Need help. m17xr2 with 7970m xfire. Second gpu too hot

So I installed a second 7970m on my machine. To make sure that my new card was good, I took the new one, set it up as primary, and the one that I have been using for over a year, I used in the secondary slot. Card and driver installation went smooth, but notice that on idle my primary was at low temp while the secondary one was in the mid 70's. The xfire cable is a new one as well (to be safe). I am also running a modded psu. So why would a card (specially the secondary one) be running almost twice as hot.

Thanks

 

ok, things just got worse.

1-while monitoring, i saw that even while on idle, secondary gpu was at a load of 99% while primary was almost none.

2-after a few minutes, computer locked up... i restarted and got bios post, but hanged wile loading windows.

3-a second restart gave me no bios post, but gave me a flashing scroll and cap lights, while num was solid.

At this stage i got scared, I opened the machine and removed secondary card (which AGAIN IT AS BEEN MY PRIMARY ADAPTER FOR OVER A YEAR), and everything is working fine... so far.

Any ideas. I am starting to suspect that my secondary motherboard slot is ing cards... i dont know. please help.

 

When mounting the heatsink to the card, first do so in your hands (careful to ground yourself beforehand) and check to make sure that the contact to the card is good, that the thermal pads don't lift the heatsink up, etc.
For all I know maybe not enough paste, or wrong x-bracket, or too thick padding, etc. etc.

Also, feel free to check my signature thread for most essential info about using a 7970m crossfire in the m17x r2.

 

Anything I should be concerned about the high load on the secondary cad at 99%?

Thanks by the way sangemaru

 

Tried reinstalling the second card, and got the flashing lights and solid num lock.

3 restarts later, and it booted. Then it locked up while loading drivers. Tis was te same sitation i had withmy previous cards. I am starting to be convinced that my second card slot does something to the cards... and its not improper placing, cause 2 cards... its jsut too much

 

It could be the slot indeed.

 

OK, I have given up. As much as I loved (and trust me, I loved it with a passion), I have declared I need to move on to something else. The last straw was that alst night the primary card, that was never in the problematic slot, also failed. There was no heat issues, or anything. It just presented the saem problem as the initial problematic cards/slots. I AM ALREADY DOWN both a 7970m which I guess I fried, and a moded psu unit which I never got to truly use. I just decided I have had enough problems with trying to get xfire on this machine to work, So I got an msi with an 880m instead. Its hurting my wallet, but tomorrow I have a presentation where I need to have a working laptop, and of the ready to buy options around here, this was the best option with bang for the buck. So I guess I just want to say thanks to everyone that tried helping me (and all the help I have gotten through the last 6 years of alienware ownership. And who knows, I might be back, since there is a very remote chance that some dell folks that contacted through the facebook social media division might be able to help me get the warranty service I was denied.

Anyways, at some point (maybe in a week) il start selling my parts. I got an overclockable processor, a modded psu (for xfire), 3 reguoar psu, a usb 3 pcmci card, and if anyone actually buys other parts, I am sure the led on the machine is good, as well as the fans, keyboard, media bar, etc... I just wont give the mobo or my cards, cause I don't want anyone to go through what had to

Anyways, thanks again for everything