Direct cuII 6950 idling quite hot?

[connzy]

hey guys im just checking ive maxed my 6950 to a 910 core clock and 1350 memory (i need a new power supply before i can go any higher) and my gpu idles at around 50C at 45% fan speed. is this idling to hot as ive searched around and people seem to be idling at 20C, should i raise my fan speed?

what are your temps of your gpu's idling at and under full oad

 

[Frizz]

hey guys im just checking ive maxed my 6950 to a 910 core clock and 1350 memory (i need a new power supply before i can go any higher) and my gpu idles at around 50C at 45% fan speed. is this idling to hot as ive searched around and people seem to be idling at 20C, should i raise my fan speed?

what are your temps of your gpu's idling at and under full oad

50C is quite normal with the fan speed on auto, anyway you should be focusing on the load temps not idle, as many things need to be considered with idle temps eg, your case, the wiring inside the case, your ambient temps, fans, your GPU profiles (whether its actually clocking down to 2d mode) etc.

Another thing that's happening to me at the moment is that when I open firefox and move the scroll bar up and down or minimize and watch videos my clocks churn to 3D mode, not sure if this is a bug but if you're doing some heavy web surfing yourself this could be contributing to the heat.

 

[LordJummy]

Are you using one monitor or more?

These cards change clocks if you use multi monitors and the temps shoot up dramatically. There's like a 10c difference if you add a monitor on...

 

[ExodusMaximus]

50c is quite normal for these clocks...

 

[RejZoR]

hey guys im just checking ive maxed my 6950 to a 910 core clock and 1350 memory (i need a new power supply before i can go any higher) and my gpu idles at around 50C at 45% fan speed. is this idling to hot as ive searched around and people seem to be idling at 20C, should i raise my fan speed?

what are your temps of your gpu's idling at and under full oad

It's impossible for gfx card to idle at 20°C unless you have 5-10°C in your room. I mean 20°C is below average room temperature which is considered 24-25°C. There is no way you can have any CPU or GPU at room temperature even if you run it at 100% fan speed.

My TwinFrozr III idles at around 50°C as well and goes all the way up to 85°C but i'm using fixed 30% fan speed. So it's dead silent in all conditions.
50°C is perfectly normal temperature and i wouldn't really worry about it. Just keep an eye on the max temperature which is imo more important...

 

[repoman88]

I got this cooler for mine and it works awesome. A bit heavy and big but works great.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835186043

 

[Frizz]

I got this cooler for mine and it works awesome. A bit heavy and big but works great.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835186043

Yeah I don't think his card needs it.

 

[alexsubri]

Is your fan on "AUTO" speed or "Manual" ? Like what Random said, check your air-flow in the case and make sure nothing is blocking the card so it can get enough air-flow. Improper air-flow is one of many reasons why GPUs overheat. 20c is realistic, however that is more of a liquid cooling temperature. Usually when a card "Idles" it is requiring no work and doesn't require that much stress on the GPU, hence "Idle" temps are always low.

If you want, take the case off the GPU and see if there is enough thermal paste spreaded on the heat sink. This way the GPU is getting the proper spread for better cooling.

 

[ExodusMaximus]

look - why do you worry about idle temps? This cards can go 90+ under load (not that I would like that) - idle temp is relevant to your room temp, as RejZor said. Unles you have room temp below 20c or a liquid nitrogen cooling (lol), you will not get card to 20c idle - not that idle temp of 50c is bad - it really does not damage the card at all. It's load temps you should care about. If, under load (90%+) you can keep it under 60 - awesome, under 70 - very good, under 80 - good, under 90 (needs help) and under 100c = you are frying it (but it will still work)...

I'm clocked at 960/1440 at 1.2v - my idle is around 50 (depends how cold my room is) and durring a game play I never go above 70. The only time I did go to 76 is during furmark.

 

[Beaverrr]

Hey lads, been experiencing some extreme temperatures on my Asus HD6950 DirectCu II 2gb too.

I discovered the rises in temperatures when using two monitors (makes sense), but still I find my Fumark bench (1080) temperatures way too hot for a card which is supposed to run "20% cooler thank stock!"

With two monitors plugged in im getting 55-60c idle. Here's a screencap of what I've got by running Fumark. There's both stock and with the additional shaders unlocked benchmarks I've ran on different clocks and voltages. The benchmarks have been run with only one monitor plugged. The fan is set on auto.

Whatya think? Case is FD R3 with 3x 120mm case fans, so the airflow shouldnt been that insufficient?

Should I just return the card or maybe have a look at the connection between the heatsink and the gpu? What does warranty say about removing the heatsink by yourself?

 

[ExodusMaximus]

Beaverrr - I would look into to things. 1. Make sure you have adequate case venting. My case, for instance, has bottom mounted psu and I have nice 120mm fan blowing right into my video card (air from the psu is not hot at all). Try to install door case fan (towards bottom of the door - drill your own screw holes and intake holes if you have to) and then make a dummy holder the bay blocker and put 90 or 120mm fan blowing into a card. Also make sure to have an exhaust fan (fan which takes the hot air from the case out (blowing outwards).

2. Make sure to update your fan profile to have a gradual curve that starts going proportionally to temp after 60c - it means at 70c your fan speed will be 70% etc -

I think if you do both of those things you will see temp drops - or you can just get an aftermarket cooler (but seriously - to pay $60-70) for a cooler is a bit ridiculous...

cheers - take care of it - you will fry your card or at least seriously shorten its life..

 

[DanishDevil]

In my opinion, unless you are experiencing temperatures at idle of over 65C or at load of over 90C without overclocking, your card is fine. If you are experiencing issues outside of this, contact ASUS and they can direct you to the best way to fix your problem (whether it is an RMA or a BIOS update). I have a GTX 570 Direct CU II.

 

[connzy]

thanks everyone,
im goin to ask one more thing, how has everyone else set up their user define fan profile.
mine is set so at idle (40-51C) the fan speed is 30% and then i have placed points at 60%-60C, 70%-70C etc.
im using the storm sniper black edition so there is alot of aire flow from 3x 200mm fans and 2x 180mm

 

[DanishDevil]

I didn't mess with it and I left it at default. I never hear my card, and never have to worry about the temperature. That's how they set up the profiles anyway. If you want to do it manually, the way you set it up sounds good.

 

[connzy]

With two monitors plugged in im getting 55-60c idle. Here's a screencap of what I've got by running Fumark. There's both stock and with the additional shaders unlocked benchmarks I've ran on different clocks and voltages.

http://img33.imageshack.us/img33/2072/hd6950furmarktest.png

little off topic but how do you unlock the shaders for the direct cuII

 

[mitsirfishi]

little off topic but how do you unlock the shaders for the direct cuII

you can't on this card ive googled it

 

[Beaverrr]

As simple as any other card. Atleast mine flashed fine via atiwinflash - I just searched this forum and found a modified firmware specifically for the card (sorry, cant remember which one I used).

Also, I've been reading a lot about DirectCuII's not having the bios swich. The card I have has one and it was purchased just a couple of weeks ago from a big retailer (so unlikely old stock).

Edit: Found the one I used:

http://www.techpowerup.com/forums/showpost.php?p=2310388&postcount=5

 

[connzy]

how can you tell if my direct cu has a dual bios switch, the card has a switch but on the box it says the switch is to change between single and dual link dvi?

 

[Beaverrr]

how can you tell if my direct cu has a dual bios switch, the card has a switch but on the box it says the switch is to change between single and dual link dvi?

Now that I checked it out it might be so - anyways - switch or not, unlocked just fine with the bios of my previous post.

 

[LordJummy]

how can you tell if my direct cu has a dual bios switch, the card has a switch but on the box it says the switch is to change between single and dual link dvi?

It does have a bios switch. That switch changes the BIOS. One BIOS has single link, the other activates dual link. You can override them or save them to file and customize them, the latter being the ideal method.

 

[de.das.dude]

you card is good till 120C, but make sure other things aren't sharing its HEAT.