XFX Radeon 6870 too noisy: Suggestions?

[allenkim96]

I just bought a new XFX AMD Radeon 6870 video card to replace an MSI nVidia 560 Ti card which has been flaking out on me.

I like the performance of the AMD card as well as the stability (FWIW considering that it's new), but the card's fan is loud, especially under load. It sounds like a small vacuum cleaner.

Any suggestions? Could I buy a replacement cooler for the video card? Or should I return the video card and get something else? I don't think I can tolerate the noise.

 

[RavenSEAL]

Define "loud". How many decibels are we talking about here?

I tend to find my Sapphire cards relatively quite. Also, I would suggest playing around with the fan controller in MSI AB.

 

[Guovssohas]

I just bought a new XFX AMD Radeon 6870 video card to replace an MSI nVidia 560 Ti card which has been flaking out on me.

I like the performance of the AMD card as well as the stability (FWIW considering that it's new), but the card's fan is loud, especially under load. It sounds like a small vacuum cleaner.

Any suggestions? Could I buy a replacement cooler for the video card? Or should I return the video card and get something else? I don't think I can tolerate the noise.

You have a reference 6870? I have a XFX 6870 dual-fan and it's very quiet.

 

[Arkadrel]

Any suggestions?

ARCTIC COOLING Accelero TWIN TURBO Pro ~46$.

the choice to power the coolers fans with 12 V or 7 V.

Use it at 7V and see if it isnt alot more silent.

Also XFX usually has good warrenty, however they tend to go cheap on alot of things...
like the cooling solutions ect. Next time just get a differnt brand.

 

[allenkim96]

It's a single-fan XFX AMD Radeon HD 6870. I didn't know there was a dual-fan version available.

I don't have anything which will measure decibels. I can only estimate something like 8-10 dB louder than what I'm used to. And that is under load, of course. When idle the sound is still noticeable but not loud.

 

[nitromullet]

why not RMA your GTX 560 Ti? MSI has a 3 year warranty based on manufacture date.

ARCTIC COOLING Accelero TWIN TURBO Pro ~46$.

The problem with that is once you add the cost of that cooler to a 6870 you might as well start shopping for a 6950.

 

[Barfo]

1. Sell 6870
2. Buy 580 GTX
3. ???
4. Profit!!!

 

[billyb0b]

put it under water

 

[Leyawiin]

My all means RMA your Ti. Why take a step down when its got to be under warranty?

 

[blackened23]

I just bought a new XFX AMD Radeon 6870 video card to replace an MSI nVidia 560 Ti card which has been flaking out on me.

I like the performance of the AMD card as well as the stability (FWIW considering that it's new), but the card's fan is loud, especially under load. It sounds like a small vacuum cleaner.

Any suggestions? Could I buy a replacement cooler for the video card? Or should I return the video card and get something else? I don't think I can tolerate the noise.

custom fan profile in afterburner

 

[BallaTheFeared]

put it under water

Never look back.

Air cooling is what Dell uses, remember that.

 

[MrTeal]

I bought an AC Accelero Twin Turbo II for my 6870 that had an absolutely terrible stock heatsink and it's great. Previously I could hit 975 core, and I would be at 90C with the fan balls out and loud enough that I could hear it outside the room and with the door closed. Now I can reach 1050MHz @ 1.275V, and while under Furmark I can hear the fan at 65% and 60C it's quiet and a nice low woosh sound. Running it at stock speed and volts it will run inaudibly at 30%.

 

[nitromullet]

put it under water

Never look back.

Air cooling is what Dell uses, remember that.

Water cooling a 6870 is a ridiculous idea. For the amount of money you'd spend to do that you might as well start shopping for a 7970.

 

[bryanW1995]

Ln2!!

 

[MrTeal]

Never look back.

Air cooling is what Dell uses, remember that.

Sandy Bridge-E is what Dell uses, remember that.
http://www.dell.com/us/p/alienware-aurora-r4/pd.aspx?~ck=anav

 

[BallaTheFeared]

Sandy Bridge-E is what Dell uses, remember that.
http://www.dell.com/us/p/alienware-aurora-r4/pd.aspx?~ck=anav

Meh for $1500 my setup crushes that $2000 base model with a GTX 555 bwahahaha.

Dell is all about doing it wrong.



@OP

You could get into a upgrade friendly water cooling solution for about $110 that you could keep using for several generations most likely... But that air cooler for $40 is hard to beat.

 

[allenkim96]

Thanks for the advice everyone. I'm going to try and RMA my 560 Ti, then return the Radeon HD 6870. If the RMA isn't accepted, I'll go with the Arctic Cooler solution, which looks pretty nice since I will have room to overclock the card later on.

There was another reason why I went with AMD instead of nVidia, and that's because my system on occasion freezes when playing video for like a minute at a time. I blamed nVidia until it happened again with the AMD card. But that's another story.

 

[T_Yamamoto]

Meh for $1500 my setup crushes that $2000 base model with a GTX 555 bwahahaha.

Dell is all about doing it wrong.



@OP

You could get into a upgrade friendly water cooling solution for about $110 that you could keep using for several generations most likely... But that air cooler for $40 is hard to beat.

lets get back on track okay?D:

 

[jpeyton]

I had the same problem with my Sapphire 6870. I removed the stock thermal paste and reapplied with a grain of Arctic Silver. Same problem. I removed the AS5, used some cheapo paste that came with my Cooler Master Hyper212, this time spreading a thin layer across the entire GPU die, and it worked. The card is super silent and runs cool.

Sent from my MB860 using Tapatalk

 

[nitromullet]

Meh for $1500 my setup crushes that $2000 base model with a GTX 555 bwahahaha.

Dell is all about doing it wrong.

I imagine the typical Dell/Alienware customer is looking for a little more 'polish' than what you're proposing...

Although, the custom duct tape cooler on your 9800GT is classy.

 

[BallaTheFeared]

I imagine the typical Dell/Alienware customer is looking for a little more 'polish' than what you're proposing...

Although, the custom duct tape cooler on your 9800GT is classy.

Ha, that's quite old, but the overall scheme is the same.

I imagine the typical Dell/Alienware customer is quite clueless that's why they're buying a hex core with a GTX 555 for $2000 in the first place.

I built my comp for performance, not for the pageant :thumbsup:

 

[Fallengod]

Ha, that's quite old, but the overall scheme is the same.

I imagine the typical Dell/Alienware customer is quite clueless that's why they're buying a hex core with a GTX 555 for $2000 in the first place.

I built my comp for performance, not for the pageant :thumbsup:

Yeah but, you dont get the cool alienware logos.....