MSI 7950 overheating and getting artifacts during mining

[testmonkey]

I just started mining and I am getting some overheating, as soon as I start cgminer, my gpu has 99% usage and the gpu fans go upto max, the temperature then slowly increases, it got to 76c then I turned it off.

I also appeared to be getting artifacts and my gpu isn't even overclocked.

Anyone else getting a popular like this or is this normal?


My Spec:
CPU -Intel i5 3570k
GPU - MSI 7950
RAM - 8GB 1600mhz
PSU - Seasonic Gamer Series 550w
Motherboard - Gigabyte Z77-D3H
HDD - Seagate Barracuda 500GB



This is the line of code that is in my 'start mining.bat' folder:

start /D "C:\Users\RB\Documents\cgminer-3.1.0-windows" cgminer.exe -o http://api.bitcoin.cz:8332 -u *REMOVED* -p *REMOVED* -I 5 -d 0 --temp-target 55 --auto-fan --gpu-memclock 300



I originally had I at 10 but was told to decrease it to see whether that would decrease the temperature and GPU usage.

[Malawi]

Think you need to upgrade Catalyst. (I had artifacts around my window-borders before upgrading)

I have two 7950's in two different machines. I use --intensity 6 and 7 (one is in a colder room)
They both mine at around 75 celsius.

Have not played around much with the setting, but it seems weird that it gets that hot when you have a temp-target.

[testmonkey]

Think you need to upgrade Catalyst. (I had artifacts around my window-borders before upgrading)

I have two 7950's in two different machines. I use --intensity 6 and 7 (one is in a colder room)
They both mine at around 75 celsius.

Have not played around much with the setting, but it seems weird that it gets that hot when you have a temp-target.

Are your fans on max? and is it good for the GPU to have fans max and gpu usage max?

EDIT: My Catalyst control center is version 13.1

[Malawi]

My fans are at around 50-60%

The fans wear out more quickly when they run at full throttle, and you use quite a bit of power for the last bit of ooomph.

I think the best thing is to keep the temp stable, and feel comfortable with them at around 75 degrees. Some run them hotter and some run them colder. The thing that is most likely to destroy the cards are very high temps or large variations in temperatures. At very high temps you might destroy components and with large variations you might get poor connections.

BTW: Had a computer once that would not work properly until it was hot enough, most likely because some connections were poor/cracked and the metal had to expand enough to get proper connections.

[testmonkey]

My fans are at around 50-60%

The fans wear out more quickly when they run at full throttle, and you use quite a bit of power for the last bit of ooomph.

I think the best thing is to keep the temp stable, and feel comfortable with them at around 75 degrees. Some run them hotter and some run them colder. The thing that is most likely to destroy the cards are very high temps or large variations in temperatures. At very high temps you might destroy components and with large variations you might get poor connections.

BTW: Had a computer once that would not work properly until it was hot enough, most likely because some connections were poor/cracked and the metal had to expand enough to get proper connections.

why do my fans need to be so high to keep it a 70c and my intensity is only 3 and I am still getting artefacts, do you think I should send it back, is it a faulty card?

[Malawi]

My fans are at around 50-60%

The fans wear out more quickly when they run at full throttle, and you use quite a bit of power for the last bit of ooomph.

I think the best thing is to keep the temp stable, and feel comfortable with them at around 75 degrees. Some run them hotter and some run them colder. The thing that is most likely to destroy the cards are very high temps or large variations in temperatures. At very high temps you might destroy components and with large variations you might get poor connections.

BTW: Had a computer once that would not work properly until it was hot enough, most likely because some connections were poor/cracked and the metal had to expand enough to get proper connections.

why do my fans need to be so high to keep it a 70c and my intensity is only 3 and I am still getting artefacts, do you think I should send it back, is it a faulty card?

What version is your catalyst center?

[testmonkey]

My fans are at around 50-60%

The fans wear out more quickly when they run at full throttle, and you use quite a bit of power for the last bit of ooomph.

I think the best thing is to keep the temp stable, and feel comfortable with them at around 75 degrees. Some run them hotter and some run them colder. The thing that is most likely to destroy the cards are very high temps or large variations in temperatures. At very high temps you might destroy components and with large variations you might get poor connections.

BTW: Had a computer once that would not work properly until it was hot enough, most likely because some connections were poor/cracked and the metal had to expand enough to get proper connections.

why do my fans need to be so high to keep it a 70c and my intensity is only 3 and I am still getting artefacts, do you think I should send it back, is it a faulty card?

What version is your catalyst center?

Catalyst Version - 13.1
2D Driver Version - 8.01.01.1278
Direct3D Version - 9.14.10.0945
OpenGL Version - 6.14.10.12002
Catalyst Control Center Version - 2012.1219.1521.27485

[Malawi]

upgrade to 13.5, think that might help.

[testmonkey]

ok, updating now, would it be best to update to 13.5 which is a beta driver or 13.4 which is a full release?

[Malawi]

ok, updating now, would it be best to update to 13.5 which is a beta driver or 13.4 which is a full release?

Hard to say. I went with 13.5, but 13.4 might work just as fine.

Think the fix was in 13.2, but not sure about that.

[testmonkey]

ok, updating now, would it be best to update to 13.5 which is a beta driver or 13.4 which is a full release?

Hard to say. I went with 13.5, but 13.4 might work just as fine.

Think the fix was in 13.2, but not sure about that.

now i am getting 70c and not 71c, but I am sure this will go back up. But I am not getting any artifacts as of yet.

[scifimike12]

Does your video card report VRM temps in GPU-Z?  Cause 76°C is nothing to worry about.

Try also running a benchmark app such as 3DMark (2013) or Unigine Heaven.  If it artifacts in either of those at stock then it is probably defective.

[testmonkey]

Does your video card report VRM temps in GPU-Z?  Cause 76°C is nothing to worry about.

Try also running a benchmark app such as 3DMark (2013) or Unigine Heaven.  If it artifacts in either of those at stock then it is probably defective.

temp doesn't bother me its that the gpu fan is running at max and it is so loud.

[scifimike12]

Is it a reference card like this?  http://www.msi.com/product/vga/R7950-2PMD3GD5.html

Or one of their Twin Frozr designs?  http://www.msi.com/product/vga/R7950-Twin-Frozr-3GD5.html

The reference cards are notorious for having loud fans.  My old PowerColor was the same and I eventually replaced it with an AIO liquid cooling solution.

[testmonkey]

Is it a reference card like this?  http://www.msi.com/product/vga/R7950-2PMD3GD5.html

Or one of their Twin Frozr designs?  http://www.msi.com/product/vga/R7950-Twin-Frozr-3GD5.html

The reference cards are notorious for having loud fans.  My old PowerColor was the same and I eventually replaced it with an AIO liquid cooling solution.

its twin frozr

[computerparts]

Does your video card report VRM temps in GPU-Z?  Cause 76°C is nothing to worry about.

Try also running a benchmark app such as 3DMark (2013) or Unigine Heaven.  If it artifacts in either of those at stock then it is probably defective.

this