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What's the best 7970 out there that keeps things cool enough for a good overclock, and who's fans aren't as loud as the 6990s I used to have.

I know asking for good cooling at load and for them to be quiet is quite the request, but I just wanted to get an idea...

Thanks!
-EP

I have this one: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125439

I've always preferred reference coolers, as the main heatsink directly cools the VRMs, but I went with this one. I ended up putting little aluminum RAM heatsinks on the back of the VRMs, cuz they were getting too hot. That's the only issue I've had, and once I got past that, it's the best card I've ever owned!

I can overclock it to 1200MHz, even with my low ASIC quality. I normally run it at 1050MHz @ 1050mV, tho.

You can't hear the fan < 50%. I normally run it at 60-70%, and it keeps my core between 55-60C, and my VRMs around 65-76C, depending on ambient.

Thanks for the reply.  Yeah, I've been hearing good things about Gigabyte and MSI Lightning.  Voltage over/unders, memory downlocks, and good VRM cooling.

-EP

Gigabyte's been making some really good shit the past few years, GPUs or anything else. My brother's also got a Gigabyte 7770, factory OC to 1100MHz, and it's also rock solid, and very cool.

Something with double or triple fans

not only do the fans spin slower (so quieter) it gives you backup should a fan go down.

Use these:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102982&name=Desktop-Graphics-Cards


They are a reference PCB, but they have a better heatsink and quiet fans.  I have 25 of them and they all stay cool/quiet.  I would not recommend them if you're going to put them inside a case though (it'll be difficult to vent the heat).  If you're going to do that, stick with a reference cooler.

The Gigabyte cards and Powercolor cards that use 3 fans have their own proprietary method of sending fan RPM readings, so programs like CGMiner that read & control fan speed from ADL will give crazy readings for them (like this):



Also, most of the Gigabyte cards with "WINDFORCE" coolers (like the one above) use *very* cheap fans and they tend to lightly rub on the fan shroud.  The cooler is effective, but the fans are crap.  I was sick of dealing with it, so I sold all of mine (the Gigabyte cards).  They usually work fine if they're mounted upside down in an ATX case though.

My Gigabyte WINDFORCE Tri-fan doesn't have that issue. Cgminer correctly reports it as set to 70%, 3430RPM.

Wow thats a big GPU mining setup :) How do you do thermal management of your home?

I'm running a Gigabyte GV-R797OC-3GD and I've been happy with it. Topped out at about 1100 MHz on stock voltage. No problems regarding thermal management, but I'm running a good amount of case air flow. The video card is quieter than the case fans in my instance.

That's only a portion of it.  ;)  71Ghash total.

Maintaining thermal management without making it too hot/cold has been a learning experience.  :)  I've been doing it for about a year and a half now though.

That's epic my friend  :)

What memory settings are you using?  I can't seem to get mine below about 700...

Thanks!
-EP

This thread https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=111891.0 (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=111891.0)

Best cooled/quiet 7970 is a watercooled 7970 XD

MSI 7970 Lightning Edition

and it is also good for overclocking

I have 32 6970 Lightning Edition cards.  The heatsinks are fantastic and the card is made very *very* well.  That being said, the difference between that heatsink and the Sapphire card that I linked isn't very large.  It's not worth the extra $100 premium unless you plan on attempting some extreme overlocking.  I'd gladly put one in my machine for gaming and would certainly pay the extra money for it because the components are top-notch.  I wouldn't spend the extra money for mining though.

I paid the premium on the 6970s because Bitcoin was in a bubble.  They paid themselves off quickly.  With today's mining conditions and with dedicated ASICs around the corner, I wouldn't do it.

how many Gigahash do you have in total.

Scroll up like 4 posts.

sorry did not see that

I have this card as well. I run the fan at 90% and it is much less audible than the reference cooler. The only thing I don't like about the card is that you can't undervolt.

I was able to enable undervolting thru Win7 and MSI AB.

I have the MSI R7970 cards (three of them)

They have a doohickey that lets you overclock them more than some of the other cards. It's some sort of voltage smoother thing. They come from the factory at 1100MHz and I run them at up to 1190MHz without trouble. 720MHs per card at 1190MHz. 700Mhz at 1160 MHz.

I have an Antec 300, and I switched the 120mm fan that normally blows right onto the GPUs backwards, so it's pulling the hot air that gets recirculated out of the case. Actually does a decent job. These cards are way better in open air, but if you have to use a case, this is what worked best for me.

MSI or Gigabyte

NOT XFX, their cards have the shittest cooling solutions

+1

XFX do run hotter than any other card I've ever owned, but they have a better warranty than other cards if you live in the U.S..
Gigabyte has been doing awesome lately with their 3 fan solution.
Sapphire is also killing it with their 2 fan solution as well.
Both are also super quiet.

You most certainly can.

Oh yeh? I thought you were having the same problem as me. What did you have to do?

I would note that most MOSFETs are rated to 125-175C...  I haven't had any problems with stability with mine running between 90-100C

You just have to make sure the surrounding components don't get too hot, but if you have the fan on 100% it should be okay

Custom water cooling?

Although the cooling blocks tack on a fair amount of money.

Agreed. I could not run two XFX 6950s in adjacent slots without overheating.

What memory settings are you using?

Thanks!