Perplexing 6950 vs 6970 heat issue

[collegeboy69us]

Hello all

So I just got my XFX 6950 + HIS 6950 with unlocked shaders rocking in crossfire. Awesome combo, works great!

The XFX is a non-reference card, the HIS is reference (exhaust out the back)

So my question is my XFX 6950 gets to 100C even with MAX fan and a direct outside fan blowing on it. While under the same load, the HIS only hits 65C.

Stable at 1.15V @ 875Mhz (both cards) the XFX is actually stable up to 930MHz but I'd rather back off and not run on bleeding edge during crossfire/bitcoining.

The heatpipes on the XFX are super hot, so I know it's transferring heat, the dual fans are running at max, and I have an exhaust fan right above the first PCIE slot. Could it just be a crappy contact between the GPU and heatsink? or is there something else I'm just not seeing?

The fact that two mostly identical cards can run the same load but have a difference of 35C is just crazy to me. Either something is wrong, or the heatsink/fan from XFX just sucks that much ass vs the reference.

Thanks in advance guys!

 

[collegeboy69us]

well I added some Arctic Silver and reassembled everything -- no difference in temps. Either I have a super hot chip (not in the good way) or the XFX stick dual fan cooler sucks ass.

I'm on the fence -- do I spend 15 dollars on a single slot cooler to maybe exhaust a little but more air above it, or do I spend 40 bucks and buy an aftermarket 3 fan heatsink ?

 

[Paragon]

Is the XFX the top card? Are the fans blocked by the second card?
Did you flash with 6970 BIOS or is the memory voltage still at stock.
How are the temps at stock clocks and stock voltage?
What is your case airflow like? You need good airflow to feed two cards and the CPU (more than just a single fan on the side panel blowing on them - need to exhaust the heat and bring in cool)