Asus HD 7970 Matrix Platinum........Artifacting?

[hardtarget]

I have just purchased the above card and all seemed ok until I started playing "World of Tanks". Does anyone know what sort of temps I should be getting with this card? Game is set to max everything and resolution is 1920x1080. After about an hour of playing this game it started to artifact so bad I had to quit the game. I am worried I might damaging the card if I continue to play my favourite game, but surly this card should be able to handle the game at max settings, as my friend is using a Gigabyte Windforce Ghz 7970 in an almost identical system and case and his temps are approximately 56? where as mine are hitting 75?? I was using the official 13.1 drivers and have since installed the 13.3 Beta, but still getting the same problem. Could it be a faulty card or as my friend thinks it may be that the thermal paste is not making contact with the GPU? Previous to this I had an EVGA GTX 680 at the same settings and it never once gave me a problem or got hot like the Asus 7970. I don't want RMA due to the hassle especially with Asus in the UK unless I have to. The card is at factory settings. Room tempature 20?.

[subzero 1979]

replace tim and try the card in another mobo,

[hardtarget]

replace tim and try the card in another mobo,

Won't replacing the TIM invalidate the warranty? If not what's the best TIM to use or does it really matter?

[STEvil]

Tighten screws on the back of the card and set fan profiles to be 100% by 70c. If that doesnt fix your card go get your money back.

There are 3 defects with the Asus 7970 GHZ edition.

1: The screws on the heatsinks and back plates are never tight
2: The heatsink has a tendency to "tilt" on the GPU die even when "tight" due to mounting screws being wrong length.
3: Heatsink system is poor


See this thread: http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/...0mhz%29-take-2

[hardtarget]

You were right Ste, of the four screws two were ok, one was slighly loose and the fourth took three turns to tighten it back up Temps are now ok (approx 10 degrees less than before) One last thing is it worth taking the block off and applying some new paste, if so what would you recommend?

[Ivanlabrie]

Get Coollaboratory Liquid Ultra for the die, should lower temps 10-15c more. Watch the video on how to apply it at youtube though, it's not a regular tim.
Also, watch out with it touching exposed electrical parts (you should only paint the top of the die and the heatsink surface that will do contact with it)

[STEvil]

Maybe 5c better, if that. When properly applied thats about the best you get between the best and an average TIM, assuming the heatsink isnt concave or convex..

[AMDforME]

Yup, Coollaboratory TIM is very over rated IME. 5C would be about right compared to the OE TIM but even less with any of the top 25 TIMs, IME. A couple degress C is usually not worth the cost and other issues (electrically conductive), even for Xtremists.

[hardtarget]

Spoke too soon, was playing world of tanks again last night and I started to get artifacts once more. The temps were down 10 degrees, but I still get the same problems. I did not replace the thermal paste as I did not want to invalidate the cards warrenty. I have included a video (low quality) via youtube.

[Leeghoofd]

Same deal here mate, I needed to drop down clocks in BF4 to 1000-1600 else it would artifact the hell out of me... Two months later the card no longer does 3D... 3rd RMA, I realy hope I get a new one... this card always had fan and voltage problems from day one...

[STEvil]

yeah, at this point should be trying for money back or a today card based on original price paid for the 7970..

[madmaxx]

I'll never buy an Asus product again. Ever.

Hope you all get sorted proper.