About HD 6950 temp and fan speed

[antony209494]

Hello to you all.
This is my first post here and I'd like to ask about my Sapphire 6950.It is a reference model and I unlocked the shaders without flashing to an 6970 BIOS and it is also slightly OCed.Yesterday I played GTA IV for the first time in windows 8 and after some time the pc suddenly shut down completely.My mind went straight to GPU overheating.After this happened a couple of times I decided to grab MSI afterburner and make some tests.I found out the GPU was hitting a big 82 degrees (max is 95 for the HD 6950) at 99% load but the fan speed reported at max 35-37% only!Is this normal?I have the default auto fan speed from Vision Engine Control Center but since the GPU was striving (and failing in the end) I'd expect a much higher fan speed.What do you suggest I do?

Thank you in advance!

[drdeathx]

82 is a bit high.... Take the cooler off and reapply Thermalpaste.. You should gain 5 to 10 degrees. Make sure fans inside case are geting fresh air to card also.

[FreedomEclipse]

crank the fans upto 40-50% - maybe even higher if you can bare then noise and see if it crashes again,

If it does the go back to stock clocks on the card and start up a game. if it still crashes. it boils down to 1 of 3 possible issues.

1. bad drivers

2. the 'unlock' has messed the card up

3. your Powersupply might be struggling with the load

Please go to the User CP in the forum and fill in your specs so that others can also help you quicker in find out what the issue is - the option is on the left handside called 'edit system specs'

Originally Posted by drdeathx

82 is a bit high.... Take the cooler off and reapply Thermalpaste.. You should gain 5 to 10 degrees. Make sure fans inside case are geting fresh air to card also.

82'c is fine, my 6970's hit 85'c under load quite regularly, Also removing the cooler cold void the OPs warranty...thats if theres any warranty left.

[antony209494]

Originally Posted by drdeathx

82 is a bit high.... Take the cooler off and reapply Thermalpaste.. You should gain 5 to 10 degrees. Make sure fans inside case are geting fresh air to card also.

Forgot to mention I played it maxed out on 1920x1080 resolution.The temp is bit high but the question really is why doesn't the fan speed go higher.Should I manually get it higher?

[antony209494]

Originally Posted by FreedomEclipse

crank the fans upto 40-50% - maybe even higher if you can bare then noise and see if it crashes again,

If it does the go back to stock clocks on the card and start up a game. if it still crashes. it boils down to 1 of 3 possible issues.

1. bad drivers

2. the 'unlock' has messed the card up

3. your Powersupply might be struggling with the load

Please go to the User CP in the forum and fill in your specs so that others can also help you quicker in find out what the issue is - the option is on the left handside called 'edit system specs'



82'c is fine, my 6970's hit 85'c under load quite regularly, Also removing the cooler cold void the OPs warranty...thats if theres any warranty left.

I don't think it's the PSU it is 850W more than enough for a single 6950.Now that I'll get a second one for crossfire we'll see how it does .And the card is completely fine on every other game.It only overheats on GTA IV maxed out and a little in Crysis 2 but it never crashed there or anywhere else...OK I'll try increasing the fan speed then.

[FreedomEclipse]

Originally Posted by antony209494

I don't think it's the PSU it is 850W more than enough for a single 6950.

that depends, Ive seen hundreds of 800w units that are just rebranded 500-600w units. thats what you get when you pay $30 for a powersupply.

Whose the manufacturer of your powersupply?

[antony209494]

Originally Posted by FreedomEclipse

that depends, Ive seen hundreds of 800w units that are just rebranded 500-600w units. thats what you get when you pay $30 for a powersupply.

Whose the manufacturer of your powersupply?

Kentek.I paid 50 dollars for it brand new from ebay and it seems ok so far.Do u think it will bear the crossfire?

[FreedomEclipse]

Lol... Bro - that PSU is trash, better get it replaced.

Heres a link to a guy on toms hardware who was using a kentek 775w PSU to power 6850s in crossfire and he had exactly the same problem youre having with the PC shutting off randomly.

If you have quality hardware that needs to be powered, its best not to skimp out on the powersupply thats providing that power. otherwise you'd be looking at replacing all that expensive hardware when the PSU goes boom which it will eventually.

you can get away with a 700 or 750w powersupply for 69x0 crossfire providing its from a good manufacturer. though at this stage id highly recommend you sell the 6950 and either get a 7950 or GTX670 which would be just as powerful with a lot less power consumption

[FreedomEclipse]

Also this....

"im looking for some information about the kentek 1000 watt power supply,ive heard alot of people say that it was a chinese fire cracker and not very good"

just had me laughing.

[FreedomEclipse]

Lol

[Iceni]

My 6950 unlocked shaders was doing the same thing before i went and got a better PSU.

A good test is metro 2033 Or crysis 2. Mine would fall over in both in a few mins. Temp wise your fine.

Have you had a crash yet where the GPU fan goes full speed till you hard reset First time mine did that i shat my little pants. Crysis 2 will cause this sort of crash in the opening 5 mins just as a bulkhead in the sub collapses

[antony209494]

Originally Posted by Iceni

My 6950 unlocked shaders was doing the same thing before i went and got a better PSU.

A good test is metro 2033 Or crysis 2. Mine would fall over in both in a few mins. Temp wise your fine.

Have you had a crash yet where the GPU fan goes full speed till you hard reset First time mine did that i shat my little pants. Crysis 2 will cause this sort of crash in the opening 5 mins just as a bulkhead in the sub collapses

Nope,never had a crash on Crysis 2 or any other game.
In fact I just put a manual fan setting to 40% and GTA IV after the same playtime hit only 73 from the previous 82 and didn't crash.Maybe it was just a heat problem and not the PSU.And I can't afford a $100 PSU right now in order to get a better brand.I am going to give it a try,besides the worst case is it won't work and I will have to stick with one card it's not gonna fry anything.

[Iceni]

Originally Posted by antony209494

besides the worst case is it won't work

The worst case scenario is the PSU catches fire, Kills the motherboard, GPU and ram all in one fell swoop. And yes it can happen.

The only way I would trust the PSU is if you can rule it out for the crashing problem. If you think heat is the issue then do all you can to resolve the heat, Reapply thermal paste set manual fan control ect. But if crashing persists then you have to think that the PSU is a real danger.

[antony209494]

Originally Posted by Iceni

The worst case scenario is the PSU catches fire, Kills the motherboard, GPU and ram all in one fell swoop. And yes it can happen.

The only way I would trust the PSU is if you can rule it out for the crashing problem. If you think heat is the issue then do all you can to resolve the heat, Reapply thermal paste set manual fan control ect. But if crashing persists then you have to think that the PSU is a real danger.

It only crashed 2 times and ONLY in GTA IV,I didn't say I get random crashes all the time.And yes increasing the fan speed seems to have resolved the problem.Regardless of that you have terrorized me enough by now ...I don't know If I will do the crossfire after all...

[jboydgolfer]

I have a similar GPU in My current machine, and I am familiar with it in and out. I would recommend ,,Firstly,,Doing what DrDeath suggested, and Picking up some TIM from RadioShack or Best buy, (Good quality), and do a Re-apply. Secondly, Since You said You were using Afterburner, Make a custom(More aggressive) Fan Profile, and Set it To use that for a while to see if it Helps.A good Cleaning , and Re- application of thermal Paste can Do a World of Good.

Also,,,going back to Stock Shaders Wouldn't hurt either,,,IF All else fails.
The PSU thing, is Clearly a touchy issue.
Although I DO recommend going with a "better" quality supply,,try the other fixes first, and Maybe that Won't be required. Just remember that in the Future, Buying a Low end PSU is possibly one of the Worst things You can Do to your Machine. Although I DO understand Building on a budget.

[AsRock]

Originally Posted by FreedomEclipse

Lol... Bro - that PSU is trash, better get it replaced.

Heres a link to a guy on toms hardware who was using a kentek 775w PSU to power 6850s in crossfire and he had exactly the same problem youre having with the PC shutting off randomly.

If you have quality hardware that needs to be powered, its best not to skimp out on the powersupply thats providing that power. otherwise you'd be looking at replacing all that expensive hardware when the PSU goes boom which it will eventually.

you can get away with a 700 or 750w powersupply for 69x0 crossfire providing its from a good manufacturer. though at this stage id highly recommend you sell the 6950 and either get a 7950 or GTX670 which would be just as powerful with a lot less power consumption

Totally, and with it being a complete and instant shutdown i bet the cheap thing is tripping. Next time might just take the comp hardware with it..

Try getting a better brand of PSU like Seasonic or FSP brand\rebranded.

82c is not hot for a gpu but you could check with GPU-Z and hopefully it will shot you all the temps and not just one and see if any of those are getting higher than 82c.

In the end never cheap out on a psu as it can kill the whole system.

[antony209494]

Since you all got obsessed with my PSU here is screenshot of it's front label:




//www.tomshardware.co.uk/forum/372840-15-computer-stuck-standby

He had the same PSU for a GTX 570 and he couldn't start the PC.

In this post the guy with the best answer says:
Total Power Supply Wattage is NOT the crucial factor in power supply selection!
Total Combined Continuous Power/Current Available on the +12V Rail(s) @ 45°C to 50°C ambient temperature, is the most important factor.

What exactly is that?Can you tell me anything more by the label cause I don't know much about the specs (quite obvious since I bought this PSU).

[FreedomEclipse]

Originally Posted by antony209494

Since you all got obsessed with my PSU here is screenshot of it's front label:

http://img255.imageshack.us/img255/7791/dsc01265u.jpg


//www.tomshardware.co.uk/forum/372840-15-computer-stuck-standby

He had the same PSU for a GTX 570 and he couldn't start the PC.

In this post the guy with the best answer says:
Total Power Supply Wattage is NOT the crucial factor in power supply selection!
Total Combined Continuous Power/Current Available on the +12V Rail(s) @ 45°C to 50°C ambient temperature, is the most important factor.

What exactly is that?Can you tell me anything more by the label cause I don't know much about the specs (quite obvious since I bought this PSU).

Let me put it this way. Cheap PSUs tend to over exaggerate their specs by quite a big margin. Most 750w enermax or corsairs can possibly pull 800w+ without breaking a sweat because the grade of the components inside is of a much higher quality then some $30 (or $50) PSU. Just because it says it says it can hit those voltage targets doesnt mean that the unit has the power/control to keep the voltages regulated.

trust me, splash out on a better PSU, it could even save you a few notes on the electricity bill as its more efficient. Its no point explaining all that stuff below because youre only gonna replace it anyway (or at least i hope you are)

[Scrizz]

Originally Posted by antony209494

....Now that I'll get a second one for crossfire we'll see how it does ....

If you can afford going crossfire, you can afford a better PSU.

[antony209494]

Originally Posted by FreedomEclipse

Let me put it this way. Cheap PSUs tend to over exaggerate their specs by quite a big margin. Most 750w enermax or corsairs can possibly pull 800w+ without breaking a sweat because the grade of the components inside is of a much higher quality then some $30 (or $50) PSU. Just because it says it says it can hit those voltage targets doesnt mean that the unit has the power/control to keep the voltages regulated.

trust me, splash out on a better PSU, it could even save you a few notes on the electricity bill as its more efficient. Its no point explaining all that stuff below because youre only gonna replace it anyway (or at least i hope you are)

Actually I am not.As I wrote before I can't afford a better brand PSU right now.I want a final answer about the crossfire thing.AMD says at least 750W for crossfiring two HD 6950s and supposedly my PSU covers that.Is your answer no then?

[antony209494]

Originally Posted by Scrizz

If you can afford going crossfire, you can afford a better PSU.

Exaclty because I went for crossfire I can't afford a better PSU now!

[FreedomEclipse]

Originally Posted by antony209494

.Is your answer no then?

No,

but youre welcome to ignore us and try it anyway. Its your hardware after all not ours

[antony209494]

Originally Posted by FreedomEclipse

No,

but youre welcome to ignore us and try it anyway. Its your hardware after all not ours

Of course I don't want to fry my hardware but I don't understand how it can cause so much damage if it fails (destroy everything???!!!).I thought the over-voltage protection (which it does have) would prevent that and it would just not work if all else fails.It's not about ignoring you and of course it is my hardware but I just wanted opinions from more experienced people.

Anyway here is a link with more details:

http://www.dexid.org/wiki/KENTEK_KTPS850

I would buy a better one if I could but the cheapest 850W PSU from a better manufacturer costs more than 100 euros. Anyway I gotta give it some thinking cause it would be a shame to have a second hd 6950 just sitting there because of the stupid PSU.

[Altered]

Just my take on this.
If you a are on a tight budget and cant afford to replace components I wouldn't be jacking with a perfectly good video card. I would have left it stock and played my games and had fun. I have a 6950 and it will play games without blink.

Also always read up on what you plan to do before you do it. It can and will save you cash and stress. Running gaming video cards as designed relies on having everything else working as required. Over clocking does just that it requires better "over" the standard specs to achieve a reliable, non-crashing, fun to enjoy PC.

Change to a good PSU and run the thing much more fun than chasing issues or worrying about what looks like a potential house fire.

[antony209494]

Originally Posted by Altered

Just my take on this.
If you a are on a tight budget and cant afford to replace components I wouldn't be jacking with a perfectly good video card. I would have left it stock and played my games and had fun. I have a 6950 and it will play games without blink.

Also always read up on what you plan to do before you do it. It can and will save you cash and stress. Running gaming video cards as designed relies on having everything else working as required. Over clocking does just that it requires better "over" the standard specs to achieve a reliable, non-crashing, fun to enjoy PC.

Change to a good PSU and run the thing much more fun than chasing issues or worrying about what looks like a potential house fire.

By the time I have the money to change to a good PSU the 6950's will be obsolete!I guess I fucked up.What was I thinking getting the cheapest PSU possible????