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I just bought a cheap Sapphire X1950XT with high expectations but my jaw hit the floor when I started doing some testing with ATI Tool and the GPU temp got up over 110C before it crashed hard. WTF!
I knew there were going to be some heat issues with the crappy OEM cooler but this was ridiculous. Luckily I had a Zalman VF-900CU ready to go. After bolting that on the temps were still going up far higher than they should. I think I saw about 90C before I stopped ATI Tool.
Knowing that too much voltage creates a pile of heat in a CPU I decided to try reducing the GPU voltage. There are two voltage settings in ATI Tool that I decided to start lowering.
Default:
vGPU = 1.425 volts
vDDCI = 1.486 volts
While scanning for artifacts I kept lowering these values equally and watched as the temperatures got lower and lower. I took vGPU down to 1.15 volts before artifacts started to appear. I bumped it back up to 1.175 volts and then gave it one more bump to 1.20 volts just to be on the safe side.
The card ran fine with vDDCI at 1.15 volts but I bumped that back up to 1.20 volts as well.
FINAL SETTINGS:
v GPU = 1.20 volts
vDDCI = 1.20 volts
A Kill-a-Watt meter has shown this one little mod to have reduced power consumption at the plug by 48 watts. That's a pile of heat that my GPU heatsink and fan no longer has to dissipate.
Before the mod, GPU temps were out of control and over 110C. Now the temps are down to the low 60C range and I can put my finger on the backside of the graphics board where the GPU sits without losing a layer of skin.
I've left the clock speeds at default:
621 MHz Core
900 MHz Memory
By lowering voltages I've probably lost some overclockability but that's OK. At least it's usable now. Sapphire should be shot for releasing this card in its present form.
With a few tweaks though and a decent cooler, it's looking pretty good now on my new E6400 Conroe at 3200 MHz.
I knew there were going to be some heat issues with the crappy OEM cooler but this was ridiculous. Luckily I had a Zalman VF-900CU ready to go. After bolting that on the temps were still going up far higher than they should. I think I saw about 90C before I stopped ATI Tool.
Knowing that too much voltage creates a pile of heat in a CPU I decided to try reducing the GPU voltage. There are two voltage settings in ATI Tool that I decided to start lowering.
Default:
vGPU = 1.425 volts
vDDCI = 1.486 volts
While scanning for artifacts I kept lowering these values equally and watched as the temperatures got lower and lower. I took vGPU down to 1.15 volts before artifacts started to appear. I bumped it back up to 1.175 volts and then gave it one more bump to 1.20 volts just to be on the safe side.
The card ran fine with vDDCI at 1.15 volts but I bumped that back up to 1.20 volts as well.
FINAL SETTINGS:
v GPU = 1.20 volts
vDDCI = 1.20 volts
A Kill-a-Watt meter has shown this one little mod to have reduced power consumption at the plug by 48 watts. That's a pile of heat that my GPU heatsink and fan no longer has to dissipate.
Before the mod, GPU temps were out of control and over 110C. Now the temps are down to the low 60C range and I can put my finger on the backside of the graphics board where the GPU sits without losing a layer of skin.
I've left the clock speeds at default:
621 MHz Core
900 MHz Memory
By lowering voltages I've probably lost some overclockability but that's OK. At least it's usable now. Sapphire should be shot for releasing this card in its present form.
With a few tweaks though and a decent cooler, it's looking pretty good now on my new E6400 Conroe at 3200 MHz.
