SAPPHIRE 7950. low fan speed (suddenly)

[Thracian]

A 10 months old SAPPHIRE 7950/3mb card has suddenly decided to slow down the fans!
They're both working (rotating) but even at 100% fixed, they're giving barely 2500 RPM instead of the usual 3000+ (I don't remember exactly).

As a test, after setting manually the fan at 50% they were around 1200 RPM. Of course the card is overheating and I set her back to 925 Mhz core, 1250 mem, just to run at 71 degrees C.

Any thoughts? Has someone had the same experience?


PS: Fan noise is also much lower now

[dimke_yu]

Hi this is standard issue on many graphic cards especially on Sapphire. You can send it on warranty but you will be without card for a period of time. My solution was to disassemble the card and fans and then clean it properly and add some good oil for guns in place where the axle is.

[Gazza1]

They are getting ready to die.  Expect the bearings to start making noise soon.  Sapphire fans are complete and utter shit.

Every single one of my Sapphire video cards fans have died before 1 year of use.  They might last longer if you run at lower speed.

[rograz]

Sapphire fans are complete and utter shit.

I have 20x old sapphire 5850 xtreme that has been running for 3 years soon and 1 of the fans has died so far. Avoid dust and having to run them at high RPM and most fans will last longer than you expect.

[Gazza1]

Sapphire fans are complete and utter shit.

I have 20x old sapphire 5850 xtreme that has been running for 3 years soon and 1 of the fans has died so far. Avoid dust and having to run them at high RPM and most fans will last longer than you expect.

Maybe they are skimping out on their newer models.  Every one of the fans on all my 7970s started dieing within 9 months.  They only ran full speed for about 4 months which was during summer.  No dust here.  It's ok though I just replaced them with much better and faster ones.    And I am still in the works of getting a better setup location for the rigs for allowing more efficient cooling at lower fan speeds.

[SheepOnDrugs]

Hi this is standard issue on many graphic cards especially on Sapphire. You can send it on warranty but you will be without card for a period of time. My solution was to disassemble the card and fans and then clean it properly and add some good oil for guns in place where the axle is.

Do you know how long it usually takes?

[Thracian]

THANKS EVERYONE!

Well unfortunately oiling is not possible on my 7950,
cause there's no access to the axle,
the same problem as in the link with the photos provided in another answer.

Does anyone know where I can buy 2 replacement fans? (inside the E.U. preferably).

Hi this is standard issue on many graphic cards especially on Sapphire. You can send it on warranty but you will be without card for a period of time. My solution was to disassemble the card and fans and then clean it properly and add some good oil for guns in place where the axle is.

[Soros Shorts]

I am not sure which Sapphire 7950 you are talking about, but on mine the fan can be pulled off from the rest of the motor if you use enough force. This exposes the axle which you can clean and oil. Then you snap the fan back into the motor. I have a special extractor tool that can grip on to the center of the fan without touching/breaking the blades, but you should be able to pry the fan off with a screwdriver if you are careful.

[Thracian]

It's the model shown disassembled here:

http://www.overclockersclub.com/reviews/sapphire_hd7950_flex_dualx/2.htm

I pulled the blades by hand, to the point that I thought the whole system would break,
It just didn't want to separate. I don't wanna go past destruction point.

Are we talking about the same fans ?

I am not sure which Sapphire 7950 you are talking about, but on mine the fan can be pulled off from the rest of the motor if you use enough force. This exposes the axle which you can clean and oil. Then you snap the fan back into the motor. I have a special extractor tool that can grip on to the center of the fan without touching/breaking the blades, but you should be able to pry the fan off with a screwdriver if you are careful.

[dimke_yu]

Or you can do something like this. Axle snaped during the mining. Then I bought Sunon 12V Axial Fan 10W which has about 2600-3000 rpm. Very nice power. I found also stronger 12V fan http://www.nmbtc.com/pdf/dcfans/4715vl.pdf

https://www.dropbox.com/s/ru3fy718td4f84b/IMG_20140124_213501.jpg

Also card is now hashing at 72 degrees Celsius.