XFX Double D 7950 issues

D

derpentine

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Aug 15, 2012
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Hey everybody. So I just received this http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150616 XFX Radeon 7950. It's a newer revision with the 7970 pcb and 8+6 pin power. Problem is it's running hot and the fans are loud as shit and it keeps ramping them up. At about 75F ambient it's idling anywhere from 55-60C. Load usually from 85-90C. All the reviews seem to state this card is very cool. Now I've read the thread about removing the cooler and reapplying TIM. Thing is I just got it yesterday from amazon, I can still return it but I'd rather see if I can get it working right.

Reasons why:
1) this card is now out of stock and I have no other gpu
2) could just be a useless number but the chip has 92% ASIC quality and runs stock at 0.99v (which I think is a good thing?).

So how is Amazon's return policy? Is it worth opening up to reapply TIM or should I just send it back and get the MSI, which is the only other in this price range? I'm just over thinking here but wanted to hear from people who've used this card and / or have experience with Amazon returns.

Thanks.
 
Amazon returns are painless and you will receive a return shipping label at no cost to you.

Regarding your card, what sort of case cooling do you have? Are you overclocking/overvolting? How is your cable management in your case?

We need more info!
 
Ah shit forgot sorry! I forgot all about cooling as it didn't even cross my mind. I have a Corsair 300R https://i.minus.com/iblLHlh18A9qWT.JPG, cable management is pretty good. My old Asus DC 6870 ran around 40c idle and around 70c load. I was expecting this card to run a bit cooler but it's hot. I can't even overclock it's that hot. If I go about 950/1400 and play BF3 within 20 minutes the fans are at 100% trying to cool 90C.

As for amazon, the only reason I'm worried about returns is XFX has the void if removed stickers on top of two of the screws holding the cooler on.

Edit: Here's what I'm talking about https://i.minus.com/ibm0LVUo9CEZbT.png If I use OCCT it will climb to 95C and keep going if I don't stop it. Also apparently 1.1v is max for this chip, even though reference stock voltage is somewhere around there.
 
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derpentine said:
Ah shit forgot sorry! I forgot all about cooling as it didn't even cross my mind. I have a Corsair 300R https://i.minus.com/iblLHlh18A9qWT.JPG, cable management is pretty good. My old Asus DC 6870 ran around 40c idle and around 70c load. I was expecting this card to run a bit cooler but it's hot. I can't even overclock it's that hot. If I go about 950/1400 and play BF3 within 20 minutes the fans are at 100% trying to cool 90C.

As for amazon, the only reason I'm worried about returns is XFX has the void if removed stickers on top of two of the screws holding the cooler on.

Edit: Here's what I'm talking about https://i.minus.com/ibm0LVUo9CEZbT.png If I use OCCT it will climb to 95C and keep going if I don't stop it. Also apparently 1.1v is max for this chip, even though reference stock voltage is somewhere around there.
Click to expand...

That is a pretty clean setup. If you have venting or a fan on the panel that u took off then it does sound odd that it's running that hot.

EDIT:

To give you an idea.

My XFX 7770 is running at 41C.
GPU Clock 1200
Memory Clock 1150
Fan speed is 20%
 
Sounds like you have a bad card as there is NO way it should be running that hot even with a modest overclock.

I would send it back right away!
 
I played a bit of BF3 last night, at stock speed it gets up to about 75C which isn't bad, but like I said anytime I go near overclocking it, especially the voltage, the temp skyrockets. I mainly don't understand why the default voltage is so low at 0.99v load, and I can only go up to 1.1v. Sounds like I'm gonna return it. Can anyone recommend another 7950, that is cool, quiet and a good overclocker? It seems the Gigabyte Windforce and MSI Frozr are the only other two at this price. Any thoughts?

Thanks

EDIT: Just noticed a vibration coming from the card, looks like one of the fans is either loose or on it's way out already. I tightened everything up, nothing was loose though. So maybe it's that making the card so hot. Either way, holy shit XFX how long have they been making these cards and they still have build quality issues like this. This card has the lifetime warranty too. I've never had a problem with any card in my days, especially a high end one such as this. Even my BFG Geforce 4 Ti lives on.
 
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I have the MSI Frozr 7950 and it hits a high of 67c with mild overclocking and no voltage bump while gaming.
 
Sounds like a bad card.

I have the XFX 7850 Black Edition with the same DD cooler.
I'm getting about 45C at 42% fan speed (990mV undervolted through TriXX).

derpentine said:
EDIT: Just noticed a vibration coming from the card, looks like one of the fans is either loose or on it's way out already. I tightened everything up, nothing was loose though. So maybe it's that making the card so hot. Either way, holy shit XFX how long have they been making these cards and they still have build quality issues like this. This card has the lifetime warranty too. I've never had a problem with any card in my days, especially a high end one such as this. Even my BFG Geforce 4 Ti lives on.
Click to expand...

I posted about the buzzing sound in a separate thread that no one answered. I figured it out. It is coming from the red bar vibrating against the copper heatpipe. I unscrewed the bar, bent it a little to make it a slightly convex and no longer touch the heatpipe and that fixed the noise.
 
Back when those cards went on sale a month or so ago there was a couple of people complaining about the same issue. I think that one guy said that reseating the cooler helped. Might be worth a shot.
 
rastaban said:
Sounds like a bad card.

I have the XFX 7850 Black Edition with the same DD cooler.
I'm getting about 45C at 42% fan speed (990mV undervolted through TriXX).



I posted about the buzzing sound in a separate thread that no one answered. I figured it out. It is coming from the red bar vibrating against the copper heatpipe. I unscrewed the bar, bent it a little to make it a slightly convex and no longer touch the heatpipe and that fixed the noise.
Click to expand...

Are those load temps?! I know it's a 7850 but still that's coool. I took the red bar off but the card still vibrates when I tap it, perhaps that's just the fans. I guess I'll try and reset the cooler. Are there any special instructions for this or just pop all the screws on the back off? And again the only thing I'm worried about is if I reseat it, it's still hot and I return it to Amazon if they'll notice / care since there's two stickers over the screws.
 
derpentine said:
Are those load temps?! I know it's a 7850 but still that's coool. I took the red bar off but the card still vibrates when I tap it, perhaps that's just the fans. I guess I'll try and reset the cooler. Are there any special instructions for this or just pop all the screws on the back off? And again the only thing I'm worried about is if I reseat it, it's still hot and I return it to Amazon if they'll notice / care since there's two stickers over the screws.
Click to expand...

Sorry, those are idle temps using stock Black Edition speeds.
I actually normally run the card at 430 core, 625 vram, 835mV. It's 64F outside now (much cooler than earlier) and with the card underclocked and undervolted, I'm getting 35C @ 36% fan speed on a single 1280x1024 monitor.

At max OC of 1204/1505 @ 1.213V, I'm hitting 64C @ 73% fan speed running 3DMark11. This is using a custom fan curve through TriXX.

I really think you have a defective card...
 
Ah for sure. Even so those are good temps. I'm torn. I don't know I have the card sitting here, I can pop some new TIM on it, or just ship it out tomorrow. It's just gonna suck not having a GPU for a week. I suppose that's a complete and utter first world problem though :p
 
lol. I was in a similar boat last week. I sold my 5870 and shipped it out while my 7850 got stuck in Labor Day weekend shipping. I say just send it back.

btw, my ASIC score is a measly 71%....
 
rastaban said:
lol. I was in a similar boat last week. I sold my 5870 and shipped it out while my 7850 got stuck in Labor Day weekend shipping. I say just send it back.

btw, my ASIC score is a measly 71%....
Click to expand...

Yea I gotcha. I just sold my 6870 and had this one next dayed here. Oh well. I guess I'll pick up the Gigabyte windforce as it seems to be the quietest/coolest. I wish I could get the sapphire cards but they're all $380+ on amazon. Anyone know if they price match newegg?
 
rastaban said:
Why can't you buy from Newegg? is your region taxed? mine is :(....I way overpaid for my R7850 DD BE...255 shipped from TigerDirect, but they didn't have it anywhere else.

This Sapphire (ref clocks) is a decent price: http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=3526764&CatId=7387

And if you're willing to risk it again with XFX, here is the DD Black Edition: http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=1917605&CatId=7387
Click to expand...

I get taxed and they don't have free shipping. Where as I have amazon prime and they don't have tax so it's super convenient. I want http://www.amazon.com/Sapphire-PCI-Express-version-Graphics-11196-10-40G/dp/B0082D58P4/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1347328286&sr=8-2&keywords=sapphire+7950 that one with the 6+8, it's 329 on newegg but with tax and shipping it's about the same price as amazon.

And as for XFX, honestly this thing gets really loud after 50% fan and even if it was seated properly the cooler design doesn't seem that great. Don't get me wrong it's a beautiful card but after this debacle not so sure about XFX.
 
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I jumped on the first $300 7950 XFX Double D deal Newegg had, and man the cooler sucked, it was loud, and ran hot. I'm not really surprised either, the same card died 3 days later, and literally my pc wouldn't boot with it in the PCI slot....
 
rastaban said:
lol. I was in a similar boat last week. I sold my 5870 and shipped it out while my 7850 got stuck in Labor Day weekend shipping. I say just send it back.

btw, my ASIC score is a measly 71%....
Click to expand...



just because it is typical of my luck with getting rather NOT golden samples...and it is sort of funny

i for one would LOVE to be seeing 71% here is my new Sapphire 7950

are you kidding me 60.2% BAHAHAAHAHAHA :rolleyes:






mine is idling 45c and load temps are about 57c (stock)
 
atarione said:
just because it is typical of my luck with getting rather NOT golden samples...and it is sort of funny

i for one would LOVE to be seeing 71% here is my new Sapphire 7950

are you kidding me 60.2% BAHAHAAHAHAHA :rolleyes:
Click to expand...

hahaha wow not gonna lie, but 60.2% is the lowest I've seen on any of the forums thus far X-D

Sodapopjones said:
I jumped on the first $300 7950 XFX Double D deal Newegg had, and man the cooler sucked, it was loud, and ran hot. I'm not really surprised either, the same card died 3 days later, and literally my pc wouldn't boot with it in the PCI slot....
Click to expand...
Hmm, I'm going to hazard a guess and say that the Double D cooler is good enough for Pitcairn but not for Tahiti. I read that the cooler has relatively fewer fins vs other heatsinks, although mine seems to be relatively quiet.
 
rastaban said:
hahaha wow not gonna lie, but 60.2% is the lowest I've seen on any of the forums thus far X-D


Hmm, I'm going to hazard a guess and say that the Double D cooler is good enough for Pitcairn but not for Tahiti. I read that the cooler has relatively fewer fins vs other heatsinks, although mine seems to be relatively quiet.
Click to expand...

You probably aren't having to run 100% fan to keep it under 80c lol...
 
derpentine said:
Hey everybody. So I just received this http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150616 XFX Radeon 7950. It's a newer revision with the 7970 pcb and 8+6 pin power. Problem is it's running hot and the fans are loud as shit and it keeps ramping them up. At about 75F ambient it's idling anywhere from 55-60C. Load usually from 85-90C. All the reviews seem to state this card is very cool. Now I've read the thread about removing the cooler and reapplying TIM. Thing is I just got it yesterday from amazon, I can still return it but I'd rather see if I can get it working right.

Reasons why:
1) this card is now out of stock and I have no other gpu
2) could just be a useless number but the chip has 92% ASIC quality and runs stock at 0.99v (which I think is a good thing?).

So how is Amazon's return policy? Is it worth opening up to reapply TIM or should I just send it back and get the MSI, which is the only other in this price range? I'm just over thinking here but wanted to hear from people who've used this card and / or have experience with Amazon returns.

Thanks.
Click to expand...



XFX aint my favorite company right now... I have just bought a Sapphire 7950 because my XFX 6870 ate crap...they don't offer advanced rma at all... anyways I can't wait (i own one of the only Z68 motherboards w/out any onboard video ports ..DOH and had no extra video card.)

So i bought the 7950 and my wife will get the 6870 whenever XFX get's around to getting me a replacement (they received the RMA yesterday and as of now that is the only notice I have from them.

anyways my 6870 had stickers on the back over some of the screws that hold the bracket the gpu heatsink mounts to that read "void if removed"

my 6870 was loud and ran hot ever since i got it.

it maybe that if you reseated the cooler it will be a good card but if you just got it in a basically defective state I wouldn't mess with it. especially if you got it from amazon i'd just rma it.


despite having a laughably (or cry... one of the two :)) low ASIC score of 60.2% ...my sapphire HD7950 has been very quiet basically inaudible at idle and unobtrusive at load...while staying about 57C @ load in a warm room 27C ..blah


I think you should just return it...i don't see any reason to risk voiding your warranty for XFX's crappy QA.
 
atarione said:
XFX aint my favorite company right now... I have just bought a Sapphire 7950 because my XFX 6870 ate crap...they don't offer advanced rma at all... anyways I can't wait (i own one of the only Z68 motherboards w/out any onboard video ports ..DOH and had no extra video card.)

So i bought the 7950 and my wife will get the 6870 whenever XFX get's around to getting me a replacement (they received the RMA yesterday and as of now that is the only notice I have from them.

anyways my 6870 had stickers on the back over some of the screws that hold the bracket the gpu heatsink mounts to that read "void if removed"

my 6870 was loud and ran hot ever since i got it.

it maybe that if you reseated the cooler it will be a good card but if you just got it in a basically defective state I wouldn't mess with it. especially if you got it from amazon i'd just rma it.


despite having a laughably (or cry... one of the two :)) low ASIC score of 60.2% ...my sapphire HD7950 has been very quiet basically inaudible at idle and unobtrusive at load...while staying about 57C @ load in a warm room 27C ..blah


I think you should just return it...i don't see any reason to risk voiding your warranty for XFX's crappy QA.
Click to expand...

I hear you, from all the reading I've done it seems commonplace. I'm just surprised that the only company with the lifetime warranty has been dropping the ball and shitting the bed for quite some time now. My old Asus DirectCU 6870 was a dream, I'd love to get their 7950 but it's too expensive. But to update everyone I'm shipping back the XFX tomorrow, and will probably pick up the Gigabyte Windforce as I've heard it's the quietest and coolest. It was between that or the MSI but I've heard that's might loud as well. I do a lot of audio work so it's important the card be pretty quiet. And as long as I can get the new card to 1100/1500 I'll be happy.
 
derpentine said:
I hear you, from all the reading I've done it seems commonplace. I'm just surprised that the only company with the lifetime warranty has been dropping the ball and shitting the bed for quite some time now. My old Asus DirectCU 6870 was a dream, I'd love to get their 7950 but it's too expensive. But to update everyone I'm shipping back the XFX tomorrow, and will probably pick up the Gigabyte Windforce as I've heard it's the quietest and coolest. It was between that or the MSI but I've heard that's might loud as well. I do a lot of audio work so it's important the card be pretty quiet. And as long as I can get the new card to 1100/1500 I'll be happy.
Click to expand...

VisionTek has the lifetime warranty as well, as long as you register the card... Its not really something to buy a card by either....
 
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