HD 7970 XFX Black Edition Crossfire Bad

[Spare-Flair]

I've actually got the cards cooled down now after working on it through the weekend. All it took was a more aggressive fan profile through MSI Afterburner.

My case also comes with an air duct that attaches on the back of the case that is supposed to draw hot air off of the expansion card area. I completely forgot about it because I've never used it. I don't have an extra 120 fan for the duct so I had to order one. Should be here tomorrow. Some reviews say that the duct doesn't do shit while others say it works great. I'll see tomorrow if it helps further.

I had a Lian Li A05NB with a duct like that off my 5870 CF with aftermarket dual fan setup and it did help a little but there isn't enough forced air on the VRMs to make a difference unfortunately. I also tried with a case with a 140mm fan blowing directly off the side panel.

Neither helped with VRM temps and I expect the same result here. For the VRMs, you need a big hefty heatsink (that's why Thermalright made that ridiculous VRM-R4)

http://extreme.pcgameshardware.de/a...850-scythe-musashi-thermalright-vrm-r4-31.jpg

With the shrouded rear exhaust cards, the VRM modules are directly connected to the entire base plate and housing that touch the main heatsink. With many of the dual fan options, VRMs are a separate heatink or not heatpiped into the main heatsink and so consequently they run hot as hell and reduce your overclocking potential significantly. I bet the VRMs are causing the crashing. The cores should be quite robust as I have a couple 5xxx and 6xxx series cards that work fine into 100°

If you are running cards in Crossfire, cards with blower fans work much better because usually one or both cards are coughing for cool air.

 

[8du8]

curious to see how they do in the ft02, im still using mine, the vertical mount cases from Silverstone also worked wonders on hot gtx 480/580 cards...cards that dump heat into the case need a well ventilated case or they are just trying to cool themselves off with warm air

This is especially true if the fins are oriented the "long way" on the card such as the MSI twin frozr. My FT02 keeps my twin frozr below 65c with the fans on low (fans on the card kick up to 55%) and thats with a pretty big OC on the card too.

 

[SUPERGT]

Why in the world would you trust a couple of XFX monkeys to the AMD designers who created the chip itself. Especially this early in the game.

 

[InternationalHat]

This is especially true if the fins are oriented the "long way" on the card such as the MSI twin frozr. My FT02 keeps my twin frozr below 65c with the fans on low (fans on the card kick up to 55%) and thats with a pretty big OC on the card too.

I have an RV02. I'm interested in a twin frozr 7970 or 7950(probably the latter) at some point. I don't particularly care about the extra heat dumped into the case. Reference AMD cards are way too loud. My 5850 sounds obnoxious at anything over 60% fan.

The silverstone 90 degree cases are great for this kind of thing.

 

[XTF]

Why in the world would you trust a couple of XFX monkeys to the AMD designers who created the chip itself. Especially this early in the game.

AMD coolers aren't that good noise-wise. nV coolers are better.

 

[GreenGoose]

My case also comes with an air duct that attaches on the back of the case that is supposed to draw hot air off of the expansion card area. I completely forgot about it because I've never used it. I don't have an extra 120 fan for the duct so I had to order one. Should be here tomorrow. Some reviews say that the duct doesn't do shit while others say it works great. I'll see tomorrow if it helps further.

I just wanted to update you guys after I put the rear duct on my case. The duct dropped my temperature by 20 degrees under load! My top card now no longer gets above 73 degrees under full load. The moral to the story is proper case ventilation! My problem is 100% solved and I didn't need to cut a hole in my side door after all.

 

[Spare-Flair]

I just wanted to update you guys after I put the rear duct on my case. The duct dropped my temperature by 20 degrees under load! My top card now no longer gets above 73 degrees under full load. The moral to the story is proper case ventilation! My problem is 100% solved and I didn't need to cut a hole in my side door after all.

What case do you have BTW? I'd like to see how this duct is designed.

 

[Porter_]

I just wanted to update you guys after I put the rear duct on my case. The duct dropped my temperature by 20 degrees under load! My top card now no longer gets above 73 degrees under full load. The moral to the story is proper case ventilation! My problem is 100% solved and I didn't need to cut a hole in my side door after all.

i'm glad you solved it! but 20 C from an exhaust duct? that's incredibly effective. are you certain?

 

[GreenGoose]

i'm glad you solved it! but 20 C from an exhaust duct? that's incredibly effective. are you certain?

Yes, I'm certain. I was flirting with death in the low 90's. Now with the duct it never gets above 73 even after an hour of BF3.

 

[GreenGoose]

What case do you have BTW? I'd like to see how this duct is designed.

My case: http://www.coolermaster-usa.com/product.php?product_id=2870&product_name=ATCS 840

The duct (forgive my rat nest wires):

 

[Porter_]

looks pretty damn nice.

 

[Druneau]

That duct is pretty neat.

Might have to try and do one out of cardboard for my Solo II once I have the arctic cooling cooler. It might even throw hot air on my feet during winter.