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Hi, I noticed the temperature increased on one of my XFX 7970's from 70 degrees C to 80 all of a sudden.

When I examined the card, one of the fans was only just about spinning - very slowly. Needless to say I have powered down that pc - but I thought I would ask for advice here as this must have happened to a few of you guys.

Thanks

Have you tried XFX support? They're slow but they did reply to my ticket with the same issue and offer to send a replacement fan unit.

I'm assuming you've already taken canned air/air compressor to it to clean it out, reset the fan power connectors if you haven't already. I would get a warranty claim going on the card if you can, as if it's the bearing in the fan you'll have to replace the HSF with an aftermarket cooler if you don't go through the MFG. Sometimes you can get the bearing unstuck by just turning the fan a few times to free it up, but the bearing is usually still going bad and should be replaced in this case.

Yes done that - waiting for a response with a ticket open. I also raised it with amazon since the seller refused to reply to me emails and will likely soon get a refund.

But it seems such a waste (even if I get my money back) to not even try to fix the card...

I haven't done anything as yet - so canned air compressor to clean it out - will do thanks. It's only 3 months old btw. I did turn the fan manually and felt no obvious resistance so it could also be the power connectors - thanks for that too. Will update later.

You can also try moving the fan while it has power to it (sometimes this is what will free up the bearing), but if it still doesn't free up with power on, power the unit back off. As for it being a waste, the MFG will simply replace the HSF and resell the card as a refurbished, so it wont completely go to waste (or they will use it as a RMA replacement for another card that went completely dead). It is annoying that something as little as a cheap bearing can cause the frustration, though. :)

Ok, I took it out and now I noticed that the fan does have a resistance to spinning - the good fan spins for ages when I give it a flick but the bad fan comes to a stop very quickly (1 or 2 revs). I air blew it and it made no difference so it looks like your call for the bearing being broke is correct. Pity I can't replace the fan myself.

Guess I'll wait for a refund from amazon, then carry on with the XFX support ticket and see if I can get it replaced - thanks green/john - saved me loads of googling.

Welcome to the world of 100% fan running haha. Yeah, I have burned out my fair share of fans.  If you do not keep them cleaned and oiled with routine maintenance they will burn out the bearings.  I have a 5830 that I burned the fan out on because I mined with it for months straight with the fan at 100%.  Now, I have a 92mm Delta fan zip tied to it keeping it cool (after taking off the stock fan).

If you cant get one from XFX, you can pick up an aftermarket heatsink and fan from someone like Zalman or Arctic Cooling.

No problem. Good luck in whatever path you go down.

This one?

http://lanoc.org/images/reviews/XFX_blackedition_7970/image_19.jpg

Doing a solid for a newbie....

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=250788.msg2663496#msg2663496 (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=250788.msg2663496#msg2663496)

Yes

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B006VX52Q2/ref=oh_details_o01_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Same issues for me, same card.
The fan near the  VGA connector got almost stuck (while the other even now is still OK).
I had to lube it and for a while seemed OK but soon enough it started to wobble and got stuck again.
At a close inspection I noticed the axle was seriously eroded.

The only thing I can do is lube it periodically (and yeah, I ordered a replacement).

Yeah same fan - near the VGA connector - so you still mine with it running at a higher temp?

[EDIT] XFX support got back to me saying I should raise it with the re-seller - I told them my emails were ignored and asked whether the manufacturers guarantee will cover me - will update

I think the fan is failing because is the one just above the GPU and very close to radiator.
Probably due to intense heat the cheap plastic is getting softer, the axle is then not stiff enough and starts to wobble accelerating the damage.

It seems to be somehow better now that I undervolted the card (less heat).

Update:

Refund came through from amazon so now I'm left with a semi working card - XFX state they don't offer manufacturers warranty (cos they sell them so cheap) and besides I have already been refunded - any ideas what to do with this card that still works with one fan?

Decided to auction it - seems a waste - it can still mine - maybe someone can use it

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=253156.msg2693601#msg2693601

This is a late reply, but my advice to anyone having this problem would be to figure out a way to fix it yourself. I went the RMA route with an MSI card and ended up being down a graphics card for 6 months. Process was ridiculously slow and the first replacement they sent me was DOA.

Good luck with sale, I'm sure someone can use it.

I can second this. Had many fans fail on XFX 5870s. The RMA process is a nightmare and in the end the supplier refused to give back the cards and refunded only 40% of the original price. :S

They had only fan failures otherwise working ok. For the last few I managed to order fans, but it was a pain to get the proper ones.

Hello
I repaired a 7850, it only cost me U$D 20, and now is super silent, and extremely cool.
I used Arctic F8 Fans.

check second post (with pictures): https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=256311.0 (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=256311.0)

So I had the same problem with my XFX 7950( 3months old). I contacted XFX support and they offered to send me a replacement fan to do myself or send it in for them to do it.  If I f-up doing myself, warranty is voided. They stated its easy, just need phillips and thermal paste.  Im pretty good with tinkering in electronics.  Any advice on which route to take?  Can I seriously f-up this unit by just replacing the cooler?  Any advice would be appreciated.

It's pretty hard to screw up a HSF install. I have been building PCs for 16+ years, though, so I'm a bit biased. Thermal paste + a screwdriver set is usually all you need, along with some isopropyl alcohol to clean off the contact surfaces. Google HSF install and I'm sure you'll find plenty examples of how they are done (it may not be on a GPU, but the concept/method is the same as a CPU).

Ok, so I successfully installed the new fan with a thin layer of artic silver on GPU, after cleaning it thoroughly of previous thermal paste.  The fan works great only one issue, my card resets when it gets to about 70C now.  Previously, I ran it at 20 intensity, and now I can only run it continuously at 11.  Any ideas why this is happening?  I read the artic silver has a break in time, is this what is causing the gpu to reset??  Any ideas how to fix issue?

Yes, Arctic Silver does have a break-in time, just like most other high performance thermal pastes.
However, that should only be good for 1 or 2 degrees celcius and usually takes about a week. It really should get some thermal cycles (couple hours on, couple hours off) during that time for optimum efficiency.

The card may have gotten a shock of static discharge while you were handling it. If you were on socks walking over carpet, it may have happened.
This often does not kill a piece of hardware instantly, but can cause it to be a little unstable at full load.

It may also be that the cooler hasn't been secured tightly enough and it overheats because it cannot get rid of all the heat.
The cooler should be perfectly flat on the GPU. Also, the memory patches should also make contact to the cooler. They definately need proper cooling and will cause issues like you described when this is not the case.

This. It sounds like the cooler isn't quite seated properly.

What happens when you run at higher intensity?

You get much higher Hashrates, but it also couses more heat.
I havent seen much power draw increase with a higher intensity so it is worth to set it as high as possible, but beware, you cant really use your computer at 20...

i have 2 x 7950  xfx with 2 fans,  1st that happened is that 1 fan on 1 card died, soon after 2nd died too, i bought accelero extreme and replaced cooler on that one. 1 week later , 1 fan on my other card also died, i got pissed coz i couldnt find another accelero 7970 in shops, so i sent it in service with warranty. both cards are about 3months old, and fan was at fixed 80% power.

long story short, avoid xfx cards if u dont want to buy them new coolers.

cheers

I don't agree.  I have four that I mined with.  Only one had bad fans, I did the online RMA and they sent fans (I did not send in card) within 9 days.  These cards cost me less to buy then most, so they paid off more quickly.   XFX warranty service is not super fast, but they came through for me. 

I suppose you have them in a proper colder environment?
What I can say about these cards is that they are pretty good with cooling and noise up to a certain temperature.
Past that point they fail badly while others (blower type) keep going safely.

They could be very good gaming cards, I believe. Cool and silent, exactly what you want in your gaming PC.

Yes.  They are bad for high density mining but ok when properly cooled.  Again, new they tend to be lower cost.  If I could get a reference card at the same price I would pick the reference.  As a single gaming card they work well and are quieter.