Xfx AMD video card - can't control fan speed thru AMD Overdrive?

[jrichrds]

Is there another utility I can use (maybe one from another manufacturer) if I can't control my XFX Radeon HD 6750's fan speed thru AMD OverDrive in the Catalyst Control Center?

 

[RaulF]

msi afterburner.

 

[nwo]

cg miner :sneaky:


NO, if you have nothing informative to add just don't even post.

-Rvenger

 

[jrichrds]

msi afterburner.

That doesn't work either. Could it work in some computers and not others (using it in an older Intel E8400/G33 chipset PC), or is it more likely the video card is just fixed RPM fan?

 

[nwo]

That doesn't work either. Could it work in some computers and not others (using it in an older Intel E8400/G33 chipset PC), or is it more likely the video card is just fixed RPM fan?

It's a possibility. Different video cards could have different settings locked for user control such as clock speeds/voltage/etc...

Does the fan rpm change when you put the card under load or is it constant even when it starts to heat up? Are you able to monitor the fan speed in CCC?

 

[RaulF]

How about speedfan. Is for CPUs and case fans connected to motherboard. You could unplug the fan from GPU mono and connect to nearby mono fan header.

 

[KingFatty]

Give us more information on the specific video card.

I can confirm that XFX made a video card that I bought where the fan was not adjustable and set to about 100% constant noisy operation. It is an Nvidia 9600 GSO and I felt like XFX was taking advantage of people who assume that video card fans adjust speed based on load - that XFX version of the card had not adjustability, very sneaky. But I fixed it.

If you confirm that your specific video card has no way to adjust the fan speed, you might want to do what I did and get an inline resistor to lower fan speed. It's just an adapter you connect between the current fan and video card connector, like a mini extension cord:

Oh yeah, I talked about it here, 99 cent fix if you want to solder, or some companies sell more expensive ($5) pre-soldered cables:
http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2257275

 

[jrichrds]

Give us more information on the specific video card.

If you confirm that your specific video card has no way to adjust the fan speed, you might want to do what I did and get an inline resistor to lower fan speed.

It's the XFX Radeon HD 6750 1GB GDDR3 Video Card HD-675X-ZDFR

It uses the typical 2-pin fan connector, so I guess I'd need an adapter like this first:
http://www.amazon.com/pin-fan-adapte.../dp/B002PNL3IS

A fixed fan speed isn't ideal though, although I could then get a 3.5" fan controller and control speed that way. I may just end up doing that.

Unless I got a dud or I need to plug it into a version 2.1 PCI-E slot for fan control to work, I don't know what went into the design decision to go with a fixed fan speed...laziness on xfx's part?

 

[IEC]

It's the XFX Radeon HD 6750 1GB GDDR3 Video Card HD-675X-ZDFR

It uses the typical 2-pin fan connector, so I guess I'd need an adapter like this first:
http://www.amazon.com/pin-fan-adapte.../dp/B002PNL3IS

A fixed fan speed isn't ideal though, although I could then get a 3.5" fan controller and control speed that way. I may just end up doing that.

Unless I got a dud or I need to plug it into a version 2.1 PCI-E slot for fan control to work, I don't know what went into the design decision to go with a fixed fan speed...laziness on xfx's part?

If it's 2-pin there is no fan speed control, only ground and power lines. So unless you use an in-line resistor or a fan speed controller to limit the voltage, you cannot control the fan speed.

 

[Binky]

I have several of the same card. AMD Overdrive doesn't seem to do anything to the fan speed. MSI afterburner will pretend to change the fan speed, and the Afterburner fan speed reading actually changes, but I don't think the fan speed is actually changing at all. It's a POS card.

 

[KingFatty]

I couldn't find a picture of the circuit board front and back to see if there is even any hardware present to control a fan, but the low-res image I saw showed the 2-wire plug for the fan and looked like the circuit board had some vacant solder spots (3 of them for a 3-pin connector) to suggest that there might be an alternate configuration where they use the 3-pin vacant spots to enable fan control. That's my guess, it's a stripped down version that lacks the ability to control the fan.

I guess you could buy the Amazon adapter, but there is a visceral satisfaction in physically cutting the wires on the card, as punishment for lacking fan control... But seriously, it's quite safe to just cut the wires about half-way so you have enough spare wire on the fan and the connector that you cut off, so you can re-attach later if you want. Then just splice it with whatever else, assuming you have some spare parts laying around, to connect to a manual fan controller.

I use a front panel NXTZ 5-fan controller that includes temperature leads, so you can stick a temp lead under the GPU heatsink and set the controller to auto adjust the fan corresponding to that temp lead. It's about $20 for the controller, but there are other options for cheaper (e.g., that don't have the fancy visual display and audio feedback):

http://blog.testfreaks.com/review/nzxt-sentry-2-525-touch-screen-fan-controller/

 

[jrichrds]

What's a safe temperature (as reported by AMD Overdrive) for this GPU? I got the 2-to-3 pin adapter from Amazon, and it's near silent at 5V. But don't want to get it up to unsafe temperatures.

 

[nwo]

What's a safe temperature (as reported by AMD Overdrive) for this GPU? I got the 2-to-3 pin adapter from Amazon, and it's near silent at 5V. But don't want to get it up to unsafe temperatures.

A safe target temp for most GPUs would be anything under 80*C under load. They will run at temps higher than that, but it is not recommended.