So Who Wants Fan-Control for Their HD 4870 - Found a Workaround

[HonestJohn]

First of all, many thanks to Bretware on Guru3D who originally came up with the concept. See link below. Great little fix, single Card users only need to make two changes in the XML file created by your ATI Profile. I tried this and it worked perfectly using a fan-speed of 38%.

http://forums.guru3d.com/showpost.ph...69&postcount=8



First Enable Overdrive in the Catalyst Control Center.

Then Create a new Profile using the Profiles Manager in the CCC and make sure Save All Catalyst Control Center Settings is selected.


For Vista

Open any Folder, goto Organize Menu --> Folder and Search Options --> Select View Tab ---> Select "Show Hidden Files and Folders".

Then goto the following location and open the following file for editing "C:\Users\Your Windows ID\AppData\Local\ATI\ACE\Profiles\Your CCC Profile.XML. The xml file will have the same name as the Catalyst Profile you saved. right click and hit edit.


For XP

Open any Folder, goto Tools Menu --> Folder Options --> Select View Tab ---> Select "Show Hidden Files and Folders".

Then goto the following location and open the following file for editing "C:\Documents and Settings\Your Windows ID\Local Settings\Application Data\ATI\ACE\Profiles\Your CCC Profile.XML. The xml file will have the same name as the Catalyst Profile you saved. right click and hit edit.


HD 4850/HD4870 Users - should change the values below Bolded in Red within the Profile XML file.

<Feature name="FanSpeedAlgorithm_0">
<Property name="FanSpeedAlgorithm" value="Automatic" />
</Feature>
<Feature name="FanSpeedRPMTarget_0">
<Property name="Want" value="0" />
</Feature>
<Feature name="FanSpeedPercentTarget_0">
<Property name="Want" value="23" />


Crossfire Users - must also make identical changes to the section labeled <Feature name="FanSpeedAlgorithm_1">

<Feature name="FanSpeedAlgorithm_1">
<Property name="FanSpeedAlgorithm" value="Automatic" />
</Feature>
<Feature name="FanSpeedRPMTarget_1">
<Property name="Want" value="0" />
</Feature>
<Feature name="FanSpeedPercentTarget_1">
<Property name="Want" value="23" />


HD HD4870X2 Users - should change the values below Bolded in Red within the Profile XML file. Note if changing the section beginning FanSpeedAlgorithm_1 does not work, try making your changes in the section for FanSpeedAlgorithm_0. It seems results vary between brands of the X2.

<Feature name="FanSpeedAlgorithm_1">
<Property name="FanSpeedAlgorithm" value="Automatic" />
</Feature>
<Feature name="FanSpeedRPMTarget_1">
<Property name="Want" value="0" />
</Feature>
<Feature name="FanSpeedPercentTarget_1">
<Property name="Want" value="23" />


Change the "Property name="FanSpeedAlgorithm" value=" from "Automatic" to "Manual"

Then under "FanSpeedPercentTarget_x", change "Property name="Want" value=" from "23" to your desired fan speed.

Save the file then reload the Profile you just edited in the CCC. Done.



Edit 1:

After experimenting with my HIS HD4870 I found a fan-speed of 38% works best for me. My temps went from 79C at idle to 48C.

Edit 2:

Contrary to instructions posted on Guru3D by Bretware, most people are able to set their fan speed to "Automatic" rather than "Manual". Having it set to "Automatic" should allow the fan speed to ramp-up if needed beyond the fan-speed you entered. This doesn't work for me however and I must use "Manual".

Edit 3:

If you're using Catalyst Drivers 8.6 there is no "Profiles" Sub-Folder in Path and it will be created in C:\Documents and Settings\Your Windows ID\Local Settings\Application Data\ATI\ACE\Your CCC Profile.XML

[bill dennison]

thanks
mines idles at 76c but dosn't go over 84c may try this if they don't fix powerplay in next driver

[RuneMan]

Thanks! Worked for me...mine went from 79-80c idle to 54c idle with Fan at 35%....perfect!

[spyre]

Powerplay is fixed soon.

[HonestJohn]

Originally Posted by spyre

Powerplay is fixed soon.

Thanks Spyre, that's good news.

[jmscott42]

Interesting, these lines look like they might be able to override the BIOS for idle clocks..?
<Feature name="CoreClockTarget_0">
<Property name="Want_0" value="50000" />
<Property name="Want_1" value="50000" />
<Property name="Want_2" value="62500" />
</Feature>
<Feature name="MemoryClockTarget_0">
<Property name="Want_0" value="75000" />
<Property name="Want_1" value="75000" />
<Property name="Want_2" value="99300" />


(Edit: Just tried changing core to "16000" for Want_0 and Want_1, and Memory to 50000 for Want_0 and Want_1, but it didn't seem to work)

That said, fan controls are working great. idle temps down from 69-72 to around 52-53, and may still be dropping... (running at 50% fan)

[SSXeon]

Originally Posted by HonestJohn

Thanks Spyre, that's good news.

Hes been busy with that HD4870. (Lucky bastard)

[Broken Hope]

Originally Posted by spyre

Powerplay is fixed soon.

Are they just changing idle clocks, or will the fan speed be changed also?

[rflair]

Works great, set 35% fan speed, idle's at 45-46c now.

With the fan at only 35%, quite quiet, I loaded up FurRenderingBenchmark and set it for stability test, after 10 minutes temperature topped out at 81c. This is fantastic, especially for only 35% speed on a stock fan and running Fur benchmark. And this was with 790MHz on the core.

For those of you who never ran Fur benchmark nothing hits as hard as this.

[HonestJohn]

Originally Posted by rflair

Works great, set 35% fan speed, idle's at 45-46c now.

With the fan at only 35%, quite quiet, I loaded up FurRenderingBenchmark and set it for stability test, after 10 minutes temperature topped out at 81c. This is fantastic, especially for only 35% speed on a stock fan and running Fur benchmark. And this was with 790MHz on the core.

For those of you who never ran Fur benchmark nothing hits as hard as this.

Just saw your post on the "other" forum. Thanks, I was looking for a good stress test outside of the OC Utilities. I was running two intsances of this .....

http://www.daionet.gr.jp/~masa/rthdribl/

Probably not as taxing as the Fur one. Thanks.

[iceman0124]

Works great for the 4850 too, @55% I get 45c idle and 71 with 30 minutes of ATI tools artifact tester, cool down to 50c takes about 45 seconds. Thanks!

For the 4850 55% is the threshold between noise and performance, at 55 its barely audible above my case fans, at 60 its downright irratating.

[friskyolive]

doesn't rivatuner work for controlling fan speed?

[HonestJohn]

Originally Posted by friskyolive

doesn't rivatuner work for controlling fan speed?

Not yet for the 4800 series. In about a month I heard.

[splinter cell]

Thx a lot, this is really helping me with the temp
Room Temp 25C Stock Clock and Fan Speed(20%)
My HIS 4870 is idle @ 77~79
Running 30Mins game (wow/ Grid)
Temp go up to 83C

After Auto OC the Card with the ATi Overdrive 780/1090
Fan Running at a nearly slient level 27%
Idle @ 52~53 now (79C)
Running 30Mins game only 84C (85C)
it is a big drop at idle
And finally I found that the Stock cooler is just more than enough for my 4870
(if there is power safe Fixed and Fan speed controling)

[KickAssCop]

This is great news.

[Jaillum Malord]

Temps still going down. I was gonna hold of till ATI sorted it out but sack it, i change my mind. Cheers fella.

[acroig]

I hope everyone repped HJ for his most excellent find!

[bill dennison]

question playing with this "Automatic" to "Manual" dosn't seam to matter on one i set to automatic and 33%
it still sets it to 33%
but will "Automatic" let it ramp up higher if it needs to go higher?

[HonestJohn]

Originally Posted by acroig

I hope everyone repped HJ for his most excellent find!

Thanks for the plug Acroig and yes they did, I got a total of two.

To be honest though a lot of the guys already rep'd me for the other thread where I posted the pics of the card. So they wouldn't be able to do it again so soon anyway.

[bill dennison]

the cooler is to good at 33% i can't get it over 71c with ati tool's test, don't have anything that will heat it up more

[jmscott42]

I haven't seen any signs that the fan ramps up higher (or lower) than the preset. that worried me a bit until I realised that my 4850 almost never went over 24% fan anyway, so locking it to 40% should be fine.

If I know I'll be gaming a bit more than usual I may kick it up to 50-60% since it's so easy to do at this point...

I did notice that when I booted my PC today, the fans went to 40% automatically (What I have them at through this tip)-- I only have one profile I created, does it just apply that automatically?

[HonestJohn]

Originally Posted by bill dennison

the cooler is to good at 33% i can't get it over 71c with ati tool's test, don't have anything that will heat it up more

You should try this one. rflair suggested this one a few posts up and he was right. It does a great job at cooking your card. Easy to use and very configurable.

Fur Mark
http://www.ozone3d.net/benchmarks/fur/

The other stress test I was using would push my card to 70c. This one after 30 min. had it at 85C and after an hour almost 90C with my fan at 35%.

Also I did some stress testing with the utility I linked you to above.

Without the Profile hack my temps jumped to 85c within 2-3 minutes. After 30 minutes or so temps climbed to 90C.

Now, using the profile fan hack, it took 30 min. before temps reached 85C and climbed to 90C after an hour with the fan at 35%.

So an educated guess would be that the fan default ramp speed (without hack) is likely 23% idle and 35%-37% under-load. My ears also agree with this as I never heard the fan spin up higher than 40% when at the default fan speeds. Interestingly, these were almost the same fan speeds the Hot 8800GT used when they were first released.

[Sound_Card]

..

[acroig]

Originally Posted by HonestJohn

Thanks for the plug Acroig and yes they did, I got a total of two.

The system wouldn't let me rep you so I owe ya.

[acroig]

Originally Posted by Sound_Card

Well like I said, I don't know.

I was about to say the same thing!

"Soon". (TM)

[HonestJohn]

Originally Posted by acroig

I was about to say the same thing!

"Soon". (TM)

Thanks Acroig. Soon, as in next release? Hotfix? Whatever...Yeah! Perhaps that's what those settings are there for in the Profile.XML that we've been editing manually. The new fan-control function in the CCC! Hummm....

[Rombat]

Oh yeah guys if you have another 4870 (crossfire) you can change the setting of the second card listed as:

FanSpeedAlgorithm_1

I got both my card at 40%...

First card reading at: 46c
Second card reading at: 39c

[HonestJohn]

Originally Posted by Rombat

Oh yeah guys if you have another 4870 (crossfire) you can change the setting of the second card listed as:

FanSpeedAlgorithm_1

I got both my card at 40%...

First card reading at: 46c
Second card reading at: 39c

Thanks for adding that Rombat, saw somebody over on HardForum mention that to, but I never updated the first post.

[becco]

Idle



Load



fan @ 45%

[Jaillum Malord]

I got the new fan speed to stick everytime i boot up windows so i don't have to activate the profile everytime by ticking the overdrive box in my general profiles under profile manager. Currently got it at 31% and idling @ 54 degrees which is a hell of a lot better than 78.

Nice one fella