X1950XT too hot w/ Zalman

[Mandinga]

I have a Sapphire X1950XT equipped with a Zalman VF-900 cooler. I was
playing Lost Planet and about 10 minutes later CCC kicked me out of the game
because of GPU's high temp (It showed a warning). I checked the temp with
ATI tools and the GPU temp was about 95C.

I've had the XT for about a year and this is the 1st time I got kicked out
of a game due to overheating. I always thought the Zalman cooler would keep
it reasonably cool and never checked the temp before today. My XT isn't
overclocked and the idle temp is 55C-60C.

My case is an Antec 180P w/ 3 120mm case coolers and case air flow is not an
issue. The Zalman cooler's heatsink is hot, meaning that it makes good
contact with the GPU.

So, do I have a worse-quality XT?

 

[First of One]

3x 120mm fans in your Antec 180P, none of them located anywhere close to the
video card. Aftermarket coolers for the X1900/1950 do not exhaust hot air
out of the case, so the heated air recirculates.

I have two X1900XTs in Crossfire, each fitted with an Arctic Cooling
Accelero X2. My temps were even higher than yours (along with visual
artifacts indicating overheating), before I got a replacement Lian Li side
panel with a vent in the expansion slot area.

 

[Mandinga]

3x 120mm fans in your Antec 180P, none of them located anywhere close to
the video card. Aftermarket coolers for the X1900/1950 do not exhaust hot
air out of the case, so the heated air recirculates.

I have two X1900XTs in Crossfire, each fitted with an Arctic Cooling
Accelero X2. My temps were even higher than yours (along with visual
artifacts indicating overheating), before I got a replacement Lian Li side
panel with a vent in the expansion slot area.

I guess that Lost Planet pushed the GPU hard. Plus, it's hot in NY. You're
right in that the Zalman fan doesn't exhaust hot air out of the case. I'll
add an expansion slot fan or replace the Zalman cooler with a Block Koolance
Water Cooler, which has received glowing reviews everywhere.

 

[First of One]

With water cooling, keep in mind you still need airflow over the card to
cool the RAM and more importantly the VRMs. The VRMs can easily exceed 100C
during a game.

An easier solution is to see if you can get a replacement side panel from
the Antec P190. The P190 is an update to the P180 with, among other things,
a massive but quiet 200 mm fan on the side panel.

Antec has in the past made side panels interchangeable between two cases.
Confirm with Antec if this is true for the P180 and P190:
http://www.antec.com/NAnewticket.html

 

[Frodo]

Try replacing the thermal paste in the X1950XT.
I myself use Arctic Silver 5 on my X800XL, with aftermarket Heatsink/fan.

 

[Mandinga]

With water cooling, keep in mind you still need airflow over the card to
cool the RAM and more importantly the VRMs. The VRMs can easily exceed
100C
during a game.

An easier solution is to see if you can get a replacement side panel from
the Antec P190. The P190 is an update to the P180 with, among other
things,
a massive but quiet 200 mm fan on the side panel.

Antec has in the past made side panels interchangeable between two cases.
Confirm with Antec if this is true for the P180 and P190:
http://www.antec.com/NAnewticket.html

Contacted Antec and the side panel of the P190 doesn't fit with the P180.
I'll use water cooling and add a PCI slot exhaust fan right below my 1950XT.