• Welcome to TechPowerUp Forums, Guest! Please check out our forum guidelines for info related to our community.

My failed 7870 XT Mod

Joined
Nov 1, 2008
Messages
4,213 (0.75/day)
Location
Vietnam
System Name Gaming System / HTPC-Server
Processor i7 8700K (@4.8 Ghz All-Core) / R7 5900X
Motherboard Z370 Aorus Ultra Gaming / MSI B450 Mortar Max
Cooling CM ML360 / CM ML240L
Memory 16Gb Hynix @3200 MHz / 16Gb Hynix @3000Mhz
Video Card(s) Zotac 3080 / Colorful 1060
Storage 750G MX300 + 2x500G NVMe / 40Tb Reds + 1Tb WD Blue NVMe
Display(s) LG 27GN800-B 27'' 2K 144Hz / Sony TV
Case Xigmatek Aquarius Plus / Corsair Air 240
Audio Device(s) On Board Realtek
Power Supply Super Flower Leadex III Gold 750W / Andyson TX-700 Platinum
Mouse Logitech G502 Hero / K400+
Keyboard Wooting Two / K400+
Software Windows 10 x64
Benchmark Scores Cinebench R15 = 1542 3D Mark Timespy = 9758
no no no.
the chips is more sensitive. vrms are typical mosfets. they use pads because vrms are not made very strictly, so they are of varying lengths. also soldering may lead to little bit different height.

i used an ample amount of TIM on something, and it worked, better than the pads. was a long time ago, so i cant remember what it was.

and anyways, most of them are rated for around 115C.

I'm not really willing to risk damaging the card to try direct contact with the aluminium sink at the moment. As the VRMs are only hitting 80 C, I imagine they are pretty safe. The point of the new fans was to try and reduce noise and help temps, but the VRMs start to go over 100 with the fans I tried. I believe the thermal paste I have is non conductive, but I don't feel that comfortable gooping it all over the PCB. If I had a card I could replace, then I would.

I like the idea of putting a heat sink on the back of the pcb, but making sure it stays there would be an issue.

The 92mm fan is something I may try at a later date, but the main problem is that the fan housing is circular and blue; it won't work well with the other 2 fans. I may be able to get some stuff from the US come December, I'll have a look around at what I can find.
 
Joined
Jun 27, 2011
Messages
6,680 (1.43/day)
Processor 7800x3d
Motherboard Gigabyte B650 Auros Elite AX
Cooling Custom Water
Memory GSKILL 2x16gb 6000mhz Cas 30 with custom timings
Video Card(s) MSI RX 6750 XT MECH 2X 12G OC
Storage Adata SX8200 1tb with Windows, Samsung 990 Pro 2tb with games
Display(s) HP Omen 27q QHD 165hz
Case ThermalTake P3
Power Supply SuperFlower Leadex Titanium
Software Windows 11 64 Bit
Benchmark Scores CB23: 1811 / 19424 CB24: 1136 / 7687
You only have one card right? I have two of them. When I have the cards in crossfire, while under load the fans can get up to 80% and are loud. When I have either of my two cards in single card configeration they barely get up to 60% fan speed and are not that loud. Anything past 60% just gets really loud.

Maybe the problem is not the fans on the heatsink but the airflow of the case.
 

fkr

New Member
Joined
Jul 8, 2013
Messages
1 (0.00/day)
look

http://www.overclock.net/t/1373543/official-7870-tahiti-le-xt-owners-club

this is a great resource for our cards and an active community for all things tahiti LE. there are some good fan recommendation that have good static pressure and also many users who have done this mod with allot of success.

I will probably not be back this way but I wanted to help another tahiti le user and do not fret your temps can be very much improved
 
Joined
Nov 1, 2008
Messages
4,213 (0.75/day)
Location
Vietnam
System Name Gaming System / HTPC-Server
Processor i7 8700K (@4.8 Ghz All-Core) / R7 5900X
Motherboard Z370 Aorus Ultra Gaming / MSI B450 Mortar Max
Cooling CM ML360 / CM ML240L
Memory 16Gb Hynix @3200 MHz / 16Gb Hynix @3000Mhz
Video Card(s) Zotac 3080 / Colorful 1060
Storage 750G MX300 + 2x500G NVMe / 40Tb Reds + 1Tb WD Blue NVMe
Display(s) LG 27GN800-B 27'' 2K 144Hz / Sony TV
Case Xigmatek Aquarius Plus / Corsair Air 240
Audio Device(s) On Board Realtek
Power Supply Super Flower Leadex III Gold 750W / Andyson TX-700 Platinum
Mouse Logitech G502 Hero / K400+
Keyboard Wooting Two / K400+
Software Windows 10 x64
Benchmark Scores Cinebench R15 = 1542 3D Mark Timespy = 9758
You only have one card right? I have two of them. When I have the cards in crossfire, while under load the fans can get up to 80% and are loud. When I have either of my two cards in single card configeration they barely get up to 60% fan speed and are not that loud. Anything past 60% just gets really loud.

Maybe the problem is not the fans on the heatsink but the airflow of the case.

Yea, only the one card and I use a custom fan profile to keep the temps under 80 C. The airflow in the case is pretty good. I have 6 x 120mm fans, 1 x 140mm and 1 x 200mm fan an various configurations. The good thing about the HAF series of case is the airflow :)

When playing FC3, the fan spins up to 80% or so. It's not as noisy as at 100%, but is definitely noticeable. I can live with the noise, I wanted a mini project for my Sunday afternoon so I'm not too fussed that it failed, I'm just a little annoyed at myself for stupidly trying to remove a fan header with piers.
I'll read through the thread above and see how other people are modding theirs.
 
Last edited:
Joined
Mar 15, 2013
Messages
3,626 (0.90/day)
Location
GMT +2
System Name Red Radiance l under construction
Processor 5800x
Motherboard x470 taichi
Cooling stock wrath
Memory TridentZ Neo rgb 3600mhz (2x8 kit)
Video Card(s) Sapphire Vega 64 nitro+
Storage 970 evo nvme
Display(s) lc27g75tq
Case tt core x5 tge
Audio Device(s) sennheiser's pc323d usb soundcard
Power Supply corsair AX860i
Mouse roccat burst pro
Keyboard roccat ryos mk fx
Software windows 10
Yea, only the one card and I use a custom fan profile to keep the temps under 80 C. The airflow in the case is pretty good. I have 6 x 120mm fans, 1 x 140mm and 1 x 200mm fan an various configurations. The good thing about the HAF series of case is the airflow :)

When playing FC3, the fan spins up to 80% or so. It's not as noisy as at 100%, but is definitely noticeable. I can live with the noise, I wanted a mini project for my Sunday afternoon so I'm not too fussed that it failed, I'm just a little annoyed at myself for stupidly trying to remove a fan header with piers.
I'll read through the thread above and see how other people are modding theirs.

have a look on this
take one of those SK 81 / 100 SA heatsinks and make horizontal cut on the sink (heatsink should be oriented as at the photo).
use original heatsink to duplicate holes for bolts to new one.
if gpu cooler doesnt fit cut top ends of ribs of the new heatsinkbut just enough cooler to fit.
try to place new sink with different pads and tim till you get best heat transfer. you may also want to replace standard heatsink screws with spring screws.
if fans you have still cant handle vrm temps try one of those
EVERCOOL F-EC9225HH12BP 92x92x25mm High Speed Do...
EVERCOOL RVF-2F Ever Lubricate Replacement Fan for...
 

de.das.dude

Pro Indian Modder
Joined
Jun 13, 2010
Messages
8,757 (1.74/day)
Location
Stuck in a PC. halp.
System Name Monke | Work Thinkpad| Old Monke
Processor Ryzen 5600X | Ryzen 5500U | FX8320
Motherboard ASRock B550 Extreme4 | ? | Asrock 990FX Extreme 4
Cooling 240mm Rad | Not needed | hyper 212 EVO
Memory 2x16GB DDR4 3600 Corsair RGB | 16 GB DDR4 3600 | 16GB DDR3 1600
Video Card(s) Sapphire Pulse RX6700XT 12GB | Vega 8 | Sapphire Pulse RX580 8GB
Storage Samsung 980 nvme (Primary) | some samsung SSD
Display(s) Dell 2723DS | Some 14" 1080p 98%sRGB IPS | Dell 2240L
Case Ant Esports Tempered case | Thinkpad | Antec
Audio Device(s) Logitech Z333 | Jabra corpo stuff
Power Supply Corsair RM750e | not needed | Corsair GS 600
Mouse Logitech G400 | nipple
Keyboard Logitech G213 | stock kb is awesome | Logitech K230
VR HMD ;_;
Software Windows 10 Professional x3
Benchmark Scores There are no marks on my bench
if you can find some piece of spare copper, duplicate the dimensions and design of the current heatsink. :) that would be great!
 
Joined
Mar 15, 2013
Messages
3,626 (0.90/day)
Location
GMT +2
System Name Red Radiance l under construction
Processor 5800x
Motherboard x470 taichi
Cooling stock wrath
Memory TridentZ Neo rgb 3600mhz (2x8 kit)
Video Card(s) Sapphire Vega 64 nitro+
Storage 970 evo nvme
Display(s) lc27g75tq
Case tt core x5 tge
Audio Device(s) sennheiser's pc323d usb soundcard
Power Supply corsair AX860i
Mouse roccat burst pro
Keyboard roccat ryos mk fx
Software windows 10
if you can find some piece of spare copper, duplicate the dimensions and design of the current heatsink. :) that would be great!

there are avilable premade copper heatsinks but they are too short 2-3 has to be used to cover all vrms. this will require custom bracket and material with good elastic capabilities to be used for it. i think sk81/100sa mod will be easyer for crafting.

ps may be locking bracket from old cpu cooler like this could be moded and used together with enzotech's rads. this solution wont need spring bolts.
 
Joined
Nov 1, 2008
Messages
4,213 (0.75/day)
Location
Vietnam
System Name Gaming System / HTPC-Server
Processor i7 8700K (@4.8 Ghz All-Core) / R7 5900X
Motherboard Z370 Aorus Ultra Gaming / MSI B450 Mortar Max
Cooling CM ML360 / CM ML240L
Memory 16Gb Hynix @3200 MHz / 16Gb Hynix @3000Mhz
Video Card(s) Zotac 3080 / Colorful 1060
Storage 750G MX300 + 2x500G NVMe / 40Tb Reds + 1Tb WD Blue NVMe
Display(s) LG 27GN800-B 27'' 2K 144Hz / Sony TV
Case Xigmatek Aquarius Plus / Corsair Air 240
Audio Device(s) On Board Realtek
Power Supply Super Flower Leadex III Gold 750W / Andyson TX-700 Platinum
Mouse Logitech G502 Hero / K400+
Keyboard Wooting Two / K400+
Software Windows 10 x64
Benchmark Scores Cinebench R15 = 1542 3D Mark Timespy = 9758
Thanks for the input, but in all honesty, the temps aren't worth the effort. I was going for something cheap and quick that I could do on a Sunday afternoon.

They are both excellent ideas, and if I had more time, I would try them. I especially like the idea of milling my own heatsink out of copper.

The gpu temp is sitting at 71 C max and the VRM has now settled at ~75 C.
The card does still get very hot to the touch, and so I am thinking of re-purposing the fans I got to cool the back of the card somehow; I think I will have to do something ghetto.
 

AsRock

TPU addict
Joined
Jun 23, 2007
Messages
18,853 (3.08/day)
Location
UK\USA
Processor AMD 3900X \ AMD 7700X
Motherboard ASRock AM4 X570 Pro 4 \ ASUS X670Xe TUF
Cooling D15
Memory Patriot 2x16GB PVS432G320C6K \ G.Skill Flare X5 F5-6000J3238F 2x16GB
Video Card(s) eVga GTX1060 SSC \ XFX RX 6950XT RX-695XATBD9
Storage Sammy 860, MX500, Sabrent Rocket 4 Sammy Evo 980 \ 1xSabrent Rocket 4+, Sammy 2x990 Pro
Display(s) Samsung 1080P \ LG 43UN700
Case Fractal Design Pop Air 2x140mm fans from Torrent \ Fractal Design Torrent 2 SilverStone FHP141x2
Audio Device(s) Yamaha RX-V677 \ Yamaha CX-830+Yamaha MX-630 Infinity RS4000\Paradigm P Studio 20, Blue Yeti
Power Supply Seasonic Prime TX-750 \ Corsair RM1000X Shift
Mouse Steelseries Sensei wireless \ Steelseries Sensei wireless
Keyboard Logitech K120 \ Wooting Two HE
Benchmark Scores Meh benchmarks.
Looking at the cooler and the crappy heatsink on the VRMs is the issue. The cooler looks like it blocks most of the air flow which is why they made it a single fan so the air be pushed across the PCB.

Might look some what ugly try fitting a fan on the left side to help pull air though passed the VRM's.
 
Joined
Nov 15, 2005
Messages
1,007 (0.15/day)
Processor 2500K @ 4.5GHz 1.28V
Motherboard ASUS P8P67 Deluxe
Cooling Corsair A70
Memory 8GB (2x4GB) Corsair Vengeance 1600 9-9-9-24 1T
Video Card(s) eVGA GTX 470
Storage Crucial m4 128GB + Seagate RAID 1 (1TB x 2)
Display(s) Dell 22" 1680x1050 nothing special
Case Antec 300
Audio Device(s) Onboard
Power Supply PC Power & Cooling 750W
Software Windows 7 64bit Pro
One of the easiest things you can try which should lower the temps maybe 3-5 C would be to replace the white plastic posts and springs that attach the VRM heatsinks with some metal bolts, nuts and plastic washer to put more mounting pressure which will help compress the thermal pads better. I also like to put a dab of TIM on the VRMs and the heatsink (essentially both sides of the thermal pads). It might sound like you will be insulating them more that way but give it a shot, you will be surprised.
 
Top