Ramsinks/Heatsink query

[krthush]

I know this sounds horrible but I'm left with no choice. After buying a 7970 from XFX, which from all sources on the internet (including EKWB's checks) was a reference card, I found out (from XFX after I had opened it up to fit my w/b and gotten rid of the warranty) that they had changed the layout within a matter of months of people thinking it was a reference >.<... So, now I'm left with a card which I can't return (cos XFX is like that...) and so must resort to improvised cooling. Will putting loads of heat sinks on it suffice? I've linked images of what I've done so far, tell me if/or what I'm doing is alright?

(N.B. Soz for the poor quality images, only had a phone camera...)

 

[Perturabo]

Well it can be done yes, usually with the universal GPU blocks people just add passive heatsinks for the RAM. However is there any way XFX can tell that you have had the heatsink off? If you put it back nicely they will probably never notice.

 

[krthush]

Well, I talked to XFX, but they are kinda being annoying saying that they will not warrant any tampering with their card. Apparently they aren't happy with ppl water-cooling their cards... well that rules me out as a customer from them from now on... Imma just stick to Sapphire <3 for future cards. Also I think I mite have ruined a sticker when removing their fancy cooler, so they will spot that :S

 

[SuB]

That's a shame... I won't purchase from somewhere that won't allow you to re-tim the card..
You'd think if you had the aptitude to put in a CPU, they'd trust you to not screw up a GPU eh?

If you're cooling power with these sinks... I'm not really sure tbh But Ram should be fine, a lot of manufacturer's leave ram on the back side of the card bare don't forget... But the power phasing is the bit I'd be most worried about personally.

I guess it's a case of suck it and see... surely you can pull them up on the fact you bought the card based on it being reference, but it's not, therefore it's their fault/cost ?

 

[krthush]

Well I talked to them about it, and they were just like NO. Kept saying its not their fault EKWB said that it was reference, and its their right to change PCB without telling anyone XDD. Anyways ill try the heatsinks, but what is this about power phasing?

 

[Deejeta]

It is a shame about your waterblock situation. I was stung the same way. Assumed HIS's 7950 reference design was indeed an AMD reference design. Bought waterblock for a 79xx exactly like yours but it had the extension bit that goes over the chokes ( i assume that what you removed yeah)
Anyway the caps were in two rows instead of 1. Oh well, lesson learnt. Bought a ek block and its going great guns and has been for 6 months.

Heatsinks like what you have put on work surprisingly well given that there is adequate airflow inside the case. Just use adhesive tape and not the permanent heatsink epoxy.

Dont worry yourself about power phasing too much. MSI and Asus have added higher power phases to increase the overclocking headroom. Your card will be fine mate.

 

[krthush]

Thanks a million for the help so for guys, but one last question, is it alright to stick many heat-sinks together? Like I've done on the images. I thought it would provide more cooling.

 

[Perturabo]

From what I can tell from the pics it looks fine to me. I would put it in your rig and get it going under load. Then keep an eye on your GPU temps during a stress test and just touch the heat sinks one by one with your finger once it has been runnign under load for a while. If they dont feel uncomfortably hot then all is probably well. Not too scientific but workable

 

[krthush]

Thanks so much man . Ill be leak testing on monday when some of my other parts arrive, then a few days after I'll boot and see how it goes. But thanks a ton guys, I'd probs have ended up with a dead card without your help <3

 

[krthush]

Thanks guys for all the replies.

I've gone ahead and put the heat-sinks properly on the mosfets & etc. (not stacking them now of course). The PC works HOOZA! - writing from it right now . But I have one finally query, I'm a bit concerned i can't check the temps of the mosfets using inbuilt sensors as there are none - i.e. through any software. I'm pretty sure the card is stable since its been running fine, did minor stress tests on it, as well as played a few games on it. But now would it ever be possible for me to overclock this card safely? in that case how would i be sure of the temps? should i get an infrared gun?

(N.B. I thought I'd try the card without the fans, and it seems to be working fine... do I really need them?)

 

[Perturabo]

Which fans are we talking about? Case fans? If so leave at least a couple on. A bit of airflow is always good and is going to help keep those passive heatsinks working efficiently. Checking the temps is a bit of nightmare really, An infrared thermometer would work but I dont know how much they cost so its another outlay...Its a bit of an awkward situation really, sorry to be of little help here but I hope you manage to get it overclocked, shame not to with the headroom of a 7970.

 

[krthush]

Ive got about 11 case fans XDD^^ I know its ott, but its watercooled, and I've a push pull 360 rad . I meant extra fans, maybe attached to the case next to the PCIe slots, almost as if they were a generic card next to the graphics card.
Ill probs install the fans when I have got some time, but an infrared gun is only like £20, I might get it if I am going to OC the card later on.
Just ran 3D mark vantage and FurMark, they both ran fine without any artifacts or the PC shutting down.

 

[Perturabo]

Ah I see, well I guess it depends on how hot its getting. If its only £20 id say go for it and see how the temps are. For that price its the sort of gadget that could be useful for all sorts of things anyway Then you can decide if dedicated fans are needed or not. Glad to hear its working well and hope you can get it to some ludicrous OC in the near future

 

[krthush]

Yarp I've already got some fans laying around, so will use them anyways when I have the time to. Will OC after i get the Temp gun, and am sure with whether the water-cooling is running smoothly or not. Your right tho about the gun being useful in many ways . BTW thanks soooo much for all the help, has got me through finishing a good pc .

 

[krthush]

XDDDDD As fate may have it a problem to some degree has arisen... Basically its happened twice now: while doing things which are not graphically or cpu intensive at all... i.e. just surfin the web, my computer crashed with BLACK AND WHITE LINES... I wonder wats causing this problem? do i just ignore it? surely it can't be the graphics card... then why doesn't it happen when i run things like 3DmarkVantage and Furmark?!

 

[theDTP]

XDDDDD As fate may have it a problem to some degree has arisen... Basically its happened twice now: while doing things which are not graphically or cpu intensive at all... i.e. just surfin the web, my computer crashed with BLACK AND WHITE LINES... I wonder wats causing this problem? do i just ignore it? surely it can't be the graphics card... then why doesn't it happen when i run things like 3DmarkVantage and Furmark?!

First of all, I feel your pain as the exact same thing happened to me 2 weeks ago with my XFX 7950.

As for the black and white lines, I've found from experience that I get this when finding a stable memory clock, I got black and white lines at 1600MHz same at 1575, same at 1550, but was fine at 1525 so I dropped to 1500.
Oh and yes they was at random times also

Now if your memory clock is stock and it is doing this, I'd test the temperatures with a infrared thermometer or a USB temperature probe.

If it is the memory temperature (which it more than likely is, see THIS LINK of a XFX 7970 under load) then as you say you can't return the card, try and mount something like THIS to the memory.

 

[Mgutierrez33]

Yeah it seems like you would need at LEAST an infrared gun... even then though, that might not be the most accurate thing in the world to use. Strange that there is no built in temp sensors... even GPU-Z won't pick up the temps? If you can't read the temps I wouldn't do any sort of overclocking :-\