Hot & Noisy Asus GTX 670 Direct CU II

They make noise, too.

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Torajirou
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Location: Belgium

Hot & Noisy Asus GTX 670 Direct CU II

Post by Torajirou » Tue Jan 08, 2013 12:41 pm

As explained in the thread about my new gaming build, my graphic card makes a lot of heat and, of course, a lot of noise.

Running Furmark for a few minutes pushes the GPU to more than 90°C and the fans ramp up accordingly (~90%). This is of course NOT what I had foreseen, having read SPCR's review and other reviews on the web; this card is supposed to remain cool and quiet, even at full load.

At idle, the CPU, intake and exhaust fans run at 50% (~600-650 RPM) and the CPU is alright under load (~45°C, with little increase in CPU/case fan speeds), which makes me think that my general airflow configuration is not utterly stupid.

I've already tried unmounting the GPU heatsink, cleaning the thermal paste mess Asus made, reapplying fresh thermal paste and making sure that the heatsink was firmly tightened, but that made no noticeable difference.

Tried changing drivers, as well... (LOL)

I'm at a loss here... Should I RMA it ? What should I say ? That I expected it to be quieter ? The thing is : the card does work :?

edh
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Re: Hot & Noisy Asus GTX 670 Direct CU II

Post by edh » Tue Jan 08, 2013 1:47 pm

Does the cooler feel like it is at 90C? 90C is hot enough to burn skin so be careful not to touch it directly but you could check across multiple points on the cooler holding your hand close to feel the heat. If it does not seem that hot then it is some sort of conduction issue. I previously ran a passive card up to 112C and that was VERY hot and I would not touch it but it demonstrates a point that there is good contact with the core. Although you may have already checked the thermal paste it might be worth seeing if the cooler itself is firmly held together. Modern heatpipe based coolers have different parts to them and the heatpipes need to be in good contact with the rest of the card. Are the joints soldered or is there any sign of thermal paste?

It could just be a bad unit that you've received.

Alternatively if it is inherent in the design you could try lowing the GPU voltage with a BIOS mod through NiBiTor to reduce the heat output and replace the cooler with an aftermarket one.

Torajirou
Posts: 162
Joined: Wed Sep 05, 2007 6:16 am
Location: Belgium

Re: Hot & Noisy Asus GTX 670 Direct CU II

Post by Torajirou » Tue Jan 08, 2013 1:58 pm

Thanks for your reply, I'll check the temperatures around the card as you advise.

As for the card's design, I'll copy the picture from SPCR's review :

Image

Not sure how I could detect some manufacturing defect. I don't really want to tear it apart more than it's necessary if I ever want to RMA it ;-)

The very reason why I bought this card is that I was tired of playing with aftermarket coolers. It SHOULD be (a lot) cooler and quieter out of the box (or so the web and SPCR say).

gdr
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Re: Hot & Noisy Asus GTX 670 Direct CU II

Post by gdr » Sat Feb 16, 2013 10:59 pm

Did you get any resolution to this problem? I'm considering the same card based on the SPCR editor's choice review, but I wonder about how Asus's customer service is with problem units. Also, does reapplying the thermal paste void the warranty? I've heard that EVGA explicitly allows this in their warranty, but I don't know about Asus.

Copyright
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Re: Hot & Noisy Asus GTX 670 Direct CU II

Post by Copyright » Sat Feb 23, 2013 6:30 pm

I am looking at getting this card... Silent PC is the only site to give this carts fan noise top reviews... it's supposed to be VERY quiet.

Torajirou
Posts: 162
Joined: Wed Sep 05, 2007 6:16 am
Location: Belgium

Re: Hot & Noisy Asus GTX 670 Direct CU II

Post by Torajirou » Sun Feb 24, 2013 12:53 am

I wouldn't say it met my initial expectations, but all in all, I'm satisfied. You can find more details in the thread about my build (link in my signature).

SPCR is not the only site that gave this card very positive reviews; virtually every site did !

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