MSI Radeon HD 3870 OC edition, about getting more silent? - 2008/01/25 17:49Hello, I've read so far through the most Radeon HD 3870 posts. Nice collection of firmware BISO's so far. As most of you want an overclocked card my intention is to get rid of this blizzard inside my case. I'm thinking of flashing a 775/2250MHz firmware on the MSI but I'm not sure which.
I don't want to overclock so I think the fan could run at 30-40%. If the original firmware of an overclocked card could be tuned that way I would be satisfied. What do you think? Which BIOS would you propose me to flash? I sent a ticket to MSI on this topic, have to wait some days until the answer arrives.
| | The administrator has disabled public write access.
Mavke
Admin Admin
Posts: 14153
Karma: 355
Re:MSI Radeon HD 3870 OC edition, about getting more silent? - 2008/01/25 19:44Sorry, and yes it could be me, but I don't see what you are after... So you mean that you have the MSI Radeon HD 3870 OC edition and you want to actually run it slower than it is set currently? So why did you buy the more expensive OC edition? Cause it just doesn't make any sense in that case to pay more but run it slower... And any default BIOS of the Radeon HD 3870 would just be fine I believe.
| | The administrator has disabled public write access.
FIREBALL
User Fresh Boarder
Posts: 4
Karma: 0
Re:MSI Radeon HD 3870 OC edition, about getting more silent? - 2008/01/26 11:03Hi, thank you for your answer. Well, what I'm looking for is a quiet fan. My possibilities are, tune it with ATITool, power the fan from one of the mainboard fan sources, wait for MSI to bring a new BIOS with other fan characteristics or RMA it and get an standard non OC edition. I've read that you can run the OC edition on 7.0V without problems, even at full load. So I don't understand why the fan is constantly on 80% even in 2D mode? Where is the PowerPlay? I want a BIOS with a proper fan regulator. Haven't found one yet.
Perhaps there is an OC edition with active fan? If there is none, I waste some performance but my ears don't get sore. Why did I got myself this blower? I thought I need a better card and wanted to spend some €200. Then I had to wait since Christmas until a shop had it on stock for this price. I never wasted a single thought on OC or non OC edition! The tests state all is fine and nearly noiseless. So what... But after turning on the machine I thought I'm on a engine test rig at work. What the hell... By the way, I have the Rev.02 firmware on it.
| | The administrator has disabled public write access.
FIREBALL
User Fresh Boarder
Posts: 4
Karma: 0
Re:MSI Radeon HD 3870 OC edition, about getting more silent? - 2008/01/26 15:42I was experiencing the last hour with my card and some BIOS's. Here is what came out. I installed the old Catalyst 7.12 so the ATITool was working. Then I flashed the ATI BIOS Rev.02. The fan got silent until 85°C GPU temp, then the fan went on 100% for some seconds and got the temp back to 77°C and turned off, still rotates but very slow. At idle desktop the card runs at about 50°C. I couldn't change the speed with the ATITool latest beta. In fact the tool doesn't read the real fan speed.
So on my second try, I flashed the PowerColor BIOS Rev.01, and got exactly the same behaviour. Then on the third try, I flashed the MSI non OC BIOS Rev.01. Again the same behaviour. Now this is running until I know more. To conclude, if a non OC edition is quiet all the time, even above 85°C then it means the card has a different hardware which controls the fan. But if a non OC edition doesn't get 85°C hot then I should RMA my card because it's defect.
Or the fan of an OC edition is not only controlled by BIOS parameters or they are not working properly. Now I have to wait for an answer from MSI. In another forums I read an answer from a support reply saying connect the card to the mainboard fan, what would really mean there is no possibility of lovering the voltage of the fan on the card. What do you think?
| | The administrator has disabled public write access.
Mavke
Admin Admin
Posts: 14153
Karma: 355
Re:MSI Radeon HD 3870 OC edition, about getting more silent? - 2008/01/27 10:18Well quite a lot of thoughts and things you have there and also tried. Still after reading your posts I don't see why you actually went for the Radeon HD 3870 OC edition, as it is mentioned in some reviews that the cooler is making more noise than for the reference clocked cards. And speaking of RMA, I frankly see no reason for you to RMA it at all the card is working just fine as it is and I am sure that MSI will be checking that when they get the card and just sent it back as working just fine and bill you the shipping costs.
Related to ATITool and fan speed, you might have to wait some more as the latest beta of ATITool doesn't support all the features yet of the Radeon HD 3800 series and the fan speed is on of those. Secondly we are still working on RaBIT buit it is going slow and we don't know yet if something can be tweaked related to the fan speed via the BIOS. However since you are looking for a quiet card, why don't you try an aftermarket quiet cooler? Just my thoughts...
| | The administrator has disabled public write access.
FIREBALL
User Fresh Boarder
Posts: 4
Karma: 0
Re:MSI Radeon HD 3870 OC edition, about getting more silent? - 2008/01/27 11:10Thanks for correcting the post and yes of course, a lot of testing. Well, as I already wrote I read some reviews and there was no issue about noise. Maybe I read the wrong ones. So I simply took the first card that was available. I really don't mind getting another card and that's what I wanted to express when I say that I'll RMA it. In Germany we have 14 days to test and return the product to the dealer if it doesn't fit or you don't like it.
A standard edition isn't slow either and I don't think I would miss the little extra performance of an OC edition. But that's no challenge. On the other hand getting the OC edition quiet is. Buying an aftermarket cooler would also be an alternative. Before doing that I power the fan from the mainboard or another power source at a constant voltage of 5.0V or so. But first of all I need to know what's possible by changing the firmware or modifying it.
As I explained previously the firmware change works but there are only two steps, 1% or 100%. Now I would need someone with a standard edition card to find out how the fan works on his card. If it's the same then the fan controller is simply poor programmed. If it's not the same, then there is a difference in hardware. So please someone run ATITool, turn on the 3D View and watch how hot the GPU gets until the fan starts. Pay attention how the fan speeds up, only one step or linear. Thank you!
| | The administrator has disabled public write access.
the_mup
User Fresh Boarder
Posts: 1
Karma: 0
Re:MSI Radeon HD 3870 OC edition, about getting more silent? - 2008/02/29 20:18I too have experimented with a bunch of different BIOS's. I've done the research to fix some things, not to underclock my card. The main thing you have to keep in mind is that the slower the fan speed, the more heat you get. Sure its silent, but its gonna raise all of your temps. The newest MSI OC BIOS seems to be the best for heat. Runs at about 50-60% constant, then speeds up when you fire up a game.
All of the other BIOS's that I've tried turn the fans off until the card gets to about 85°C, then cranks to 100%. This whole deal is fine with me because I have an MSI OC card and I like it running cool. If you RMA your card, you are gonna get one of these. I don't think there is an in between. I'd say your best bet is to configure your own BIOS, or use RivaTuner.
| | The administrator has disabled public write access.
ASUS 9800GTX+ (DK) PCIe 512MB - Rev 01
