AMD HD Radeon 7950

[Craig]

Hello, a few days back I ordered the 7950, today it finally arrived and I put it all together with no problems.

Now, under full load on the GPU it is reaching up to 95C, is this normal? I am not even overclocking the card.
Wondering if this is meant to happen or not. It does seem VERY hot.

My other 7950 is running almost 30 degrees cooler than the other one..

 

[TheGeeza]

This is not what I would consider normal at all. Make sure the card has adequate room for cooling and make sure no cables are obstructing air flow. Does it have an aftermarket cooler? What are the temps like at idle? I assume the fans actually ramp up when on 100%?

 

[Craig]

This is what I would consider normal at all. Make sure the card has adequate room for cooling and make sure no cables are obstructing air flow. Does it have an aftermarket cooler?

It's just the PowerColor from PCSpecialist, so I take it that it doesn't.

How much degrees would that take off?

 

[keynes]

My other 7950 is running almost 30 degrees cooler than the other one..

crossfire? are the temps during gaming? what case do you have?

 

[Craig]

crossfire? are the temps during gaming? what case do you have?

I have the Antec 902, yes while gaming, while farming litecoins, benchmarking, anything under full load. I'm setting the fan to 100% but it makes no difference in keeping it below 95C.

Which aftermarket cooler would you recommend if any? (this would void the warranty, no?)
It is not in crossfire.

 

[TheGeeza]

Normally some cards are purchased with aftermarket coolers installed so I would not recommend tampering with the card at all. Is it the top card that is getting hot? Might be worth just running it on its own to see if it still gets to 95C. If it does then there could be something wrong with it.

 

[tom_gr7]

yes removing the cooler will probably void the warranty. Check with PCS and Powercolor before you remove the heatsink.

Also, you said the cards are in crossfire, is this the bottom card or the top?

 

[Craig]

yes removing the cooler will probably void the warranty. Check with PCS and Powercolor before you remove the heatsink.

Also, you said the cards are in crossfire, is this the bottom card or the top?

it's not in crossfire.

The top card, it won't fit inside of my case any other way.
the other card slightly overhangs the other PCI-e slot if its at the top..

 

[TheGeeza]

So you have an identical card that runs 30C cooler? Probably best to contact who you bought it from and consider replacing the card. I know the 7000 series runs hot but 95C doesn't seem right at all. Does the fan actually ramp up when set to 100%?

 

[tom_gr7]

it's not in crossfire.

The top card, it won't fit inside of my case any other way.
the other card slightly overhangs the other PCI-e slot if its at the top..

sorry, I don't follow.

Are both cards installed in the same rig?

 

[Craig]

So you have an identical card that runs 30C cooler? Probably best to contact who you bought it from and consider replacing the card. I know the 7000 series runs hot but 95C doesn't seem right at all.

Not an identical card, it's the sapphire 7950 though.
Cooling does seem quite a bit of an issue on the powercolor 7950's so far from what I am seeing on google. . as well as most brands of R9 280x

sorry, I don't follow.

Are both cards installed in the same rig?

Yes but I don't have the crossfire device installed atm (the bit which connects them)

 

[TheGeeza]

If it has the reference cooler then the temps should be quite similar. Seems unusual unless powercolour used a poorly designed custom PCB that runs hotter. Still might be worth just installing the overheating one in the system on its own to see if it runs cooler. Could just be heating up because of the other card.

 

[tom_gr7]

have you got any pictures so we can see what we are looking at?

 

[Craig]

The fan is definitely running, it's reading 4900 RPM on hardware monitor, I took the other card out and still have the same issue.
Hope someone can give me some advice.

 

[TheGeeza]

I would contact the place you got the card from and consider replacing the card. At those temperatures the card really won't last long.

 

[mishra]

Your card should not be reaching such temps! Something is not right. Look at this link:
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/radeon-hd-7950-review-benchmark,3207-10.html

 

[Craig]

I read about it, and it seems that maybe the VRM is dead or faulty, I will be calling PCS up and arranging an RMA(if they have any more 7950 in stock) or a refund..

VRM temps are both reading hot, WELL above normal! 97C and 103C.