Gigabyte GTX480 SOC

[tutyit]

Hello there I am new here.
I have a question regarding this gfx card.
I tested it with furmark and occt and the card is running in these stress tests at 100 degrees , fans on 100%.
In games it is around 80 .
Is it suppose to be like this ?
Is it normal ?
Should I RMA the card ?

Thank you in advance for any help !

[tutyit]

Well another record, card running at 103 degrees of C.
Picture here:

[Dark Mantis]

Hi

The card is getting fairly hot but nothing that wouldn't be expected especially if you are running OCCT etc. That is a rather brutal stress test and some companies don't even like you running it. I expect your ambient temperaturew is quite high there at the moment and that will be making things worse. Just make sure that you have plenty of cooling in the case and try to keep the temperature down as much as you can. It will be fine for playing games etc.

[tutyit]

Hi

The card is getting fairly hot but nothing that wouldn't be expected especially if you are running OCCT etc. That is a rather brutal stress test and some companies don't even like you running it. I expect your ambient temperaturew is quite high there at the moment and that will be making things worse. Just make sure that you have plenty of cooling in the case and try to keep the temperature down as much as you can. It will be fine for playing games etc.

Thx for the repply !
The thing is a tried to run the card under gaming stress, well Crysis 2....
I downclocked the card to standar clocks and after a 10 minute gameplay i was hitting 95 degrees of C.
My ambient is below 22 Degrees of C.
And if I have an open case it is still running around 93 Degrees of C .
All with fans running at 100% and a noise of a tornado !
The box doesn't inform me about this neither the reviews on this card.
All claim fans max running at 77% and no more heat than 80 Degrees of C running furmark for 5 minutes.
If I run furmark for 5 minutes its hitting 103 Degrees of C.
 

I dont think this is normal...its stable but way too hot !
Heck can even cook eggs on this temperatures.

On the picture i am running furmark.And still hitting 103 Degrees of C , with fans on 100%.
I am taking the card back to the shop and ill ask them to test every new card they will try to send me.And if everything fails i will ask my money back and go with something that is better at cooling.

[Dark Mantis]

I do know that these cards get very hot when working hard. What is the ambient temperature where you are at the moment ?

[tutyit]

I do know that these cards get very hot when working hard. What is the ambient temperature where you are at the moment ?

Sorry for the late reply !
Ambient is around 20 Degrees of C .
So I guess the ambient is ok.
The case has a side panel with dust protection but its grilled , so its open (from the side of the card).
I have one Noctua sucking out the hot air at the back of the case, while the CPU Noctua is pushing the air towards the back fan.
I have one 120mm fan blowing towards the GFX card fresh cold air, but i tried to move it next to the open side of he case so it actually sucks out the hot air, tried to reverse this aswell so its blowing fresh air on the card.
In all cases when i started up Furmark and left the factory default OC on the card , the temperature went up Rocket Sky and the worst it did not settled around 80 Degrees . It always went up, last time i tried the card was running on 105 Degrees of C and still growing...So i rather stopped the test.

The problem is, when i try to play Crysis 2 the game is heavy on the card , so its always running on 99%.
Temperatures rise after 5 minutes of play.
Another problem is I use the card for matrix computation in MATLAB.So I am using all the CUDA cores and the card needs to often run on 100% (so its peak power) and I seriously cannot afford to let my card run on more than 90 Degrees of C.I often run these test even more than 1 hour.I seriously dont want to try my luck running this card for 1 hour on 100% .
Thats a nonsense .

I have a well built system , no low quality components , good Fans and well designed case for air flow. I did cable management myself so I ensure maximum airflow .

The thing is tho, the adverts on Gigabyte website (and on the box for the GFX card) literally screams on me that it has better cooling thx to the Vapor chamber solution and the Windforce 3x heatsink while maintaining Quiet operation.
Well to be honest it doesnt do a single thing from these.
Fans running on 100% make noise of a Turbine and the Temps aren't friendly either.

I have a GTX260 (216 , Gigabyte) even with big overclock (750MHz on core and 1500MHz on shaders , 1100MHz on mem)  ,the card runs no more than 70 Degrees of C with my AC Extreme GTX2xx series cooling solution with 3 fans running on 40% .
Which is Ultra Quiet compared to the cooling solution on my GTX480SOC .

I would seriously replace the factory cooler solution with this :
http://www.arctic.ac/en/p/cooling/vga/376/accelero-xtreme-plus-ii.html?c=2182

But again it would ruin my guarantee .And since the 480 SOC is a custom built card idk if it will fit either.
So If you have any advices , it would be great !?
I trust Gigabyte , because i had no troubles with their GFX cards so far, but after this experience idk if Gigabyte is like before, or its just these cards are a pile of....whatever.

PS: I sent the card back for RMA but no answer yet.

Even some videos on youtube :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bnZKXOlHEp4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1FXtPXR7iWw&feature=related

And a review:
http://www.overclock3d.net/reviews/gpu_displays/gigabyte_gtx480_soc_review/8

I am nowhere near these temps.

[Dark Mantis]

Obviously douuble check your airflow through the case and try and make sure that it is fairly well ballanced maybe even with a slight positive internal pressure to help stop dust buildup. Much easier to change or add fans than anything else.

It could be that the card is indeed faulty and if that is the case hopefully it will be sorted out at the RMA centre. Please let us know what happens there.

[tutyit]

Obviously douuble check your airflow through the case and try and make sure that it is fairly well ballanced maybe even with a slight positive internal pressure to help stop dust buildup. Much easier to change or add fans than anything else.

It could be that the card is indeed faulty and if that is the case hopefully it will be sorted out at the RMA centre. Please let us know what happens there.

After almost a month i got back my card.
I received the same card, no repair , they just tested it and said its okay.
Yeah cool.
But the card is still running freakin 105 Degrees of C while playing Crysis 2 . Also a fun fact , i use CUDA for computing.
My card has to run 100% and its getting hot below 5 minutes.

This thing is faulty , at least the cooling is and they sent me back the damn thing...
Great service and I am stuck with a card on HIGH temps.
I have to order a better cooler for it for another 70 Euros.
So fun fact is i bought a card for 250 Euros + i have to buy a better cooler 70 Euros = 320 Euros in total.
For that price i can get an overclocked GTX570 .

Well I don't trust Gigabyte anymore that much...
How the holly cow on earth can this be normal a card running on 105 Degrees while reviews show 70 Degrees max ?
How can this be a not faulty product ?

I even demounted the MB from the case , tried the damn thing on open air with same results !!
Goddamit....

[tutyit]

So the solution is simple.
Buy a Arctic Cooling Accelero Extreme Plus II .
My temps are 83 Degrees of C in furmark  burn-in test after more than 5 minutes.
Compared to Gigabytes Windforce 3x's 105 Degrees of C after 3 minutes of burn-in , I guess its an awesome result!
Gigabyte should really reconsider its Windforce 3x cooling solution and rather use an aftermarket cooler like the Accelero Extreme Plus II.

[Dark Mantis]

I must admit if that is the best they can do I think that it is a good idea to change the cooler for something more extreme. You should have gone down the watercooling route and halved the temps. For what you paid it would be worth it. It does sound a bit high though even so at 105C as normal running temperature!

[tutyit]

I must admit if that is the best they can do I think that it is a good idea to change the cooler for something more extreme. You should have gone down the watercooling route and halved the temps. For what you paid it would be worth it. It does sound a bit high though even so at 105C as normal running temperature!

Well Gigabyte should really improve the Windforce 3 design and cooling capacity .
As it is now , its not doing the job too well.

So I spent more money then I wanted to .Very sad they did not replaced my card or fixed it somehow, just wrote me back test was ok.
Well then i guess Gigabyte should switch to Furmark for internal testing , because the test they use is kinda funny...

[Dark Mantis]

Did you just accept their report or did you challenge it when they wrote back to you ? Just because they say it is working or something you don't just have to accept it.

[tutyit]

Did you just accept their report or did you challenge it when they wrote back to you ? Just because they say it is working or something you don't just have to accept it.

I live in Slovakia.
They sent back the card and the test were performed in Gigabyte Poland .
Dont have email , nothing to even try to challenge them.
No luck with this mate.

No way I can get them to accept my stuff.

[Grozdan]

Why people never read some tests before buying stuff???

The best solution for this problem was never to buy gtx 480!

If you checked some better forums you would know that gtx 480 was a failed product regarding heat levels and power consumption! There are a lot of people on internet saying that their gtx 480 runs at 100°C so that's not gtx 480 manufacturer's fault (such as GBT) but nVidia's fail to make a good gpu!

Yes, the GBT's SOC model should have a better cooling since I saw some models of graphic cards with really nice scores but you'll have a lot of trouble convincing them to RMA your card because gtx 480 runs at 90-100°C (even with new bios) and that's OK according to nVidia!!!

[Dark Mantis]

Well that's from a man who obviously knows more aboiut Nvidia than I do (which isn't hard) and there is your answer. These cards do run hot but apparently on this particular card it is the norm. As Grozdan said a bit of checking into the card first would have warned you what you were buying. It is always the best thing before parting with your cash.