Should I turn up fan speed on 8800 GTS 512?

L

Liqwid122

Limp Gawd
Joined
Oct 25, 2003
Messages
169
I just got this card and the fan is at 29% default. I like it because it is quiet, but according to Ntune it idles at about 72 C degrees. I think that is a little high but if I don't overclock and my games play fine should I even bother turning it up? I mean it is an EVGA so I have a lifetime warranty if something ever goes wrong....Any thoughts?
 
With the fan set to 50% it's still silent and will drop your load temps by at least 15c. I'd definitely give it a go.
 
I turn mine to 100% while gaming. Yes, there is more noise, but you won't notice it in-game.
 
Get RivaTuner and set up the low level automatic fan control as below:

Duty cycle min: 45
Duty cycle max: 100
T min: 40
T range: 32
T operating 110
T low limit: 0
T high limit :110

But before you can do that if you haven't done this already you will need to:
a) Modify the rivatuner.cfg - under [GPU_10DE] change the line
Code: 
G92	= 610h-61Fh
to:
Code: 
G92	= 610h-61Fh[B][COLOR="Red"],600h[/COLOR][/B]

b) Under the Power User tab, open the Riva Tuner \ Fan tree and change the AutoFanSpeedControl value to 3. Close and restart RT.

This works great for keeping the card cool. It will actually ramp up the fan speed to compensate for rising temperatures, and also keeps it cooler at idle. Mine maxes out under load at 62C which is pretty phenomenal for a card this powerful.
 
If its getting hotter than you would like then yes, turning the fan up is a good idea!!
See what speeds dont give you too much noise.
We cant do that for you.
 
@Blahman: Great guide, I'm gonna try this when I get home. BTW which version of RT are you running? Thanks.
 
2.06

2.07 is in development -- it probably will not require the config file modification.
 
I turn mine up and turn up the clock when in gaming - when im not gaming i turn it back down, fan and clock
 
Use Rivatuner and set fan profiles...takes about 10 minutes, and major improvement in cooling with little noise. There is a perfect guide here to follow....

I have mine set 45% normal speed.
At 55c it goes to 55%
60c goes to 60%
65c goes to 65%
At 75c I have it set to "failsafe" mode, 100%....just in case :)

Rarely does it break 64c under extended gaming loads....
 
Thanks for all of the replies guys....I will have to get rivatuner and follow the instructions here.
 
Here ya go...Rivatuner fan speed profiles...... http://guru3d.com/article/article/449/ It appears complicated at first, but it really isn't. Works like a charm. You can go a step further and use it for overclocking profiles as well. I have mine set to a stock speed profile, and my "gaming" profile. I can access any fan speed and overclock profile by right clicking the RT icon in the task bar, and selecting "launcher" and then the matching profile...click on it, it activates it.

But the fan speed profile will automatically adjust based on temp because you enter the profile into the launcher....anyways, enjoy.
 
Sorry bout this noob question but will Riva Tuner load up this fan profile everytime windows starts?
 
Thanks everyone for your help. Was wondering how I was gonna fix the fan speed being stuck at 37% all the time. I thought the BIOS was suppose to have fixed that issue. Oh well, HardForums to the rescue!
 
Thanks for the great guide Blahman! I followed your instructions and it works great.
 
TheRapture said:
Here ya go...Rivatuner fan speed profiles...... http://guru3d.com/article/article/449/ It appears complicated at first, but it really isn't. Works like a charm. You can go a step further and use it for overclocking profiles as well. I have mine set to a stock speed profile, and my "gaming" profile. I can access any fan speed and overclock profile by right clicking the RT icon in the task bar, and selecting "launcher" and then the matching profile...click on it, it activates it.

But the fan speed profile will automatically adjust based on temp because you enter the profile into the launcher....anyways, enjoy.
Click to expand...
That's another way to go about it. I will say I think low-level fan control is better than driver-level, for a couple of reasons.
- It doesn't depend on the OS at all. If your computer hangs your card won't overheat -- the low-level settings will continue to be active until you shut off the power. RT doesn't even have to run at all once low level control is set up.
- Continuous speed adjustment, rather than stepwise. Sounds nicer. But is also probably more efficient. Also makes for pretty graphs.
- Maybe a little easier to set up, once someone else has already worked out the numbers to input. (Actually deriving those numbers is a bit complicated, see here: http://forums.guru3d.com/showthread.php?t=238574)​

One more tip: If you want to monitor your fan speed (RPM and % of maximum), go into Hardware Monitoring->Setup->Plugins and add ADT7473.dll.
 
I did the same thing to my 8800GT, except that I modified the stock BIOS to change those settings, and then flashed it so that RT would not have to be running all the time. It does work well, that's for sure. I would do the same to my GTS, except that I may use the step up program....so I obviously don't want to mod the card just yet...



Blahman said:
That's another way to go about it. I will say I think low-level fan control is better than driver-level, for a couple of reasons.
- It doesn't depend on the OS at all. If your computer hangs your card won't overheat -- the low-level settings will continue to be active until you shut off the power. RT doesn't even have to run at all once low level control is set up.
- Continuous speed adjustment, rather than stepwise. Sounds nicer. But is also probably more efficient. Also makes for pretty graphs.
- Maybe a little easier to set up, once someone else has already worked out the numbers to input. (Actually deriving those numbers is a bit complicated, see here: http://forums.guru3d.com/showthread.php?t=238574)​
Click to expand...
 
@Nenu: So should I tick that box with the very first fan profile I create which would be the lowest setting? If I don't click it will the GPU fan speed be set to the default one the BIOS designates? I only ask b/c no where in the guide does it ever mention having to check that box. Thanks.

@Bal: With the way you described above, does that mean you don't have to setup fan profiles like the guide in the link instructs you too?
 
Nope, it's one or the other. Driver level or low level. The way I described is low level, the guide Rapture linked to is driver level.
 
That is a good RT guide.
Just remember, fan duty cycle min and max.......you dont have to set the max at 100%. All these cards run loud at 100%.
The card BIOS setings are set by the board partner to be quiet and as efficient as possible, but they are all LOW!! So your card usually always runs kinda hot.

I use the following for my 8800 GTX: 60%>85% duty cycle. T operating 68,Tmin60,Tmax 92,Trange32,Tlow60.

First under customize, click and select the icon that looks like a graphics card.
Click "AUTO" after enabling low level control.
Adjust the numbers to your liking, remember you have to go into Power User/RT FanControl and set the value to "3"..............in order for that value to kick in you need to exit and reenter RT before doing anything else.

If I'm not incorrect, RT HAS to be operating in the background for it to control your card.
In all but Vista64 it can be checked off to start on Windows start-up.

I prefer "Auto" to profiles, because the auto will take the card up and down as it sees fit, making a smooth transition, rather than jerky increases, but the fan profile deal works well,too; it just seemed clunky to me.
 
i wouldn't mess around with the numbers without knowing what they mean. if you put something the card doesn't like it might go 100% or it might shut the fan off completely.

also you should never be getting close to 100% with my setup, but max should always be left at 100 anyways in case it is needed for some reason. plus as I said before changing one number affects the others, so don't do it unless you know how it all works.
 
And like I said RT does not need to run once low level fan control is setup, it doesn't even need to be run at startup as long as you check the box in low level fan control that says apply fan settings at Windows startup. I believe it uses a special driver to apply low level fan settings without running the application.
 
@Blahman: With the numbers you posted as what you use, what is the value of tmax for you?
 
I'm not implying I'm some sort of genius with RT, but the numbers I use are certainly fine in my hands.
My GTX never goes to more than 75% and the maximum temp on my card in full 3D is between 65 and 70 degrees.

I'm sensing that you (Blahman) dont think I have a grasp of the formula.....thats OK with me. What I posted works just fine with my card, and evidently you went with blind faith with the guy on Guru3D.......

For comparison, run the cards default BIOS settings sometime and graph them.....thats what I did......my BFG card has the minimum duty cycle at 60% and in full 3D it never budges.............the card has a built in throttle, if it overheats it will throttle down or at the least warn you of increased temps.

Also.....in Vista 64 bit you DO have to start RivaTuner manually, unless you have deactivated UAC.....I cant speak for 32 bit.....Yes, in XP RT will start automatically if you check the appropiate boxes. How could it possibly control your GPU fan if it wasn't running in the background???That doesnt make any sense, it's just like any other application.........if its active the icon will show up in the task bar.
 
itzhobbes said:
@Blahman: With the numbers you posted as what you use, what is the value of tmax for you?
Click to expand...

I think my goal Tmax was 65C (remember this temp is reported by the fan controller's ambient sensor so a good 6-10C lower than the GPU core, so an actual maximum GPU temp of around 72C-75C -- the point at which the fan would going at full throttle). But I just now solved for it in the formula and got 66.4C -- the fan controller parameters (specifically Trange) often cannot be set to exactly the number you want, something to keep in mind when tinkering on your own. This is fairly aggressive by 8800GT standards but with the 8800GTS's cooler, its so efficient that it rarely goes above 62C on the core. So it works out great for my 8800GTS 512 -- keeps it cool and quiet at idle and gives it as much juice as it needs in demanding games like Crysis, without sounding like a jet turbine.

magoo said:
I'm not implying I'm some sort of genius with RT, but the numbers I use are certainly fine in my hands.
My GTX never goes to more than 75% and the maximum temp on my card in full 3D is between 65 and 70 degrees.

I'm sensing that you (Blahman) dont think I have a grasp of the formula.....thats OK with me. What I posted works just fine with my card, and evidently you went with blind faith with the guy on Guru3D.......

For comparison, run the cards default BIOS settings sometime and graph them.....thats what I did......my BFG card has the minimum duty cycle at 60% and in full 3D it never budges.............the card has a built in throttle, if it overheats it will throttle down or at the least warn you of increased temps.
Click to expand...

I am glad that you've got RT working great with your card but I just wanted to warn everyone else that tries to use low-level fan control that it is not something to fiddle with without first at least reading the thread I linked to and preferably the fan controller white paper that Unwinder (the creator of RivaTuner) linked to in that thread. Not questioning you at all, just wanted to warn (from experience) that it is possible to completely shut off your fan by messing with these settings and the only way to get it back on is to shutdown and reboot. The term "low level" means you're directly changing memory parameters used by the actual fan controller -- there is no software safety net if you enter in something that makes the fan controller freak out.

Also.....in Vista 64 bit you DO have to start RivaTuner manually, unless you have deactivated UAC.....I cant speak for 32 bit.....Yes, in XP RT will start automatically if you check the appropiate boxes. How could it possibly control your GPU fan if it wasn't running in the background???That doesnt make any sense, it's just like any other application.........if its active the icon will show up in the task bar.
Click to expand...

Not sure why you think RT is "just like any other application". It has its own driver that runs independent of the program. Don't believe me? Go into device manager, View, show hidden devices, under Non-PnP devices there's your RivaTuner driver. Among other things it is responsible for setting low-level fan controls on startup, independent of whether RivaTuner.exe runs at startup or not.

As for Vista and UAC (which everyone that trusts themselves more than their OS should disable)... In Vista x64, all drivers must be signed -- as of RT version 2.06, there is a signed driver for Vista x64, but a common mistake people make when installing RT is to just run the installer executable directly from the archive; there is another file in the archive (ends in .rtu) that makes the signed driver install properly. This .rtu file must be alongside the installer .exe when run for Vista x64 to accept the driver. Hopefully this little pitfall will be cleared up for 2.07. I am not sure if that is what your problem was with UAC on startup but it sounds like it could have been.
 
Come on guys, let's keep it civil.

On my side, using my personal profiles I came up with after loading the gpu and seeing what the fan and temps did, I set my profiles, and now, the card not only idles 10c cooler (idles at 49c)....it also loads up at ~11c cooler (loads at ~63c +/- 1c). And all of that with no additional noise that I can hear. The fan never goes higher than 65%, and it idles at 45%.

Works for me.
 
I thank you for your input.
I agree that RT is pretty technical stuff and does demand the user research what it is he/she wants RT to do before jumping in with both feet. I read the same posts on Guru3D you did, read the white paper on the fan controller......although I think most engineers would have a hard time with that one!!

I still dont get what you're after in Vista 64. I know that RT downloads with a signed driver file.........and I used it........still my UAC will not let RT start when I boot up unless I say so; so in that regard RT and my fan profiles will not load or be active until I clear them with the UAC.

I do trust myself more than UAC, but have found that if I disable it, I get more problems than if I just leave it alone and let it aggreviate me......but thats another story.....its a love-hate thing.....
 
@Blahman: Thanks for your settings on the low level settings. It's working properly and scales the fan speed as the temps go up. So far on while playing CoD4, I've yet to seethe temps go beyond the 50's. Quick question, do you need RT installed after you change the low level settings? Thanks again for your help.
 
itzhobbes said:
@Blahman: Thanks for your settings on the low level settings. It's working properly and scales the fan speed as the temps go up. So far on while playing CoD4, I've yet to seethe temps go beyond the 50's. Quick question, do you need RT installed after you change the low level settings? Thanks again for your help.
Click to expand...

yes.

Here's a post from "unwinder" about upcoming 2.07, AND it also clarifies that in Vista x-64 one needs to recognize RT each time one boots up.
 
Thanks magoo. I only ask b/c I haven't touched RivaTuner since I made those changes to the low level settings. LOL.
 
Obviously RT needs to stay installed as its the driver that sets the fan speed on Windows log-on. I am running Vista x64 and I don't normally have RT run at boot up, yet my fan speed is always applied each time. UAC is disabled, of course.
 
I had to turn mine up also.Not really alot of noise difference but my temps dropped like 15-20 degrees
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top