# 6990 Watercooled Temp Question



## Ricin (Jun 19, 2011)

I wonder if anyone can help me please. I recently bought a 6990 then over this weekend fitted a waterblock just like with my old 5970.

Well so far it seems solid it will run Heaven Benchmark for hours no problem. Also seems good in games.

Now my question is this I use GPUZ to monitor the temps to make sure everything is OK. The GPU for both cores seem fine the Vram seems fine both cores.

The one that is concerning me is on Core1 what does GPU Temp #1, GPU Temp #2, GPU Temp #3 measure any ideas please ?

Specially GPU Temp #3 after gaming I have seen that go over 100c on Core1. Core2 is always much much cooler than that. Even just in normal Windows 7 it runs around the 75c to 80c which seems hot to me.

I did try Furmark for about 1 minute then had to close it down. On Core 1 GUP Temp #3 got to 150c and I shut it down at that point before any problems happened.






Core 1




Core 2


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## pavithra_uk (Jun 19, 2011)

these temps (GPU Temp #1,2,3) may not indicate GPU core temps, It may be various area of card like Memory, VRM.

try to point a fan in to cards Memory area and VRM area, then check temps for any change..


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## St.Alia-Of-The-Knife (Jun 19, 2011)

GPU Temperature is for sure the core temp
Temp #1 maybe a sensor near the core since temperature are similar
Temp #2 and #3 should be two rows of ram next to the core which is not being cooled by the    water block, which explains the high temps
VReg is obviously the vid card VRM module


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## Ricin (Jun 19, 2011)

Thanks for that responses so far guys. 

Pavithra good idea on trying a fan over the card never thought of that I will dig one out and give it a go.

St-Alia I am fairly sure its not the RAM. There are 8 RAM Chips on the front of the card & 8 on the back. The ones on the front are covered by the waterblock its a full cover waterblock each RAM chip has a thermal pad on it to make sure they get good contact.

On the back of the card the 8 chips are covered by the original metal cover. I cant see the would get that hot to be honest. Otherwise ATI would have put a fan to blow over the back if you see what I mean.


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## PHaS3 (Jun 19, 2011)

The AMD GPU Temp sensors usually work as follows:

Temp 1 = Display IO (Display controller in GPU)
Temp 2 = Memory IO (internal memory controller in GPU)
Temp 3 = Shader (internal temperature in the shader core)

All the sensors are inside the GPU itself, not on the card. The MemIO Sensor is usually the hottest. The sensor for the VRMs is listed separately, and not included in those temps. The RAM itself doesn't have a temp sensor AFAIK.

Normally on the dual GPU cards one GPU is hotter than the other, sometimes its due to one GPU doing more work, or the cooler itself.


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## Ricin (Jun 19, 2011)

Ahh so if its inside the core itself. As long as the card is stable you think I should pretty much ignore it ?

The waterblock has good contact on the core as you can see the actual core is only at 48c. Even gaming it does not much get above 65c ish. 

Never thought I should have looked at the temps before I took the air cooler off lol.

Anyone that has a 6990 running on Air Cooler. If you would not mind please post up your temps when your card is sat idle. Thanks


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## PHaS3 (Jun 19, 2011)

from what i see in your pics of the 2 core temps, it looks like something is using core 1, its clocked up slightly (450MHz vs 250MHz) and the vcore is 1.0v as opposed to the 0.9 of the other core. Looks like some video playing or something, even a 720p you tube video can clock up the cores. 

Also, are you running the latest Catalyst version (11.6)?


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## W1zzard (Jun 19, 2011)

PHaS3 said:


> All the sensors are inside the GPU itself, not on the card. The MemIO Sensor is usually the hottest. The sensor for the VRMs is listed separately, and not included in those temps. The RAM itself doesn't have a temp sensor



that.

the dispio/... locations you listed were confirmed on some older asics, for newer generation gpus nobody outside ati/amd knows


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## PHaS3 (Jun 19, 2011)

W1zzard said:


> that.
> 
> the dispio/... locations you listed were confirmed on some older asics, for newer generation gpus nobody outside ati/amd knows



Interesting... Thanks W1z. I assumed that the locations on a 69xx would be same as 58xx / 59xx. Didn't think AMD would have any reason to change their locations on such a "minor" architecture change.  I stand corrected though, thanks again


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## Ricin (Jun 19, 2011)

Not running anything in the background no vids etc. I think it might have something to do with Windows 7 Aero might be the difference in the core speeds at idle.

Yeah running 11.6 Cats as I say it seems OK in games etc. Runs good fps etc no stuttering or problems. Just a scary high temp that can reach. Specially with Furmark I wont be running that again lol 

Had the waterblock off & on about 4 times temps always do about the same as above. Maybe it just runs that way. It seems to kick out some serious heat I have it rigged up to a 120.3 with 3 120mm fans running flat out when gaming to keep it cool.

Not so bad when idle also gives me a chance to turn the fans right down.


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## Law-II (Jun 19, 2011)

Ricin said:


> Not running anything in the background no vids etc. I think it might have something to do with Windows 7 Aero might be the difference in the core speeds at idle.
> 
> Yeah running 11.6 Cats as I say it seems OK in games etc. Runs good fps etc no stuttering or problems. Just a scary high temp that can reach. Specially with Furmark I wont be running that again lol
> 
> ...



Hi

When you fitted the block, did you check that you had good contact between the thermal pads and the block; from past experience not all PSB's are equal and VRM hight varies. If you did check before your final build all well and good, but the temps on GPU 3 look a little high.

nb: you may have inadvertently knocked a thermal pad out of position! which could course this issue.

atb

Law-II


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## Ricin (Jun 19, 2011)

Yeah tried to make sure each one had contact fully. Also tightened down the screws in the correct order etc. 

The pads are double sided stick and stick to the card so they can not move. But to answer your question. Yes I put the block in place took the block off made sure nothing moved etc. 

I might try that idea above with the fan blow that across it slowly moving from one end to the other. Monitoring the temps. If that has an effect may be its not good enough contact as you say.

But if the temps are on the GPU and that runs at 48c. Then I cant see there is a lot I can do about it.

I do agree though Temp 3 is pretty bad. Just cant understand how that is so high yet on Core2 it seems half the temp.

Would really like to see someone that has one on Air post up there idle temps. I should have done that to mine before putting the waterblock on. Then again hindsight is a wonderful thing


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## Law-II (Jun 19, 2011)

Ricin said:


> Yeah tried to make sure each one had contact fully. Also tightened down the screws in the correct order etc.
> 
> The pads are double sided stick and stick to the card so they can not move. But to answer your question. Yes I put the block in place took the block off made sure nothing moved etc.
> 
> ...



Hi

Just having a look around found this; may be worth having a look around the web 

nb: Looking at the PCB layout of the HD 6990 the issue could be VPU 1 & Bridge chip being almost on top of each other; which may inturn allowing heat to build up in that section of the PCB 

pic's here http://hothardware.com/Reviews/AMD-Radeon-HD-6990-Review-Antilles-Has-Arrived/?page=3

atb

Law-II

" EK Water Block for 6990 - 04-06-2011, 17:27 | posts: 2,097 | Location: uk nottingham 
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Got the EK block fitted to the 6990 big improvement very quiet pc again and temps vastly improved.

AMD stock cooler the idle temps were 48c and running benchmarks using the fast bios it would top out at 90c now with water block idle temp is 33c and highest so far running heaven is 52c and this is with adding the card to the cpu loop.

http://forums.guru3d.com/showthread.php?t=342220 
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Last edited by John Dolan; 04-06-2011 at 19:02.


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## silkstone (Jun 19, 2011)

if in doubt, reapply the block and see if that "fixes" it. the only time i have had sensors give values more than 5 degrees apart is when the heatsink was unevenly applied, even if you think you've put it on as carefully as possible, it still could be crooked.


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## Ricin (Jun 19, 2011)

Thanks for the search. I am using the very same waterblock as in your link an EK Nickel one.

Might take off the waterblock again fit it one more time then see if that helps. Just been playing Witcher 2 with it been rock solid.

Come out of game checked and Temp 3 maxed out at 107c on Core 1 on Core 2 maxed at 46c something must be wrong somewhere. 

With the EK waterblock you basically put new thermal pads on pretty much exact same spots as with the Air Cooler.


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## Wrigleyvillain (Jun 19, 2011)

Uh are you aware of the serious issues with EK nickel blocks right now? How long have you had it?


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## Law-II (Jun 19, 2011)

Wrigleyvillain said:


> Uh are you aware of the serious issues with EK nickel blocks right now? How long have you had it?



Hi

article here; http://www.techpowerup.com/147407/EKWB-Halts-Nickel-Plated-Water-Block-Production.html

atb

Law-II


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## Ricin (Jun 19, 2011)

Hmm well was not aware of the Nickel issue with EK I will have to keep an eye on the block. It has a plexi cover so should be OK to see I would think. Had an EK block on my old 5970 for well over a year. I trust EK if there is an issue they will replace it.

As an update thank you to everyone that has posted. It seems I have finally fixed it  what finally did it was reinstalling the waterblock for the millionth time lol.

This info may be of some use. The guys that said GPU Temp #1 to #3 that it reads off of the GPU are 100% correct.

When I took off the waterblock I could see there was no thermal paste on GPU Core 1 on thee top left hand corner of the GPU. Rest of the GPU was fine had paste. That area must have been overheating paste must have smeared when I fitted it last time. 

No idea if its of any help to know those 3 readings come from that corner of the GPU or not lol but it appears it is....

Now the new screenshots...

Core 1 idle 




Core 2 idle




Core 1 after 5 mins of Furmark. Now before under 30 seconds GPU Temp #3 hit 150c. This time around ran it 5 mins it settled massive difference in temp.




Core 2 after 5 mins of Furmark.


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## silkstone (Jun 20, 2011)

99% of the time, any big discrepancies in temps are caused by incorrectly applied heatsinks. It's always worth double checking as it can be more dangerous to have an incorrectly seated heatsink as none at all. Usually the overheat protection kicks right in and shuts down your gpu, but i think it only monitors one of the temps, so if one is low, but the others are high i would imagine you could fry your card.


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