5870CF - 100 degrees in Furmark

Hi guys,

Just did a repaste of my CPUs ans GPUs. CPU is doing great! GPUs less so. Reach 100 degrees (both cards) in 3 min on Furmark. This is according to HWInfo because Furmark cant read the temps.

This is my 3rd repaste and my GPUs are always hot. I have the right heating pads, the right thermal paste, and the correct way to use Isopropanol to clean previous pastes. its a nightmare not being able to figure out what is going wrong.

Notes on my system: I am not using the retention clip mod and never will. I did trim the extra aluminum off of the capacitors to help the heatsink sit better against the core. HWInfo says the MemIO is the real heat issue. Any ideas anyone?

 

have you tryied to use thermal paste on the memory modules instead of pads?

paste is more efficient than the pads, and it will help seating the heatsink over the core properly becouse of the reduced gap

 

Doesnt that mean that I need a thinner paste or thermal grease for the core? And doesnt that only work with the retention screw mod.

 

Why wont you do the retention clip mod? I did it to my r2 and was able to lower temps to a max of 72C on furmark after running for like 20 minutes. My cards are not bending or warping at all and if you do it right, it can't hurt the cards.

 

If I cant find another answer I might just have to go that route. But in my R2 some of the retention screws are already uneven. Somehow one or two of the supporting holes the screws go into are not attached to the frame anymore. If I go for the full mod, I'm afraid of not having anything tell me when to stop turning the screws.

See, when I attach the cooler to the CPU or GPU, all the guides suggest only doing two to three turns. If this though there isnt anywhere near enough contact to the die, so I screw them down until i feel at least some resistance. That is now I'm keeping my cores at least moderately cool.

 

When I did my retention mod, I just basically screwed the screws in until they stayed (which ended up being 2-3 turns) and then I turned it about another 1/2 turn just to make sure they stay. All you are really doing with the retention mod is threading the screws enough to stay put and not come loose (any more and you will bend or warp the GPU). I was scared the first time that I did it, but honestly, it was not hard and after doing it one time, I wouldn't hesitate doing it again. I also pasted the memory with IC Diamond 24 paste as well as the GPU chip itself and am loving the results.

The other thing that could be the problem is that your memory is obviously not sending the heat to the heatsink efficiently otherwise it would stay cool. The memory thermal pads that you are using are probably the culprits. It really is the only factor that could effect the contact (unless your heatsinks are warped). I would try some other thermal pads and see what happens. If that doesn't work, do the retention mod.

 

Thanks for the encouragement bstapley. I'll let you know when I try the retention mod then.

To anyone else that may be reading - does anyone have the part numbers for the heatsinks? Maybe perhaps my heatsinks are warped in some way so a way to find replacements would be appreciated.

 

the rise in heat is fast for yours. i tried furmark, it took me 7-8 min to reach that. however, mine is stock and i would not touch it until my warranty is up. i figure furmark is pretty aggressive and games generally don't max your gpu all the time.

 

I hit 110C after playing Crysis 2 for about 2 minutes when I first got my R2. I would have hate to have seen what Furmark would've done to it.

Luckily after a repaste my temps have dropped alot and max out at around 80C after running Furmark for 10 mins. Hope you can get yours sorted.

 

thanks everyone. I hope I can figure it out too. it stabilized a little after a 24 hour run but is still nowhere near great.

I think that maybe I might have damaged heatsinks.

For anyone else interested, here is the link to the parts thread: here

 

Yo!
Seems like something is really wrong with your system, i have xFire 5870 in my R1 overclocked, and they never go past 75c* in Furmark, and thats with an CPU-test running on the side aswell.

Although, i have repasted both cards with Arctic Silver Mx-3.
Are you sure that you pasted your cards properly, and you didn't remove the thermal pads, right?

- Scott.

 

These heatsinks were flawed from the start. Next time you've got your card out, take a look at the side profile of it. You'll see that the heatsink doesn't sit completely flat on the GPU. Those components next to the RAM chips keep the heatsink 'high centered' a little bit, therefore not letting the sink really sit nice and flat on the RAM and GPU die. It is not a fatal flaw, as there is still enough contact to keep most people's GPUs at a respectable temperature. This is exactly why the retention mod works the way it does; it helps to overcome some of the contact loss from the heatsink being high centered. To do this, it has to tweak the CPU PCB ever so slightly though.

If you're going to be cooking your GPUs with FurMark, you may want to invest some time into modifying the heatsinks. I filed away some of the metal on that part of the sink beyond the row of RAM chips. When I look at my GPU from a side view, the heatsink sits completely flat on, and parallel to the GPU.

You must also consider other components on the GPU, not just the RAM chips and GPU die. They aren't the only two parts that create a heat load. There are several other components that either touch the heatsink directly, or are close enough to use a .5mm or 1mm thermal pad on. I believe that anything close enough to the heatsink to use paste or pads on should have them.

Even if you don't file down the heatsink, and most users are not willing to go to that length anyhow, you can see great temperature drops by using aftermarket thermal paste and thermal pads on any component you possibly can. Are you using your old thermal pads, or have you purchased some aftermarket pads?

They are good heatsinks though. I've done everything I mentioned here, and my 6990 stays pretty chilly, even with a 100Mhz overclock on the memory and core. I use AS5 or IC diamond, depending on the day, and FujiPoly .5mm and 1mm thermal pads on every component that is close enough to the heatsink to be cooled.

 

Is this something I should due automatically when I get my new r2? I suppose I should check temos first to see if it is necessary. Though it seems it is hit or miss on this issue! I didn't have my old r2 long enough to ever check the temps. Sooo hoping I get this new one!

 

Yeah, you should definitely monitor the temps when you first fire it up.

I thought mine might be alright until I fired up a game and it was really slow. I restarted, monitoring the temps, as I thought something was up and quit the game straight away when the GPU temps cracked well over 100C.

 

inzelux: I'm jealous, what else can I say I'm very happy for you.

TurbodTalon: I've also tired to modify the heatsinks to make it more flush with the RAM and Core. I was misinformed a few years ago by another member that the other chips on the board wouldn't need contact cooling. I think maybe he was wrong. So I have bought replacement heatsinks from Dell and will re-paste when I get them.

Otherwise I use a high quality paste and .5mm custom pads for the ram.

that said you are also right that the aluminum on these things are super thin and flexible. I'm sure I have uneven contact somewhere; i just cant find it. nor can I find the right screw tension to make the heatsink sit properly.

I really wish i had one of you guys close buy so I could have a second pair of eyes during my repasting attempts. I'm sure the mythical God of Repastes would appear and I would finally have icy temps.