Idle temps on my unlocked 6950

[LordJummy]

I am wondering how my idle temps are in comparison to other unlocked 6950 2GB models.

Mine is a reference Diamond HD 6950 2GB - custom modded BIOS with unlocked shaders, voltage at 1.175V and 1GHz Core / 1400Mhz Memory (of course the core downclocks to 500MHz in 2D / Desktop mode).

In the 500Mhz clock my card is idling around 46-50c with my fan profile hovering around 40-45%. At full load it peaks at about 68c. It hits 69-70 in furmark burn in.

I know my load temps are very good compared to many other cards, especially with a healthy OC. I am just curious what other peoples idle temps are. I feel like mine are a bit high. Sometimes I change it to the standard 6950 settings profile in afterburner. 1.100V and 800Mhz/1250Mhz respectively.

Doesn't make that much of a difference really if any.

My exact model # is 6950PE52G. It's a first release reference model. I have another identical model that has nearly the same characteristics and performance.

 

[cadaveca]

seems right to me...

 

[TheBluePanther]

Right now its late autumn for us, at around mid-day my idle temp is 27C. I've OC'ed mine to 900MHz/1490MHz. Voltate @ 1.2v

I'm using the DCU II which is pretty much silent on idle.

 

[LordJummy]

Right now its late autumn for us, at around mid-day my idle temp is 27C. I've OC'ed mine to 900MHz/1490MHz. Voltate @ 1.2v

I'm using the DCU II which is pretty much silent on idle.

Those idle temps seem insanely low, but you have a much nicer cooler. Although I like that my card dumps the heat out the back. After testing it longer in idle I've noticed my temps go down closer to 40c. That's with an ambient temp of about 22.2c / 72F

On a side note: 1.2V seems really high for 900MHz core. Your memory clock is also really high. Seems a bit pointless with the 900Mhz core. I've tested memory clocks from 1250 to 1500MHz and anything over 1400 doesn't really yield me that much of a gain. Not worth the memory heat anyway. My card is one of 4 similar systems that are in the 25000+ points Performance category of vantage. Well, listed on 3dmark's official scoring chart anyways. I achieved that score with 1425 MHz memory and 1100Mhz core. If I go over 1450 with that core clock it artifacts during heavy benching. I've noticed my card has put out more power than a lot of the 2nd gen and later 6950/6970's. With that power comes heat I guess.

 

[TheBluePanther]

I agree. I just did a comparison between running my memory @ 1500 and 1450 - the performance difference is negligible. I've clocked it down to 1475MHz.

1100MHz!!!!!!! man, you're really lucky!

@1.2v I'm now 50MHz up at 950MHz. What I don't understand is, no matter how much I crank up my voltage I cant pass 965MHz on my core without artifacts. Really bugs me since my core under stress doesn't pass low 70s with the fan on kinda silent settings.

Hate having so much cooling potential not being able to make full use of it.

 

[LordJummy]

I think you should try lowering your memory clock down to 1350-1400 and then try and push your core to 970ish. I just kept testing mine 5Mhz at a time.

I've been really lucky with my 6950's because they have all OC'd really high. The only downside is I have to run them with high fan profiles when they're OC'd. I wish the reference cards weren't so loud with the fan up at 50%+ Although, my gtx 470 was louder...