler that's at fault here. And I don't think CCC supports custom cooler RPM adjustments. I know when I plugged in my Accelero Twin to the board the slider in CCC did nothing. Try browsing Sapphire forums, if they have such a thing? I'm sure you're not the first one to complain about the noise coming from the card.

 

[Goi]

OK, thanks. Well, I got the 4850X2 mainly due to the price. It's a lot cheaper so I thought I could live with the noise. I still can, but it's disappointing compared to the 9800GTX noise wise.

 

[theAnimal]

Originally posted by: Goi
theAnimal, what is ATI Tray Tools? Sorry, the last ATI card I used was a 9700Pro so it's been a while.

ATI Tray Tools is a replacement for CCC. Use it in conjunction with the driver from ATI (on the download page Option 2 is for display driver only). With my 3870 I can adjust my fan from 0% to 100% using ATT.

 

[Tempered81]

Goi, can you use Catalyst Control center to change the speed of the fan and actually hear the difference in the fan speeds? Can you hear the difference in say, 30% - 50% - 90%?

I would just do this until you find the highest possible fan speed (inside an enclosed case) without crossing your noise threshold.

 

[Goi]

jaredpace,

Yes I can. The noise difference between each step is very audible even when the card just does its automatic thing. This is because it's so loud in the first place, and just gets louder...and louder...100% is literally like a small vacuum cleaner in my case!

The problem which the approach you suggested is that the default stock idle fan speed is 12%, whereas the "manual" slider only goes down to 20%, which is quite a bit louder than the already loud 12%.

I'll try ATI Tray Tools...do I have to uninstall my CCC or can they coexist?

If only they made aftermarket coolers for this...

 

[AmberClad]

Originally posted by: Goi
If only they made aftermarket coolers for this...

Apparently, using two Zalman VF900s, one on each core work will work.

 

[Goi]

Yes I read about that one, except it cools worse than the stock setup at load...

 

[Tempered81]

Too loud at 12% or 20% fan speed. Seriously? Are your fans broke/screeching, or is your hearing very sensitive?

You don't have playing cards taped to the fan's blades (like they used to put on bicycle spokes to make noise back in the day)? Hehe jk

 

[Goi]

You really need to hear the Sapphire 4850X2 cooler to understand. I was skeptical about all the reviews claiming that it was noisy as well. That's why I went ahead and got the card. I don't regret it, but I'm certainly not happy with the noise. Noisiest cooler I've owned my entire life.

 

[nRollo]

Originally posted by: Goi
You really need to hear the Sapphire 4850X2 cooler to understand. I was skeptical about all the reviews claiming that it was noisy as well. That's why I went ahead and got the card. I don't regret it, but I'm certainly not happy with the noise. Noisiest cooler I've owned my entire life.

No card is perfect- this one offers a lot of single slot bang for buck. I think it's a decent value.

(I've never been particularly sensitive to noise either)

 

[Tempered81]

noise never bothered me as well. (unless absurd) I don't see <20% being a hindrance. I couldn't imagine more than 60% on that card, goi. I had an x1950xt that would become audible through my case at about 45-55% fan speed. this speed was sufficient enough to keep it under 90C, I had a profile that if it went over 90C, fans would kick to 80% until it went down, and then it would go back to 55% (tolerable).

A positive note about these 8800GS cards i have now - the fan speed isn't changeable, unless done through nibiitor in the bios file. Luckily I've yet to see them go above 74C, and i can't even hear the gpu fans over my cpu's contact core freezer 120mm @ 1900rpm.

 

[eggrock]

It's worth the time and money to put aftermarket cooling on. The VF900s will fit with no modification necessary. I put the RAM heatspreaders on (because I could) but the card should be fine with the stock aluminum L bracket on the RAM.

http://i391.photobucket.com/al...1/eggrock/P1060267.jpg

I'd also recommend adding a cardkeeper. Even with it the card sags but without it and without the metal shroud to stiffen the card it sags to the point of worry. This is with a cardkeeper:

http://i391.photobucket.com/al...1/eggrock/P1060298.jpg

I got the cardkeeper from here. It screws into the top retention slot of your GPU *and* the one above it, so if you don't have a free slot above the GPU it won't work.

With the fans on it is much quieter and cooler at idle--I forgot to test the stock HSF at load to see what it ran at but FurMark took this up to 85C with the Zalmans at low speed before I shut the test down. For comparison, Crysis only pushes the card to around 55C (with the Zalmans.)

The big issue with doing this is that you just added $60 to the price of the card unless you happen to have a couple of VF900's laying around. The LED versions cost even more.

[edit] I forgot to mention.. Some people seem to dislike Sapphire drivers. I'm running the ATI 9.1s (the 4850x2 version--upgraded from the Sapphire 8.12s) without any problems. Vista 64-bit.

 

[josh6079]

Here's a guide for those who still want to use the CCC and control their fans.

http://www.hardocp.com/article...U1MiwsLGhlbnRodXNpYXN0

 

[Cookie Monster]

I think TPU was the one who claimed that fan control from CCC wont really work since the fans on the sapphire HD4850X2s are set at 12% already. (While being a jet engine..)