9800GX2 is just too bloody loud

E

Elledan

[H]ard|DCer of the Month - April 2010
Joined
Oct 18, 2001
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I decided to start the GPU client on the second core of my 9800GX2 yesterday and within minutes I was reminded of how terribly noisy these cards are with both cores at load. Since I got the system in my combined office/bedroom I don't think there's a way I can run the client on more than one core, wasting a considerable chunk of PPD.

Of course, I'm looking for alternatives to this :) One thing which occurred to me is that I could get a GTX460 as it seems to get similar PPD, is a lot more quiet (more than my GTX275 as well, possibly. Hopefully?) and I can pawn off the 9800GX2 to someone who can use it 100% 24/7.

I would have to look into the funds for this, naturally. Our first videogame isn't expected to release until next month, so technically I'm broke until then :)

Any thoughts?
 
I'll take it :D
You could try running it shroudless/"naked", apparently that helps with temps but I'm not sure how you'd go about "removing the clothes". :D
 
I cannot vouch for the quietness of the 460 but it should be cooler (is there anything hotter than a GX2?) and power consumption will be less. My GX2 throttles when it's too hot and this happens even when the weather is cool. I think the only way one can fold continuously with these cards is to remove the shroud - there is no better way to drop the temps down. Unfortunately, it probably wouldn't help in the noise department and might actually make it worse without the shielding. In any case, I recommend replacing it with a 460.
 
zero2dash said:
I'll take it :D
You could try running it shroudless/"naked", apparently that helps with temps but I'm not sure how you'd go about "removing the clothes". :D
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I removed the shroud, yes, but it doesn't seem to make a significant difference :(
 
Elledan said:
I removed the shroud, yes, but it doesn't seem to make a significant difference :(
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There's nothing we can really do about the noise since no aftermarket HSF exists for the card. The only thing that can be done is shroud removal that you've already performed, and adding an exhaust fan to the side of the card, which will only aid in cooling not in noise.
 
APOLLO said:
There's nothing we can really do about the noise since no aftermarket HSF exists for the card. The only thing that can be done is shroud removal that you've already performed, and adding an exhaust fan to the side of the card, which will only aid in cooling not in noise.
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Which brings us back to replacing it with a GTX460, I guess :)
 
It's probably pretty ghetto, but can you just pull off the stock fan and slap a high speed 120mm on it? I would think you could push quite a bit of air before you match a gpu's fan in terms of noise
 
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Elledan said:
Which brings us back to replacing it with a GTX460, I guess :)
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Yep, if you can get a decent amount for the GX2. The 460 is reportedly dropping in price if it hasn't done so already. Maybe now is a good time to buy.
 
The Gigabyte GV-N460OC-1GI GTX460 with 1 GB VRAM is around 200 Euro here. Any F@H people in Europe who'd like to buy a 9800GX2? :)
 
Elledan said:
The Gigabyte GV-N460OC-1GI GTX460 with 1 GB VRAM is around 200 Euro here. Any F@H people in Europe who'd like to buy a 9800GX2? :)
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you don't need a model with 1gb of ram - for folding a 768mb model will do just fine, ;)
Unfortunately i'm in a similar position to you tempwise and need to reduce temps in my gpu rig otherwise i would.
 
If I'm going to get a new card I'll put it into my workstation of course, and 1 GB is very nice for games these days ;)
 
Can i ask a dumb question? Are you talking fan noise or high pitched squeal?

I use MSI Afterburner to adjust the fan profile on my old GTX 285 to be near silent at 60% max, which gets me folding temps of about 80.

Now the high pitched squeal drives me bonkers, and I can't fix that.
 
may i be worthy said:
Can i ask a dumb question? Are you talking fan noise or high pitched squeal?

I use MSI Afterburner to adjust the fan profile on my old GTX 285 to be near silent at 60% max, which gets me folding temps of about 80.

Now the high pitched squeal drives me bonkers, and I can't fix that.
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Pure fan noise. It sounds like a leaf-blower on low :)
 
Elledan said:
Pure fan noise. It sounds like a leaf-blower on low :)
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Yep, same sound I hear when my gtx275 gets hot. I did a couple brief searches, and I have seen a couple little mods that might help you out a little.
http://icrontic.com/forum/showthread.php?t=88962 Seems interesting, it looks like they made an "air channel" for the 2 cards, and used the front intake fan to blow directly into them. That may not be feasible for you, but it seems like it may help.
 
I would say replace the TIM but that may be more trouble than it's worth especially since you're dealing with a dual gpu card. :eek:
 
Only one solution possible

Full blown watercooling

do eet
 
My solution was to move the GX2 box to the guest bedroom. The only problem is I have to shut it down when I have guests. :)
 
Elledan said:
The Gigabyte GV-N460OC-1GI GTX460 with 1 GB VRAM is around 200 Euro here. Any F@H people in Europe who'd like to buy a 9800GX2? :)
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It sucks for your fellow folders living in non-America. The price of that video card at the local Micro Center is current 139 Euro or $179 USD's. It is probably even cheaper on Newegg since Micro Center's video card prices tend to be a bit high sometimes.
 
Have you blown out the heatsink on your 9800GX2 recently? Dust buildup can really hurt temps.

How are your temps? You might be able to modify the fan speed curve.

I HIGHLY suggest MSI afterburner for this. It's basically the same as EVGA Precision, but it's better. Also, it's not EVGA. I'm an immediate convert. I really prefer Afterburner, even though I used Precision for years now.
 
jebo_4jc said:
I HIGHLY suggest MSI afterburner for this. It's basically the same as EVGA Precision, but it's better. Also, it's not EVGA. I'm an immediate convert. I really prefer Afterburner, even though I used Precision for years now.
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What advantages does one have over the other? I still use RT.
 
APOLLO said:
What advantages does one have over the other? I still use RT.
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It's just a skinned version of rivatuner like Precision.

However Afterburner makes voltage tweaks possible on appropriate GPU models. It also includes a true graphical control over a fan speed profile. So, you can tweak your fan speed's "auto" setting to match your desired balance of noise/cooling. It has revolutionized the noise my folding rigs make now that I have a true fan speed curve rather than a static "85%" setting, for example.
 
jebo_4jc said:
However Afterburner makes voltage tweaks possible on appropriate GPU models. It also includes a true graphical control over a fan speed profile. So, you can tweak your fan speed's "auto" setting to match your desired balance of noise/cooling. It has revolutionized the noise my folding rigs make now that I have a true fan speed curve rather than a static "85%" setting, for example.
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OK, going to give it a shot sometime this week. I might just have some cards that are voltage tuning capable. I'll find out with this app. Thanks for the info. :cool:
 
oh, I can also tell you from experience: the stock 460 is near silent.

Assuming you have case fans, you will never notice its sound, even when folding
 
nimbyfaygo said:
Yep, same sound I hear when my gtx275 gets hot. I did a couple brief searches, and I have seen a couple little mods that might help you out a little.
http://icrontic.com/forum/showthread.php?t=88962 Seems interesting, it looks like they made an "air channel" for the 2 cards, and used the front intake fan to blow directly into them. That may not be feasible for you, but it seems like it may help.
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The Antec 300 case I'm using should allow for some serious ducting as well. I'd just have to convince myself to have the system offline for a while while I install it :)

jebo_4jc said:
Have you blown out the heatsink on your 9800GX2 recently? Dust buildup can really hurt temps.

How are your temps? You might be able to modify the fan speed curve.

I HIGHLY suggest MSI afterburner for this. It's basically the same as EVGA Precision, but it's better. Also, it's not EVGA. I'm an immediate convert. I really prefer Afterburner, even though I used Precision for years now.
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I'll give Afterburner a look. I cleaned out the heatsink a few months ago when I stripped the cover from the card. It was pretty clean even back then.

With one core active it seems to hover at about 85C-75C (core1-2). With both active they are both around 85C. One easy mod I could do is install front fans. Right now the 300 case has its standard fans plus one side fan (exhaust, would need a dust filter to make it intake).
 
Elledan said:
The Antec 300 case I'm using should allow for some serious ducting as well. I'd just have to convince myself to have the system offline for a while while I install it :)


I'll give Afterburner a look. I cleaned out the heatsink a few months ago when I stripped the cover from the card. It was pretty clean even back then.

With one core active it seems to hover at about 85C-75C (core1-2). With both active they are both around 85C. One easy mod I could do is install front fans. Right now the 300 case has its standard fans plus one side fan (exhaust, would need a dust filter to make it intake).
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if it was me id use the side fan as an intake.. the 2 front as intake.. the back and top as exhaust.. the side fan as an intake would probably help with the temps on the 9800GX2.. my antec 300 is setup with front, side back all intake.. with the top fan exhausting and removed the front 5.25" panel covers.. worked pretty damn well with a GTX 260 that barely fit in the case, 6 HDD's and my phenom II 940 running 3.5ghz 1.476v and kept it around 56-58C gtx 260 ran full load around 60C with the fan at 60%..
 
sirmonkey1985 said:
if it was me id use the side fan as an intake.. the 2 front as intake.. the back and top as exhaust.. the side fan as an intake would probably help with the temps on the 9800GX2.. my antec 300 is setup with front, side back all intake.. with the top fan exhausting and removed the front 5.25" panel covers.. worked pretty damn well with a GTX 260 that barely fit in the case, 6 HDD's and my phenom II 940 running 3.5ghz 1.476v and kept it around 56-58C gtx 260 ran full load around 60C with the fan at 60%..
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ill second this. as its how i run my 300 with 2 260's and they stay very cool 65C
 
I think I got two more 120 mm fans lying around, can flip the side fan and install the front fans and see how it goes :)
 
Hah~

Reversed the side fan to intake, added two 120 mm front intakes. With one GPU core folding it's sitting happily at 81C/71C with its fan at low. It's so peaceful now :)

Thanks for the idea :D
 
Elledan said:
Hah~

Reversed the side fan to intake, added two 120 mm front intakes. With one GPU core folding it's sitting happily at 81C/71C with its fan at low. It's so peaceful now :)
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Is the side fan on the case or attached to the card?
 
Elledan said:
Hah~

Reversed the side fan to intake, added two 120 mm front intakes. With one GPU core folding it's sitting happily at 81C/71C with its fan at low. It's so peaceful now :)

Thanks for the idea :D
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Why not put the 2nd GPU core online now? :)
 
amdgamer said:
Why not put the 2nd GPU core online now? :)
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I like to take things slow, I guess :) Got to see how it behaves in its current configuration, maybe try the second core tomorrow ^_^

Besides, I'm still sleeping in the same room ;)
 
Elledan said:
I like to take things slow, I guess :) Got to see how it behaves in its current configuration, maybe try the second core tomorrow ^_^

Besides, I'm still sleeping in the same room ;)
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You might be surprised how much noise you can sleep with once you get used to it. You also have to figure out how you are going to be able to borg your roomie's new Core i7 you built for her.
 
amdgamer said:
You might be surprised how much noise you can sleep with once you get used to it. You also have to figure out how you are going to be able to borg your roomie's new Core i7 you built for her.
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Hah, he rarely turns on his system, except to play WoW a few nights a week. I'm pretty sure he'd get suspicious if the system was on 24/7 :p And yes, I already asked nicely ^_^

And noise... I have slept in noisy rooms for over ten years and I'm developing a preference for more quiet rooms now :) Maybe it's just this specific noise GPU fans make compared to regular radial fans. More noise versus airflow sound or so.
 
Elledan said:
I like to take things slow, I guess :) Got to see how it behaves in its current configuration, maybe try the second core tomorrow ^_^

Besides, I'm still sleeping in the same room ;)
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Have it running when you're awake or when you're not at home, and just turn off the second GPU client at night. During the hottest days, I had turned off the second GPU in the afternoon because the card was throttling. I really should remove the shroud on that thing. Temps are still high with both GPUs folding even though the weather has turned much cooler. I regret not getting two 8800s for that box instead, performance and cost is nearly the same. What was I thinking... :rolleyes:
 
Elledan said:
Hah, he rarely turns on his system, except to play WoW a few nights a week. I'm pretty sure he'd get suspicious if the system was on 24/7 :p And yes, I already asked nicely ^_^

And noise... I have slept in noisy rooms for over ten years and I'm developing a preference for more quiet rooms now :) Maybe it's just this specific noise GPU fans make compared to regular radial fans. More noise versus airflow sound or so.
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Wow, what a jerk! I hope you learned your lesson about building systems for ungrateful people :p

I think it is because your current video card happens to be an extremely loud video card to begin with. Some video cards have more of a whooshing sound that is easier to sleep with. That is okay as you can fire up your 2nd GPU on your card and condition yourself to sleep with the extra noise.
 
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