4870X2 huge temp differences between cores

[Cruc1al]

Hey

I've had a Radeon 4870X2 for about 9 months. It's been working fine as far as performance goes, e.g. Crysis runs at smooth framerates as expected. And it hasn't given me any actual problems either, there's just something that I'm curious about.

When I run for example 3DMark 06, and look at the temperatures in CPUID HWMonitor afterwards, there's a huge difference in temperatures between the two cores at full load, and a smaller difference when idle.

          Min    Max
Core 1    55 C    84C
Core 2    43 C    50C

I bought the card used, its fan seems to be working fine. But is this normal? 34 deg difference between cores, really? Anyone else with 4870X2 who could share his temps? I have it in an Antec 900, with two fans at the front, one at the top-back corner and one big one above the CPU. All fans are set to low, but I do recall having the problem with the fans set to medium but I just never posted about it.

I'm thinking there's three possible explanations: either one of the cores isn't performing at full capacity, or the other core is producing more heat than it should be producing, or the more heated core just happens to be placed in a position with significantly less air flow. I want to know if the last explanation is plausible because if it isn't there's something wrong with my card.

 

[2DividedbyZero]

tbh m8, its looks like Core 2 is sitting back with a cocktail laughing at Core 1 doing all the work.

You may want to check with a monitoring tool to ensure core 2 is kicking in

 

[Melvis]

My 4870X2 idles at 34c and 42c at the moment. When under load the difference stays about the same, so yours with that big of difference is a bit surprising. What does CCC say for both the cores?

What drivers are you using also?

Try different temp programs just to see if it might be reading it wrong?

 

[Sir_Real]

I have the same thing happen with my 2 hd4870,s in xfire the top card runs a fair bit hotter than the bottom one. & theres a empty slot between them as well.

As for my hd4870x2 mines a single centrifugal fan version & that has less difference in core temps than yours. I'd say it would be a good idea to replace the heatsink paste if you havent already does so that is. Could av gone hard & crispy on the hotter core.

Oh & your shaw your not running a oc on one core?

 

[Cruc1al]

@ 2DividedByZero

What would be a good monitoring tool to check that?

@ Melvis

What do you mean what does CCC say for both cores? I'm using Catalyst 10.7. What other programs are there to check temperatures?

@ Sir Real

I'm not sure if I want to go through the trouble of replacing the heatsink paste, as it's something I haven't done before and 84C isn't something the card won't survive in the long run.

Both cores are running at standard 750MHz.

 

[Melvis]

@ Melvis

What do you mean what does CCC say for both cores? I'm using Catalyst 10.7. What other programs are there to check temperatures?

CCC ( Catalyst Control Centre) has where it can show you temps of both cores of the 4870X2

Just go down to ATI Overdrive and that's where you will find it.

Also you could use GPU-Z which is located on this website.

I agree that it does seem like only one core is working.

What is the rest of your system specs? can you please fill it in for us?

Also what was your score in the 3D Mark benchmark?

 

[2DividedbyZero]

@ 2DividedByZero

What would be a good monitoring tool to check that?

GPUZ or MSI Afterbrner would do the trick

 

[Wile E]

3Dmark 06 isn't a very good indicator of gpu load. It's too old to properly load newer cards. It's cpu bottlenecked.

Try other programs to load your card, like Vantage.

Also, make sure Catalyst AI is not turned off.

 

[2DividedbyZero]

quick easy tool would be Kombustor which is part of the MSI fterburner when u download it (it gets the cores real HOTTTTTT)

 

[2DividedbyZero]

if you do use MSI afterburner, when it is running, select "detach" on the monitoring window so you can expand it, right click within that monitoring window and select properties (i think) you can then configure what you would like to monitor.

Run Kombustor (choose multi gpu) for 30 seconds that will give you all the info you need in the monitoring window to tell you what is happening, post back with screenies if you need further help

Also, make sure Catalyst AI is not turned off.

this. just make sure Cat AI is on standard for now.

 

[95Viper]

As Melvis said,"GPU-z".
GPU-z download Page.

A really good monitoring tool, would be IMO, HWInfo32. And, it is free to use.
Just click on the sensors in the menu bar...
See image in spoiler:

Spoiler

Edit:

Some like this, too: GPU Caps Viewer 1.9.4

 

[2DividedbyZero]

msi afterburner will give you:

Monitoring/
GPU Temp
GPU Load
GPU and Mem clock speeds*
Fan speeds*
Voltages*
Framerate

and at the same time let you adjust most* of these.

http://event.msi.com/vga/afterburner/gui.htm

you could also run GPUZ at the same time to confirm the readings and GPUZ will also give you other misc measurements for interest. (run 2 instances of gpuz one for each core)

 

[Sir_Real]

I'm not sure if I want to go through the trouble of replacing the heatsink paste, as it's something I haven't done before and 84C isn't something the card won't survive in the long run.

Come on m8y thats not the way a fellow TPU member should be talking

Replacing the heatsink paste isnt hard.

 

[newtekie1]

http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Sapphire/HD_4870_X2/27.html

Seems pretty normal. And it makes sense when you consider the cooler design of the card. The hot air from one core is blown over the heatsink of the second to cool it, so the second core is going to be hotter.

 

[Melvis]

http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Sapphire/HD_4870_X2/27.html

Seems pretty normal. And it makes sense when you consider the cooler design of the card. The hot air from one core is blown over the heatsink of the second to cool it, so the second core is going to be hotter.

This is true, but its never that much of a difference 30c??

mine is never more then 10c between the cores 15c max

 

[HXL492]

replacing the thermal paste would require taking off the cooler and if the cooler is off than the warranty is voided, isn't it?

plus newtekie's explanation seems fairly reasonable

 

[pantherx12]

replacing the thermal paste would require taking off the cooler and if the cooler is off than the warranty is voided, isn't it?

plus newtekie's explanation seems fairly reasonable

Only if there's a warranty sticker over the screws!

Just use same coloured thermal paste before you RMA

 

[Sir_Real]

replacing the thermal paste would require taking off the cooler and if the cooler is off than the warranty is voided, isn't it?

plus newtekie's explanation seems fairly reasonable

First as they stopped making the hd4870x2 around 18 months ago i doubt his card is still under warranty.

& yeah what newtekie said is true but i have to agree with Melvis 34 degrees difference just carnt be right.

My Sapphire HD4870x2 only ever has one core around 8 or 10 degrees hotter than the other.

My previeus gpu a HD3870x2 also only had a difference in temps of around 8 or 10 degrees

 

[2DividedbyZero]

agree on the temp difference, 34 degC between cores = something not right, maybe <10 but NOT 34


my 5970 only manages 6 degC diff between cores, with a max temp of 62 degC (core1) and 68 degC (core2) (Accelero Xtreme) @ 925/1250.
my old 4870x2 was as far as i can remember under 10 between cores.




run your tests m8 and get back to us.

 

[newtekie1]

30°C is not unheard of on an HD4870x2. Even if you look at W1z's review sample, depending on what sensor you look at, there is up to a 16°C difference when the card is idle and up to a 22°C difference under load. Add to that a year or two build up of dust in the heatsinks, shroud, and fan and a 30°C difference is easily possible. I recommend pulling the shroud and heatsinks off and cleaning all the dust possible out of the card, and re-applying new thermal paste.

As for the warranty issue, if he has only had it for 9 months, then it should still be under warranty. Even if it was longer, the HD4870x2 has only been out on the market since Aug 2008, so even if you bought one on launch day it should still be under warranty since most manufacturers give at least a 3 year warranty. It doesn't matter that they stopped making them over a year ago. However, since the card was bought used and most warranties don't transfer, the card is probably not covered by a warranty anymore. Even if it was, most manufacturers don't care if you pull the heatsink off as long as it is put back on before returning the card.

 

[Cruc1al]

Thanks for all the help so far.

What is the rest of your system specs? can you please fill it in for us?

Win 7 pro x64
MB: Asus P6TSE
CPU: Intel i7 920 D0 @ 3.2GHz
RAM: OCZ Obsidian 3x2gb @ 1600MHz (rated specs)
HDD: WD Green 1tb
PSU: OCZ GameXStream 850W

Also what was your score in the 3D Mark benchmark?

The test I referred to in the OP was done at 1680x1050, I scored about 17000 IIRC. Previously I've had 19128 in 3Dmark06 (1024x678) with the CPU clocked at 2.66GHz, and 14862 in 3DMark Vantage @ 3.2GHz. I think these are what you'd expect from this card... so, it wouldn't seem that one core isn't working properly, I wouldn't be able to get those results and run crysis smoothly in full hd high details otherwise. I think.

Here's a link to a screenshot of my desktop after having the computer idle for about an hour: idle temps. It shows HWiNFO32, CCC, CPUID HWMonitor, Afterburner, and GPU-Z. As you can see, all of them show a consistent 15 deg difference between the two cores at idle. In the CCC overdrive, it's all greyed out and I can't look at the other core.

And here's data after a 1 min benchmark with MSI Kombustor: 1min load temps & gpu usage. As you can see, temps now increased a few degrees for one core, and 15 degrees for the other core, and Afterburner shows that GPU1 wasn't utilised during the 1 min test although it does show 93% max GPU1 usage which you can't see from the graph.

I'll post back soon with afterburner results after a 3DMark vantage test.

 

[2DividedbyZero]

those tests do not reflect what u said in your first post. in those tests core 2 is considerably higher than core 1, but in your 1st post you said core 1 was higher?

that second link shows core 1 doing nothing. afterburner will show the highest temp since it started running, the highlighted test section shows that core 1 did not run as core 2 did (ie probably didnt up-clocks)

and the CCC thing, click on the key in the overdrive section and you will have access to that page settings.


you can monitor the clock speeds in afterburner, just make sure that option is in the monitoring window, and stretch the window so you can see them. run the test again to see if ALL the clocks go into 3D mode ie 750/900

 

[Sir_Real]

Yeah i see whats happening now Hes not got a tick in fullscreen on that msi gpu burn prog hes using ! A HD4870x2 will only use both cores if running fullscreen. Windowed mode will only use one core & leave one idle

 

[Cruc1al]

those tests do not reflect what u said in your first post. in those tests core 2 is considerably higher than core 1, but in your 1st post you said core 1 was higher?

I just named Core 1 the one that was higher on the list in HWMonitor. Apparently GPU2 is higher on the list then

I did a 3DMark Vantage test @ High settings (1680x1050) with HWmonitor and Afterburner on, but I didn't realise to log the afterburner results while doing the test. I can do another test with logging on if needed.

Anyway, I got 11555 3dmarks, 10718 gpu score. Afterburner showed both cores at equal load, and this HWMonitor showed this. GPU1 at 42C idle and 67C max, GPU2 at 56C idle and 89C max. So, the difference in max temps was now only 22C compared to 34C in the OP. I recently put my computer on top of my desk instead of under the desk, which might in part explain the higher temperatures compared to the OP temps, but the difference between Vantage and 06 probably also explain a part of it.

 

[2DividedbyZero]

if you are confident that the card is clocking to 3D mode on both cores, then i would suggest the following:

1. check the fan/heatsink isn't home to a bunch of dustbunnies (if so then clean!) or
2. remove said heatsink, clean off old and apply new thermal compound (recommend MX-2)
3. check that the fan profile is sufficient for your needs. I know my 4870x2 fan profile was a bag of junk so made a new one with afterburner:
<45 deg = 30%, 45-55 deg = 50%, >55 deg anything upto 100%, depends how u like the noise! I did have a Accelero Xtreme 4870x2 cooler on it, so 100% there sounded like OEM 30% (if that!!)

I have the Accelero Xtreme on my 5970, it goes: <42 deg = 50%, 42-51 = 98%, 51-60 = 99% and >60 = 100% (where 100% sounds like OEM 40%), i rarely hits 60 deg so 99% is almost inaudible, there is a big difference in that 1% for some reason but it does the job) (just gotta think of those VRM'S!!!!!!!!!!!)