HD7970 Cooling Options

TheJordanator_ · April 10, 2016

Hi,

I am new to forums so please be nice

I was given a computer about a month ago, and am worried about my GPU temps (Its an HD7970 Sapphire Reference). I am amazed by this card, this thing came out in 2011 but can somehow run the Witcher 3 very near Ultra and it never dips below 50 fps. Good stuff. However the temperature of the card is nowhere near as amazing - going easily above 90 degrees Celsius with the default settings and still getting to hot for my liking - roughly 85 degrees Celsius with a custom fan curve in MSI.

As for noise, it sounds like there is a constipated, dying cat stuck inside of my computer.

I would like my GPU to run cooler and quieter - but I am new to the PC Master race and am unsure on how to go about this. Here are a couple of options I have explored so far with links, pros and cons:

Aftermarket fan cooling: https://www.arctic.ac/worldwide_en/accelero-xtreme-9959.html

PROS: Apparently vastly reduced noise, and lower temperatures

CONS: There appear to be a lot of people complaining about this product, with mostly a 50/50 divide between rating this 5 stars or rating it 1 star. Also thermal glue is permanent and this product seems hard to install. There are other options for this category, but most of them are not being sold anymore.

Aftermarket water cooling: Haven't looked into this because the cost seems too steep for me - a poor 15 year old with no job

Modding the sucker: http://www.overclock.net/t/1420693/raedon-hd-7970-custom-air-cooling-mod

PROS: Seems that people are happy with what they do to the card in this respect - reduced noise and temps. Also - cheap!

CONS: I would have no idea where to start and would have to say that I have no idea weather this would be the best option or not - this is why I am here.

Does anyone have any ideas as to what to do here? I don't have a very big budget but at a stretch I could probably get that arctic cooler - just seems pretty dodgy. Are my temps fine? When should I be getting worried in terms of temps? Has anyone had the same issue as me?

Any help would be much appreciated.

Enderman · April 10, 2016

check if the kraken G10 fits it, it probably does

then just use a cheap AIO

TheJordanator_ · April 10, 2016

Thanks for the reply Enderman, I did some looking and it appears that it does fit onto my card. Now I just need a water cooler and some low profile heatsinks because apparently the Kraken G10 doesn't cool the vrm. Also - it appears I will need a shim.

Any suggestions on those two parts? I never knew that something like the Kraken G10 existed. What a fantastic idea.

RefurBuilds · April 10, 2016

Arctic products are trully good. They are very quiet and very long lasting. Don't now about the low reviews. And for instalation, how it can be hard? If you can to build your own PC, you have all the skills not to struggle w/o the manual... And if you use the manual anyone can do it...

For AMD 7970 we use https://www.arctic.ac/eu_en/accelero-xtreme-iv-280-x.html

And for GTX 680 https://www.arctic.ac/eu_en/accelero-twin-turbo-iii.html

The downside of xTreme IV is: sagging, meaning the card will lose it straight shape, thus additional support is needed.

Also never had to change fans, had an issue with one of Twin Turbo III that had a some serviceable fan at low speeds.

I never recommend using some sort of "home remedy" or buying an adapter an AIO WC kit, that is and looks plainly stupid to me. If water cooling only custom loops, even the modular ones from EK don't suit me... But hey it is just me