XFX 2Gb 6950 temps

[grohl]

Having a hard time figuring out what is 1) normal and what is 2) safe for GPU temps.

I started wondering since my new build freezes/shuts down after 15-20 minutes playing BF3 (2500+/8Gb/6950 @ stock, for now). It's a dual fan card.

When running OCCT 4.1 the program shuts down at 7-8 minutes when GPU temps reach 85C. Then I realized the fans do not spool up when stressed (my 4870 did). When I set the fans manually at 100% the test successfully runs for one hour but the GPU temps max at 89.5C.

Airflow to the case is pretty good. Three case fans. MB temps max at 37C and CPU is in the low 50s.

Wondering if there is something faulty with the heatsink or cooling of this new card? XFX says its ok for temps to be in 80s-90s, what do you guys think?

 

[mfenn]

Typically anything below 100C is fine for a GPU. I'd say that 90C under a "full burn" stress test like OCCT is fine.

 

[superjim]

Are you using GPU-Z to get your temps? Main reason I ask is because it will read more than the main GPU temp. The highest I've ever seen my 6970 was 92C however the GPU-Z temps known as 1/2/3 have been much higher, one hitting 120C. It's supposedly located on the die but the exact location isn't known. I've replaced the TIM with 2 different types and still get the same temps. So far I haven't seen any issues while gaming.

 

[grohl]

Are you using GPU-Z to get your temps? Main reason I ask is because it will read more than the main GPU temp. The highest I've ever seen my 6970 was 92C however the GPU-Z temps known as 1/2/3 have been much higher, one hitting 120C. It's supposedly located on the die but the exact location isn't known. I've replaced the TIM with 2 different types and still get the same temps. So far I haven't seen any issues while gaming.

Yes. The "GPU temp" was what I was going by. The 1,2,3 numbers are all slightly higher. Maybe VRAM?

After a lot more research, I now realize OCCT is not real-world. Gaming on BF3 for an hour in a 22C room gives me GPU temps in the high 60s with a 5% overclock. I am happy with that.

 

[superjim]

There's speculation on what the 1/2/3 temps are but if GPU-Z says they are "on die" then it most likely refers to core/shaders/mem controller all on the die. With temps above 100C I also assume it means VRMs but don't think this is the case. The VRMs on my 6970 are cooled by airflow only, no heatsink.

Other threads on this topic:
http://forums.extremeoverclocking.com/showthread.php?p=3969067
http://www.overclock.net/t/997133/5870-high-gpu-z-gpu-temp-2-and-3