6870 at >80C when folding

[Windrunner]

I grabbed a Radeon 6870 when they were on sale for $160 a few months ago. It's awesome, it's handling my 2 monitors better than my 9800GTX+, but it never drops out of performance mode.

One of the reasons I got it was to use to fold. It told me this was a very bad idea very quickly - it got up to 85C which prompted me to move my case and add in a side 120MM fan (Antec 1200, 3x120MM in, 2x120MM out, 1x250MM upward exhaust). This dropped its load temp by 2-5 degrees C.

I'm not certain it's safe to leave this card alone while under load (and I can't afford to replace it yet as I intend to do a major build between late summer to mid fall). What's a 6870 rated to handle?

[uddarts]

looks to be normal according to this.


http://www.techspot.com/review/325-a...70/page10.html



ud

[Windrunner]

Hmm, I'm less concerned now. I still don't like it because I have a grotesque amount of airflow but if it's normal I'll deal with it.

[uddarts]

with my nvidia cards, i use msi afterburner to manually max the fan rpm.

http://www.softpedia.com/get/Tweak/V...erburner.shtml

ud

[Will889]

I use RivaTuner to ramp up fan speeds (if needed) on my own HD6870's ..

[JoshMST]

AMD and NV essentially design their chips to run in the 90s. I think NV even tests them to make sure they run at spec at 105C. Not that I would run my card anywhere near 105C mind... But yeah, 85C is well within parameters for a reference design.

[richardd43]

I finally quit worrying about my Temps.

If I am gaming and I have a problem then I will turn on the temp monitor.

Almost all of the new cards are thermal protected so why worry about it, just enjoy.

[Will889]

Yup