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6870 Went from 60fps to 22fps

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Like has been said in this thread, it is all games, not just SC2.

I know, I just wanted to point it out even if off topic b/c it's a big deal :eek:
If he gets other games going and SC2 still sucks, then that would be an answer :p
 

Aquinus

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I hope you find good news, but I think your trouble started when your cards fan wasn't going over 30%. The only thing is it's odd your not seeing artifacts from where it overheated. Good luck :toast:

Where did you get that 30% from? The screenshot of GPU-Z shows his fan speed higher than that unless I'm missing something.

Edit: Never mind, found it.
I think the card may have over heated due to restricting the fan to 30%. The air flow probably wasn't turbulent enough and the temperature probably exceeded 85 degrees C for a prolonged time.

Have you cleaned the card out since then? GPU-Z doesn't show it running that hot or that slow. Similar thing happened to my TwinFrozr 6870. It was running 85*C during the summer for a while before I realized the TIM had dried out (I wasn't paying attention as I hadn't been overclocking my GPUs for a while.) 85-90*C won't kill a 6870 but it's certainly not the kind of temperatures you want to run it at all the time if you can help it. Mine didn't artifact when it got that hot either.
 
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SPOILER ALERT:

It was the card.

New card GPUz:



I'm going to try to clean it tomorrow. Performance jumped up to 35fps during heavy fights. Very very smooth as before.

Where did you get that 30% from? The screenshot of GPU-Z shows his fan speed higher than that unless I'm missing something.

Before using GPUz it was manually set to 30%. Was once as low as 25% for a long time.
 

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I would test that 6870 in another machine just to make sure that it really is the GPU. I'm still just a little skeptical.
 
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I would test that 6870 in another machine just to make sure that it really is the GPU. I'm still just a little skeptical.

I'm going to test it but first I'm going to clean it. I've been wanting to upgrade my card, was just trying to hold off until next gen.
 
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Sell it now. Should go for a couple of bucks.
 

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Sell it now. Should go for a couple of bucks.

Or he should test it first before he just gets rid of it considering it would be a shame (for him,) if he sold it for 20 dollars because he thought it was a dud but come to find out it was something a simple as drivers.

Don't sell it until you test it in another box.
 
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XFX has a lifetime warranty if I remember right. I would ask them about it and get a replacement from them before the possibility of selling off a dud.
 
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So fixed it now? And the problem was the card?
 

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So fixed it now? And the problem was the card?

The problem went away when he switched the cards. I wouldn't go so far to say it was the card itself yet.
 

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If all he did was switch out the 6870 with another 6870 and it fixed it... Why would it be the drive? Clearly the driver is working. I'd say it's the card. I would pull the cooler and re-apply thermal compound then test the card again and if that didn't fix it then I'd get a new card. You can try cleaning your drivers again completely using something like driver sweeper, but I'm sure you already done that before you borrowed the other card.
 
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If all he did was switch out the 6870 with another 6870 and it fixed it... Why would it be the drive? Clearly the driver is working. I'd say it's the card. I would pull the cooler and re-apply thermal compound then test the card again and if that didn't fix it then I'd get a new card. You can try cleaning your drivers again completely using something like driver sweeper, but I'm sure you already done that before you borrowed the other card.

Yes I've cleaned the drivers many times now.

I just registered the card on the XFX website and filed a support ticket. Hopefully I hear something back soon.
 
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Yes I've cleaned the drivers many times now.

I just registered the card on the XFX website and filed a support ticket. Hopefully I hear something back soon.

Nice! Hopefully you get a new card. :toast:
 

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If all he did was switch out the 6870 with another 6870 and it fixed it... Why would it be the drive? Clearly the driver is working. I'd say it's the card. I would pull the cooler and re-apply thermal compound then test the card again and if that didn't fix it then I'd get a new card. You can try cleaning your drivers again completely using something like driver sweeper, but I'm sure you already done that before you borrowed the other card.

If I were to use my reference 6870 then swap it with my newer TwinFrozr 6870 it will completely reload the drivers and reset everything. No driver settings or configurations would be carried over from the first card. If there was something truly wrong with the card (other than temperatures,) I find it very hard to believe that it would run slower as opposed to causing errors or generating artifacts. No artifacts or errors and lack of full GPU load isn't convincing me that the hardware is bad.

Why is everyone so opposed to testing it in another computer just to make sure? Jeez.

I just registered the card on the XFX website and filed a support ticket. Hopefully I hear something back soon.

That would be the best option because then you wouldn't need to test it; they'll do that for you. Although you'll find out quickly if they send it back and say the card is fine, so either way you should get back a working card weather or not it is the same one. :cool:
 
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Nice! Hopefully you get a new card. :toast:

I like XFX cards, unfortunately they aren't exclusive to AMD, but I never thought I would have to use the lifetime warranty. This card is a small form factor of the larger reference design.
 
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Why is everyone so opposed to testing it in another computer just to make sure? Jeez.

I actually tested it this morning on a Phenom tri core, same results.
 
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Here is the replay from xfx:

5/3/2013 9:13:16 PM By kevin@xbez Type:1

Hi, what are the idle and under load temperatures of the card? You can monitor the temperature by running the utility found here http://www.techpowerup.com/downloads/SysInfo/GPU-Z/ . Once you run the utility go to the sensor tab. Make sure there is no excessive buildup of dust within your system, or on any fans/heatsinks.

You will want to keep your temperature below 90C while in 3D. You can remove your cooler and blow it out with compressed air. Be extremely careful as any accidental physical damage to the card would void the warranty. Take a coffee filter and put isopropyl alcohol on it. Coffee filters do not leave behind fibers that paper or cloth would. Clean the thermal paste off of the GPU on the card and the thermal paste that is left on the heatsink. Let the alcohol evaporate for five minutes to be sure that it is gone. Replace the thermal paste with new thermal paste. You only need a paper thin layer to fill the gap between the GPU and the heatsink. If you use too much then the thermal paste will push out on to the surrounding circuitry. Video cards use the same thermal paste as CPUs do so if you already have some it is fine to use it. If you do not have thermal paste then you can find it at almost any computer store including Best Buy. I recommend Arctic Cooling MX3 or Arctic Silver 5 which most stores will carry. Radio Shack carries Arctic Silver 5. If you are not comfortable replacing the thermal paste yourself or you would like us to check out the card then we can do that for you.
Try testing your card with another computer or test another card in your machine and check for the same symptoms.

Please try running another 3d application such as another game or a 3d benchmark. You can try 3dmark11 over at FutureMark.com Let us know if the crashes occur there. Kevin.


I'm going to try reapplying the thermal paste. I have some laying around so it's worth a shot.
 
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I reapplied some thermal paste and my performance improved significantly.
 
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