4870 overheating with aftermarket coolers

[oli_ramsay]

A guy over at a german site took a few snaps with his thermal imaging camera with the card under full load and with an Ac Accelero S1 fitted and the results were quite alarming:

http://translate.google.com/transla...9575293#post9575293&hl=en&ie=UTF8&sl=de&tl=en

 

[Silverel]

This just makes me want to see thermal imaging as a standard in GPU reviews. Someone get W1zz on this thread.

 

[Tatty_Two]

This just makes me want to see thermal imaging as a standard in GPU reviews. Someone get W1zz on this thread.

I have one, am happy to lend him mine!

 

[yogurt_21]

yeha it would be nice to see where the heat problems are before buying a card, that way you can prepare the case airflow accordingly. not that the stocik cooler ever lasted more than a single bench run on my cards, water is the way to go with gpu's these days.

 

[EastCoasthandle]

A guy over at a german site took a few snaps with his thermal imaging camera with the card under full load and with an Ac Accelero S1 fitted and the results were quite alarming:

http://translate.google.com/transla...9575293#post9575293&hl=en&ie=UTF8&sl=de&tl=en

Those thermal imaging cameras need to be calibrated before you use them. It he didn't properly calibrate it (it's called another term but I don't remember at the moment) then those images he posted mean nothing.

 

[unclewebb]

What those pictures say to me is that if you are using the S1 then you are far better off strapping a 120mm fan to it than using two small turbo fans. These cards put out a lot of heat which can result in instability while under heavy load but there haven't been a lot of complaints about that so far. If anyone is worried about long term reliability at these temps then go with a VisionTek which has a lifetime warranty.

 

[Megasty]

Strapping a 120mm fan to the stock heatsink works much better. All you have to do is shell the casing first. Its ghetto as hell but its overly effective. That stock heatsink is one of the best I've ever seen.

 

[entsyymi]

I got two 120mm's strapped to my Accelero S1 and the VREG area is "filled" with memory heatsinks. I dont think heat should be problem anymore.

 

[oli_ramsay]

Some of those pictures indicate insufficient cooling on the back of the card, i.e where there's no heatsinks what so ever. That's what's scaring me. Does any1 here have a 4870 + an infra-red thermometer?

 

[erocker]

Some of those pictures indicate insufficient cooling on the back of the card, i.e where there's no heatsinks what so ever. That's what's scaring me. Does any1 here have a 4870 + an infra-red thermometer?

I have a 4870 with a stock cooler and an infra-red thermometer. I'll give some readings tonight after work..

 

[Tatty_Two]

Those thermal imaging cameras need to be calibrated before you use them. It he didn't properly calibrate it (it's called another term but I don't remember at the moment) then those images he posted mean nothing.

And the problem is mine would not be any good as it is spacial, most imaging devices the average man sees (like the military devices) are purely spacial as in all they need to do is detect, not report actual temperatures, now the really costly units, those that would be needed for this kind of job that can read a temp to 0.250 of a degree, are radiometric systems and have a much greater accuracy.

 

[zithe]

In a Wakü the Spawa not mitkühlt you have a huge problem.

The passive cooling of the chips alone was not enough evidence so impressively here.

Just gotta love translation.
Lol!

 

[EastCoasthandle]

And the problem is mine would not be any good as it is spacial, most imaging devices the average man sees (like the military devices) are purely spacial as in all they need to do is detect, not report actual temperatures, now the really costly units, those that would be needed for this kind of job that can read a temp to 0.250 of a degree, are radiometric systems and have a much greater accuracy.

In which case need to be calibrated and used properly. The results are pure bust if that didn't happen. Also, there is no mention of the exterior temps/conditions used to create that resulted in such a condition. Futhermore, there is no photos of the test bed or surrounding area. Also no images of a simple thermometer to show what ambient temps in the room and at the test bed before conducting such a test.
To me, this is all FUD.

 

[INSTG8R]

I have personally used that unit when I worked for the Canadian Government. It does indeed need to be calibrated and to set to the correct mode for using it that way.

 

[FR@NK]

Some of those pictures indicate insufficient cooling on the back of the card, i.e where there's no heatsinks what so ever. That's what's scaring me.

The main reason why the back of the card is getting so hot is because the vregs on the front are not being cooled properly. Either way they should be fine up to 100C+ but having them cooler will enhance overclockability. IMO using the Accelero S1 and the stock memory/vreg cooling plate would be best.



In older generations like the 9800 pro and the x850 the vregs wernt cooled at all and would get much hotter then 100C. Adding a heatsink and fan blowing across them would give a voltage that was more stable and allowed higher clocks.

 

[EastCoasthandle]

The main reason why the back of the card is getting so hot is because the vregs on the front are not being cooled properly. Either way they should be fine up to 100C+ but having them cooler will enhance overclockability. IMO using the Accelero S1 and the stock memory/vreg cooling plate would be best.



In older generations like the 9800 pro and the x850 the vregs wernt cooled at all and would get much hotter then 100C. Adding a heatsink and fan blowing across them would give a voltage that was more stable and allowed higher clocks.

Well then that explains it (if that's the actual card used). If there is no active cooling (which comes with the card) then he's only inducing heat. Creating a situation that normally should not exist. Furthermore, we still don't know ambient temps near the testbed and at the test bed when this Fud was created! Also, the testbed configuration. There is actually no valid photos of the card used!

 

[oli_ramsay]

that's not the card used, the 4870 has 2 power connectors on the back, not the side. Also the accelero s1 has a quite big heatsink for the vregs which I'm using now.

 

[FelipeV]

that's not the card used, the 4870 has 2 power connectors on the back, not the side. Also the accelero s1 has a quite big heatsink for the vregs which I'm using now.

Are you having the same problem with you card ? or the german guy just wanted to show his new IR camera ?

This is the stock 4870 cooler. I think that thermal pad is where VRM goes.

 

[FR@NK]

that's not the card used, the 4870 has 2 power connectors on the back, not the side. Also the accelero s1 has a quite big heatsink for the vregs which I'm using now.

Yea thats my old 2900, the cooler setup is very similar to the 4870. My point was that you need to cool the vregs or else the heat will have no where to go except to heat up the PCB. Thats the main issue I have with aftermarket coolers....they do great for cooling the GPU but are lacking when it comes to the memory and vregs compared to the stock cooler.

 

[oli_ramsay]

This seems to be a false alarm thank God, the guy didn't use the VRM heatsink provided with the S1 so no wonder it got so hot! I've had to rubber band mine on similar to what this guy has done:

 

[spud107]

i got an ir probe to see what my card got up to, hottest part was back of gpu area @ 70c under load, now have a fan at that bit lol.

 

[Ketxxx]

This isn't just 4k cards, 3k cards suffer from insane temps as well. The stock Sapphire cooler, while not terrible, literally got so hot it burned me to touch it. (91c+ on the GPU, anyone?) I seem to of found a perfect solution though. VF900cu + Tweakmonster BGA sinks, and the little bit of magic I call the omni airflow fan.

 

[3xploit]

This seems to be a false alarm thank God, the guy didn't use the VRM heatsink provided with the S1 so no wonder it got so hot! I've had to rubber band mine on similar to what this guy has done:

Seems like the ramsink is falling off there.

 

[spud107]

yeah something like this?

This isn't just 4k cards, 3k cards suffer from insane temps as well. The stock Sapphire cooler, while not terrible, literally got so hot it burned me to touch it. (91c+ on the GPU, anyone?) I seem to of found a perfect solution though. VF900cu + Tweakmonster BGA sinks, and the little bit of magic I call the omni airflow fan.

 

[oli_ramsay]

Seems like the ramsink is falling off there.

Nah, it's the only way to fit the thing due to the heatpipes being in the way.