Radeon 5870s Fan Speed Stuck at 30%?

Hi, I have an Alienware M17xR2 which came with crossfire 4870s, and I had an upgrade from dell to crossfire 5870s. Sometimes when I am gaming the computer just shuts down and I think the video cards are overheating.

HWIMonitor says the cards often go past at least 90c, and the fan speed never changes from 30%. I have tried using programs like MSI Afterburner but it wont let me change the fan speed.

I read somewhere that maybe I need to update the BIOS of the video cards? Is this possible? The problem is I dont know the manufacturer of the cards.

Any advice?

Much appreciated.

 

First of all, I think you are reading the fan speed values for the GPU am I right? In which case, they are not the proper values. That is because there is no GPU fan. The there are fans that cool the GPU but they are part of and controlled by the motherboard. The best way to tell whether they come on or not, is to simply use your common sense. When you are gaming, can you hear them come on?

When you changed the GPU, did you change the paste or just slap the heatsink back on?

 

Most of the time, it sounds like the fans are very loud no matter what i'm doing, so I dont notice much, if any difference while gaming.

I dont know regarding your question - it was under warranty and the dell technician came and replaced the cards since the others were giving me problems.

I'm worried that they often get at least over 90, possibly even 100 or more..I never get to see it because the computer shuts down.

This is what it looks like while viewing this forum, no games running. Im not sure why it doesnt display the second video card stats now..it was before.

 

Best course of action is to get the newest bios and maybe do a repaste of your GPU heatsinks. Also perhaps clean out the fans there could be a great build up of dust and such cloggin up the fans.

 

First of all, how and where would I get the latest BIOS? Are you referring to the motherboard or the video card BIOS? I have the latest motherboard BIOS.

I have no idea how to do a "repaste". When the technician installed them I suppose he wouldn't have done that? I've never even opened up my laptop and I still have a year left on my excellent warranty (next day home service) that I dont want to void. If there is an actual problem i'd prefer them to do it for me.

As for dust, theres a small amount but not very much.

Are my temperatures very high for being idle? Almost 60c?

 

Yes.

Repasting your GPUs is your key to happiness, as I had the exact same problem with temps and performance. HWiNFO will always incorrectly give you a 30% fan speed. You only need worry about the 3 main system fans (CPU, GPU1, GPU2).

My 5870Ms used to sit at ~60oC idle and hit 115oC(!!!) whilst gaming. This caused the 3 system fans to run pretty fast most of the time, so producing alotta noise. In games I had horrible stuttering as the cards down-clocked themselves and sometimes shutdowns.

I knew I had to repaste the GPUs, but too like you had never opened my lappy and wasn't keen to do so. Thankfully the awesomely helpful guys here @NBR pointed me to the right threads and gave me the encouragement and confidence to open it all up and get it all repasted.

Now GPUs sit @39oC idle and ~80oC under full load - that's a HUGE improvement. Fans don't rev up/down nearly as much as they used to when just casually using the lappy, and the whole system is much quieter overall.


EDIT:- I'm thinking this isn't an uncommon problem seeing as how so many ppl recommend a repaste - why don't Dell do a better job of pasting, given the high quality build of Alienware lappies? Seems silly to skip something little like that and mess everything up.


EDIT2:- since you called out a Dell tech already, call them again maybe and see if they can repaste for you. I'm pretty sure that's your problem, not VBIOS et al. GD LUCK BROTHER!

 

I am going like a headless chicken, opening all the old topics on this damn BS of a problem. The GPU fan stays constantly on Alienware m17x R1 at the damn same 30% fan speed and never goes beyond ever since I upgraded from a 260m SLI to a blasted Radeon Mobility 5870. Can anyone please help me!?

*EDIT* And the above post is completely absurd! The fan never constantly stayed at 30% speed on my R1. NEVER! It always went on power when running heavy graphics programs. It does not, I repeat it does not go ever above 30 with this new GPU.

That guy, for the matter has a damn R2 Alienware, which was made to work with this card.