# Recommended Fan Speed Settings for x1900



## Captain_Vegetable (May 26, 2006)

At default settings, my X1900 XTX fan seems to be speeding up and slowing down constantly during Battlefield 2.  Can anyone suggest fan speeds that would help keep the card at a more constant temperature during gaming?


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## PaulC2K (May 29, 2006)

To be quite honest with you, I wouldnt bother messing with it, i'd just head out and buy the Arctic Accelero X2 cooler!
I've only just got my X1900 XTX and no amount of tweaking is going to make too much difference when playing a GPU intensive app, but the volume of the Accelero at 100% or anything lower is completely drowned out by other computer noises.
My Zalmans 9500 CPU cooler is louder than the Accelero, and thats one of the quieter coolers on the market, but im getting ever so slightly lower figures with this cooler, but its basically running silent instead.

I've yet to play any games with the machine since building it all up a few days ago and the cooler was fitted only 24hrs ago, and it truely is a godsend compared to the standard cooler, im sure ATI must have shares in these aftermarket coolers, there has to be a reason they come standard with poor/noisy coolers!!


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## trog100 (May 29, 2006)

the trouble is it pumps a 100 watts of heat straight into the case.. think big light bulb.. this make both the zalman and artic accelero crap gpu cooler in my estimation.. at least the stock ati cooler shifts most of it outside the case..

if artic came up with something similar to their x850 range i would buy one straight away.. but not their accelero thing.. 

trog


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## POGE (May 29, 2006)

trog100 said:
			
		

> the trouble is it pumps a 100 watts of heat straight into the case.. think big light bulb.. this make both the zalman and artic accelero crap gpu cooler in my estimation.. at least the stock ati cooler shifts most of it outside the case..
> 
> trog


Agreed.  Lap your stock cooler.  There really isnt much better you can buy right now.  I wonder if you could reverse the fan on the X2?


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## trog100 (May 29, 2006)

my aproach to the 1900xtx toaster has been a new case.. he he

a big 140mm fan on the front and 120mm on the side both blowing at the grafx card.. plus my zalman 9500 cpu cooler blows down on it as well..

the result is a noisier system than my (very quiet) x850 one and its all down to the 1900xtx toaster.. he he he

trog


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## PaulC2K (May 29, 2006)

Yeah, I was a little disappointed when I saw the Accelero wasnt feeding the air out of the case, however its not raised the temps inside my machine at idle (and its had 2 extra HDs running since putting the new cooler on it). Granted its hardly the perfect testing ground to use to form a conclusion, but I know for a fact that my system is a damn sight quiter than it would be had i left the stock cooling on there.

One thing i'd definately agree with is the case, Ive got the Thermaltake Armor which has 2x 120mm fans, one on the front blowing over the 3xHDD holder which is slightly lower than the Zalman 9500 CPU cooler, and thats blowing air straight into the 2nd 120mm fan which slings it out the back.
Theres also a 90mm fan just above the rear 120 on the 2nd HDD holder, the PSU is blowing air that way also (side mounted) and theres also a 90mm fan on the roof along with a covered vent about 30cm x 10cm in oval shape, and theres only cool air coming out of there  atm.
So i'd say that as long as your machine is capable of taking that stored heat out of the case, then theres no reason to point your nose up at this cooler. It would have been better to have the air blown out, god knows why it doesnt, but its doing a great gob without making a sound, and I suspect it'll be just fine in my circumstances under whatever load.


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## Azn Tr14dZ (May 29, 2006)

The Zalman 9500 is supposed to be blowing towards the rear isn't it? It suck warm air from the fron/top middle, then send it back to the exhaust fan on the rear. That's what I was going to do if I didn't get the Big Typhoon (Which is a little better).


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## trog100 (May 29, 2006)

the reason artic havnt done the sensible exhaust out the back thing is two fold most folks dont care about it and sli or crossfire.. the older cooler was tooo big..

but as an example with my old case and very quite x850 artic silencer cooled system.. the case ambient was no more than 1.5c above room ambient under full load.. 

simply removing the artic cooled x850 xt pe type card  and fitting the 1900xtx raised the case temps by at least 5c.. okay my case design priority was silent running not tornado cooling.. 

i am sure pumping the 100 watts of heat into the case with an accelero would have raised the case temps by another 5c at least..

so i would have ended up with a case temp of 12c or so over room.. not acceptable.. either way more noise comes in.. more case fans mean more noise..  card heat into case means more case fans to get rid of it.. 

my bottom line thoughts are... card heat needs to go out the case in the first place.. not doing so mean more case fans.. more case fans mean more noise and crap blowing into the machine.. 

sooo why the bloody hell dont artic produce a sensible solution for the 1900 cards like they did for the x800/850 cards.. a nice quite gpu cooler that that dosnt need more case fans.. 

when they do i will buy one instantly.. until they do i wont buy one on principle.. turning a grfx card into a 100 watt case heater just aint on in my books when there aint any need for it.. 

it isnt just noise.. its dust.. the more air u have to blow thru your case.. the more crap gets carried in.. the more often it all needs stripping down and cleaning.. filters dont work cos again filters pretty much destroy airflow.. which means even more fans and even more noise..

soooo i think the new artic accelero 100 watt case heater is a total piece of crap and they need a kick up the arse for producing it... he he he 

trog

ps.. my noise problem now isnt my grfx card thow i can just hear it start to whine if i play oblivion.. it isnt my 9500 zalman cpu cooler.. its just my two 120mm and single 140mm case fans.. but however i look at it.. it comes down to having to get rid of the extra heat being generated by my toasty 1900xtx grafx card..


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## PaulC2K (May 29, 2006)

hmmm, you might wanna look at some half decent case fans there trog, my Zal9500 is the only thing i can hear, the Akasa Amber series fans are one of the quieter ones on the market and all my case fans were replaced with these the instance the case arrived because i knew the ones included wouldnt be as good (they could be pretty impressive for all i know, just wont be as good as the Akasa ones). In fact it took an extra day for the other 2 120mm fans i was waiting for to arrive, i'd ordered one a while back to see what they were like, and the case fan was rather noisy (and had blue LEDs which i didnt want either).

I agree the hot air should be sent out and not blown around the machine, but in your case it sounds like the issue is that things are already very noisy and by not sending the heat out its not going to get pushed out by the case cooling solutions. 
Im sure you'd agree 2x 120mm + 3x 80mm when we've both got the same CPU cooler (so noise should be identical) that those 5 fans should make more noise than 2x 120mm + 1x 140mm right? yet if you can hear them over the CPU cooler i'd say they're 3 bl**dy noisy fans!

Maybe our cases are making a difference and room temps might too, i dunno.


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## Incandescent (May 30, 2006)

*Same here...*

I too have an x1900.

I actually like to be able to hear the fans change in speeds as it a very good indicator of the temp without seeing the temp, if you follow me. When the fan speeds up and then gradually slows down, I know everything is working normally. When it stays on, I know there is a potential problem.

I have this case and it is perfect for keeping any Vid card cool with the stock fan:

http://www.aerocool.us/p-case/extremengine3t/extremengine3t.htm

They are only $60 at NewEgg.com

Laters.


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## trog100 (May 30, 2006)

my zalman cpu fan is pretty near silent.. my two akasas 120mm fans are both slowed right down to just over 1000 rpm.. about as quiet as u can get.. the built in 140mm fan makes the most noise..

they are not noisy fans..  noise is a relative term.. he he..

my system isnt really noisy i just got spoilt my having a near silent one before.. i only get a gentle whooshing sound.. but its a whooshing sound i didnt have.. perhaps i just got overly spoilt.. he he he

trog

ps.. i have something similar to the one incandescent has.. mine has a clear plastic side with provision for two 120mm fans instead of the one big 250mm one.. i only have the one 120mm fan fitted thow..


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