My X1950 fan increases speed every few minute for about a minute - normal?

[9nines]

I have a Powercolor X1950, using CodeBasher's Catalyst 6.9 drivers. I have had the card for a week and I have just noticed the fan coming on or moving to higher speed, the last two nights. I will be playing a game and every few minutes the fan will come on/higher speed for just a minute or so. I might not have noticed it until now but it seems to have just started the last two nights.

I check the temperature, when the fan does this and the reading is 74 to 75 Celsius. I have also checked when the fan is not loud and if playing a game it is also around those readings.

Also, it seems my card gets rid of heat well, as it stays in mid 70s while playing games, even for a couple of hours and once I stop playing and it idles, it drops to high 60s, fairly quickly.

Should the fan come on/increase speed for short periods like that every few minutes? Is that how it is supposed to work or does it indicate a problem?

 

[TanisHalfElven]

it just mean the lower speed is unable to deal with the heat and the higher speed is too efficient at dealing with the heat. so they try to obtain equilibrium. why not try manually setting fan speed in ati tool or ati tray tools. nothingto worry about.

 

[9nines]

Thanks. Will the up and down speed on the fan wear the fan out faster?

 

[hmorphone]

Originally posted by: 9nines
Thanks. Will the up and down speed on the fan wear the fan out faster?

No.

 

[jiffylube1024]

Originally posted by: 9nines
Thanks. Will the up and down speed on the fan wear the fan out faster?

It shouldn't - these fans are rated for very long lives.

The card produces a lot of heat, and the exhaust system is not perfect (far from it, actually), so head builds up in the case.

As heat builds up, GPU temperature creeps up, and so the fan speed goes up little by little.

So, what you're hearing is perfectly normal.

 

[BFG10K]

Yes. it's normal. Several reviewers noticed the fan spins up for a brief period during gaming.

 

[40sTheme]

Hehe, this sounds like my friends crappy FX5500. It revs up like a vacuum sometimes. It's hilarious.

 

[josh6079]

Originally posted by: 40sTheme
Hehe, this sounds like my friends crappy FX5500.

Not so much.

It revs up like a vacuum sometimes. It's hilarious.

I've noticed that with the X1950XTX's fan on ~50% it has a great air flow per noise ratio. The idle got down to 42 C with that speed. On an X1900 that is awesome.

 

[dalearyous]

i have 1900xtx and mine does the same thing. i just went and got ATI tools and changed all the fan settings. i tend to run the fan a little high becuase it helps keep my chipset cool considering the card covers half the chipset. without ATI tools, i had cooling problems.

 

[robkas]

are you sure the fan isn't increasing when you are running 3d apps or watching streaming videos?