A Bit More 4870 manual Fan Speed Testing Overclocked

[DaddyRabbit]

Card - VisionTek HD4870, Card clocks maxed to what CCC will let me do (790Mhz GPU, 1100Mhz memory)

Ambient room temp - 73 degrees F

Rig - In my sig, stock case fans on medium

Case temp @ idle 34C

Loading app - ATITool 0.27 Artifact Scanning for 5 minutes (this seemed to be where the max temps stabilized)

Test Steps

1) Run the "QuickCool" profile (fan @ 100%) until the temp was at the lowest for that profile
2) Activate the next profile and let sit 5 minutes to get idle temp
3) Run the ATITool Artifact Scanning tool for 5 minutes to get the max temp
4) Rinse and repeat

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First setting = Manual fan at 100% (I call this profile "QuickCool" and used it mainly to drop the temps between checks)

Idle = 42C
Load = 55C

Notes: You will not be running at this fan speed unless you don't mind going deaf!

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Second setting = Manual fan at 40% (I call this profile "Gaming" and since the noise will be drowned out by opponents dying screams this will be for gaming)

Idle = 47C
Load = 67C

Notes: The noise here isn't too bad but a little much for me when not gaming.

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Third setting = Manual fan at 30% (I call this profile "Normal" and dropped the activation shortcut into my startup folder)

Idle = 57C
Load = 87C

Notes: The main reason I tested this was that it is my default startup profile and I wanted to ensure that if I forgot to activate my "Gaming" profile that I didn't overheat the card.

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Fourth setting = Default, Automatic with a "want value" of 22

Idle = 80C
Load = 87C

Notes: While virtually silent at idle with this setting in 2 1/2 minutes the temp rose from 42C to 72C.

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My conclusions:

1) I don't mind higher gaming temps but 80C at idle doesn't make sense to me (it runs at about 76-77C at the stock clock settings). The ideal would be that the next Catalyst release would allow for a user configurable range of fan speeds on the automatic setting (or at least an adjustable "minimum" speed).

2) This wasn't a scientific test by any means, however the ATITool Artifact Scanner runs the GPU load at a constant 96-97% load. I'm sure that case temps etc may have induced variances of a C or two but this test was designed to be an average 'Joe User" look at what settings worked best for me.

3) At default and at the 30% setting the max temps were identical which tells me that the fan on automatic probably ramps up to about that setting even under load (and it still stays pretty quiet). I don't think I would MANUALLY set the fan much lower as the fan won't speed up if needed in manual mode and you might toast the card with an all night gaming session. but at 30% even if you forget to switch profiles you should be safe (for grins I ran the tool for an hour on 30% and the loaded temp pegged at 89-90C).

4) The more I play with this card the more I like it.

[DMB2000uk]

Glad you are happy with your card.

If I ever got one it'd be straight under an aftermarket cooler. Having said that, mine would be straight under water, but if i didn't have water on it then it would be under an aftermarket cooler

Dan