Keep an eye on VRM temperatures, they often get missed/forgotten about in the concern over Core temperature. Its the VRMs that cause 5970s incorrectly handled to burn out, as there is a very wide difference between core temps and VRM temperatures on a 5970. The 5970s have an inherent design issue that causes this, but does bare watching for in a 6970 (and upcoming 6990) until it becomes clear what the situation with the new design is.

I have no idea what the VRM temp way points are for a 6970, but for a 5970 they are:

Up to 100 degrees - ideal, usually core temps are around 75-80
Up to 110 degrees - tolerable, will be fine, watch for increases, core temps usually around 85-90
Up to 115 degrees - pushing your luck, need to back off, core temps usually 90+
115-120 degree - card life will drastically reduce, must cool further
120+ - card devolts, will burn out fairly quickly if run 7x24 at these temps

GPU-Z is a good one to use to monitor VRMs as well as core temps

Regards
Zy

The current GPU-Z doesn't show VRM temps. Therefore, the other variables are my only guide here:(. The question is that will it be possible to run 4x6970 with stock speeds of 880? Well, you will definitely need a cool room for that and considering these temps, i dont think a room temperature will be enough. Does anyone have any heat issues with 6970 crossfire?

.... The current GPU-Z doesn't show VRM temps.....

Yes it does - thats what the VDDC readings are. It maybe that it does not yet recognise 69xx - but VRM temps are a core function so doubt it will be long before it does for 69xx.

EDIT: Had a ferret over at GPU-Z, there is a hot-fix to add 6950 & 6970 support, came out 11 Dec and will be added formally on next release.

GPU-Z 6950 & 6970 Support - New exe file download

Regards
Zy

.... The current GPU-Z doesn't show VRM temps.....

Yes it does - thats what the VDDC readings are. It maybe that it does not yet recognise 69xx - but VRM temps are a core function so doubt it will be long before it does for 69xx.

EDIT: Had a ferret over at GPU-Z, there is a hot-fix to add 6950 & 6970 support, came out 11 Dec and will be added formally on next release.

GPU-Z 6950 & 6970 Support - New exe file download

Regards
Zy

Thanks mate. Here is the temps on 2x6970 crossfired at a constant room temperature of 25C running at 950 core & +20 power tune on both cores. The 1st gpu core=72C, VRM=80C. 2nd gpu core=64C,VRM=77C.

.... The current GPU-Z doesn't show VRM temps.....

Yes it does - thats what the VDDC readings are. It maybe that it does not yet recognise 69xx - but VRM temps are a core function so doubt it will be long before it does for 69xx.

EDIT: Had a ferret over at GPU-Z, there is a hot-fix to add 6950 & 6970 support, came out 11 Dec and will be added formally on next release.

GPU-Z 6950 & 6970 Support - New exe file download

Regards
Zy

Thanks mate. Here is the temps on 2x6970 crossfired at a constant room temperature of 25C running at 950 core & +20 power tune on both cores. The 1st gpu core=72C, VRM=80C. 2nd gpu core=64C,VRM=77C.

i am unable to read vrm temp with gpu-z
how are you doing ?

i can read the voltage, but not the temp for that.

Further details, if you let the power tune at 0, you can reduce the memory clock to 800, if you raise it to +%20, you can lower it to 850 (using MSI Beta 5). It will save you hell of heat.
I think i might make a mistake. I used GPU-Z 0.50 and those temps belonged to GPU temp #3. I guess it is the VRM? Maybe i'm wrong.

Things are looking really good for the HD6950. There's an Asus BIOS out there which unlocks the shaders but leaves clocks and voltages at stock HD6950 levels - more secure and you don't loose power efficiency as with a full HD6970 bios.

And using ATI Tray Tools 1.7.9.xxxx beta you can set the clocks just as you want them to. There's no Overdrive limit bullsh*t in there. Using this I lowered the memory down to 625 MHz (50%) and saw no performance impact but substantial power savings.

And with MSI Afterburner 2.1.0. beta 6 (I think.. the current one) you can set voltages in software - yeha! My HD6950 is perfectly fine at 800 MHz with 1.00 V instead of 1.10 V (stock).

MrS

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Scanning for our furry friends since Jan 2002