XFX 7900XT merc 310 high junction temperature

[direstorm]

Dear direstorm

Hope to see some pictures and results from your modification. I tried to interpret "tape around the gcd", but my imagination is limited to understand that.
I had amazing results with liquid metal on my intel 8700K delid back in the days.


My card and block was sent to Alphacool for a closer look.

I did some experimenting with liquid metal and it seems my suspicions were correct. The GCD didn't even touch the plate from the waterblock. I tried to shave .5mm from all the washers and even then the GCD didn't touch the plate. I think Alphacool screwed up the engineering on this one. I went back to thermal paste and I got better results now that the GCD is closer to the plate and the paste was thick enough. I think Alphacool needs to re-engineer this because they are way off on their measurements.

 

[juanpcm]

Ive been having the same problem, reached 105, been searching like crazy online to find answers till this morning decided to go to alphacool website and found this forums, I see the issue is not resolved? My card has almost the same temps with stock air cooler, I have a 7900 xtx reference.. i have remounted it 3 time, different thermal paste, last time Hydronaut, but nothings changed.. actually, i think its worse, now i have to cap 2500 and power -10 to keep it cool, any news about it?

 

[DirtyAlpaca]

Ive been having the same problem, reached 105, been searching like crazy online to find answers till this morning decided to go to alphacool website and found this forums, I see the issue is not resolved? My card has almost the same temps with stock air cooler, I have a 7900 xtx reference.. i have remounted it 3 time, different thermal paste, last time Hydronaut, but nothings changed.. actually, i think its worse, now i have to cap 2500 and power -10 to keep it cool, any news about it?

I had direct contact with Alphacool's testing lab after they received my card and waterblock.
They have told me they could not replicate my problem with all the benchmarks they used. The highest hotspot temperature achieved was 58°C on their end.
I'm astonished, but the test is still ongoing and waiting for a final verdict any time soon.

 

[juanpcm]

wow thats crazy, i was hoping for 70 when i bought the block... 60s sounds amazing, please let me know when you find out, weird they are getting 58, but us 90s..

 

[Fredibob]

I had direct contact with Alphacool's testing lab after they received my card and waterblock.
They have told me they could not replicate my problem with all the benchmarks they used. The highest hotspot temperature achieved was 58°C on their end.
I'm astonished, but the test is still ongoing and waiting for a final verdict any time soon.

What are they using? OCCT worked best for me to generate instant high temps

 

[IcyStorm]

Before i start i hope i can use that thread otherwise i will start a new one...
Alphacool Eiswolf 2 AIO - 360mm RX 7900XTX/XT Taichi - Phantom with Backplate

I am reading all this, and i am shocked... I have 7900XTX Taichi and temps on Cyberpunk are 95C on HotSpot and GPU cur temp is 60C. Really not sure what to do. Room temperature is 22C. My fans are Noctua way better then the stock...

On stock ASRock fans - i had 110C all the time, if the game is more heavy....

What is mega interestig even on 15% power limit - 440-460W i still dont get anything above 97-98C....

 

[DirtyAlpaca]

@IcyStorm

Hello fellow watercooler

It is, for your best benefit, wise to create a separate thread in the support sub-forum.
Make sure your thread is well-thought-out, filled with screenshots and pictures of your build.
Don't forget to add some information about your setup.

Good luck.

Vanzin is currently on summer vacation and I'm truly hoping to see my card return in the upcoming days along with some good news.

 

[Vanzin]

Hi,

@DirtyAlpaca Thanks for your post, that I am on vacation. The GPU has been send back to you and you should already receive it back.

Unfortunately we couldn´t recreate the problem from @DirtyAlpaca with his own GPU, which he had send us. The only problem we could find out, was that the imprint on the GPU DIE itself was very bad. After remounting the water block, we didn´t have the problem. Therefore we are thinking that there was just a small mounting problem. For all affected GPU´s we recommend to remount the water block as written in the manual. FIrst tighten the Screws around the GPU DIE clockwise handtight. If you have a torgue screwdriver it is 1-1,5nm. After that tighten the other screws. We also highly recommend to tighten all screws identical to avoid any bending due pressure problems on the PCB.

 

[DarknightOCR]

I've been watching this topic, for the least reasons.
perhaps he was one of the first (at least here on the forum) to acquire the block for a 7900XTX merc.
And in my case, from the beginning I also had high temperatures in the hotspot.

initially I think it was from the Zero past application that came included.
I had it for a few days, but in some games it easily went over 90ºC

I disassembled the block, and applied Mx-2 to see the differences, initially it looked better, but after 2 days the high temperatures returned.

I decided to buy new Pads, TP3 from artic, because the original ones with assembly and disassembly were already damaged.

Then I used Kryonaut paste to see if it improved.
identical result...
90ºC and more, easily and without OC or PL.
I went back to dismantling and reassembling, always doing the same procedure and doing everything right as I instructed in the tutorial, I applied MX-6 (it was the only one I was missing from the ones I had here at home)
same sh*t....

Finally I only had to apply liquid metal.
it turned out better than any of the pastes used, but it still gets close to 90ºC in some games.

As for the PCB, it does exactly the same as the picture shown here, it is bent.
Right now I can't take a picture, but over the weekend I'll show you how it is.

Everything done as instructed in the manual.

I've been using WC on my PC for over 20 years and I've had dozens of block graphics and nothing similar has ever happened to me.

the stock cooler is almost better than the water block.

I was waiting for the answer to the user's problem, but since you didn't go over 58ºC, it just shows that something is wrong, and it won't be in the user's bad application, because on the net there are several topics with the same problems with alphacool blocks, they won't all be bad, assembling a block in a graphic

something is done there by you differently, or the test is done differently so that there is so much difference between your values and the values of all customers

 

[DanieLx1]

Hello Alphacool-Community,

i have the exact same Issue of a bent PCB when the Block is installed. As a result i get a Hotspot Temperature of 105-110°C, even at Stock Powerlimit. The picture below shows the bending of the Card.



The Imprint of thermal paste shows that there is barely, if any, contact in the middle of the GPU-Die.


I assembled the Card a total of three times exactly like the manual stated, to no avail. If the Screws are tightened until they stop the PCB has no other choice but to bend, as the Mounting Standoffs are too short. That is the impression i get from it.

But i find it surprising, that Alphacool couldn't recreate this. Are they using more thermal paste to bridge the gap in the middle perhaps? I tried to get as thin of a spread as possible, as more material means more heat resistance.

 

[direstorm]

Hello Alphacool-Community,

i have the exact same Issue of a bent PCB when the Block is installed. As a result i get a Hotspot Temperature of 105-110°C, even at Stock Powerlimit. The picture below shows the bending of the Card.

View attachment 5376

The Imprint of thermal paste shows that there is barely, if any, contact in the middle of the GPU-Die.
View attachment 5377

I assembled the Card a total of three times exactly like the manual stated, to no avail. If the Screws are tightened until they stop the PCB has no other choice but to bend, as the Mounting Standoffs are too short. That is the impression i get from it.

But i find it surprising, that Alphacool couldn't recreate this. Are they using more thermal paste to bridge the gap in the middle perhaps? I tried to get as thin of a spread as possible, as more material means more heat resistance.

I'm pretty sure the reason Alphacool couldn't recreate this problem is the amount of money they would lose if they had to recall and then re-engineer this waterblock. There are just too many people with issues and it has to do with the coldplate not touching the GCD.

 

[Vanzin]

Hi,

I know that not everyone is amused about the fact, that we couldn´t find a problem. Fact is that the same GPU, which had a problem has been working here after checling imprints and remounting.Even with not replacing any thermal pads and paste at this moment. The only thing we did, after receiving the GPU from DirtyAlpaca was to check the imprints and then remounting and testing. Here are some Screenshots from our testing.

We had also other customer by mail, where correctly remounting the water block had helped.

 

[DirtyAlpaca]

Hello dear community.

My apologies for not reporting back to those in need after receiving my card back.

Prior my next post I'll share a few details about my watercooled rig.
CPU: 7800x3d with S-Tier waterblock
2 Rads, 1x 45mm and 1x 60mm
Corsair ML120 fans
GPU vertically mounted for better airflow coming from the lower radiator.

About torque
When reading about the torque part I had to find my Wera screwdriver and test it out.
1.5nm is nothing. Set the thing to 1.5nm and only had to touch the screwdriver to get the screw in place.
So we have been overtightening our blocks according to Vanzin.

For my first test I have continuously fed my GPU 350watts on the board with all clocks and settings on stock.
Core: 50C
Hotspot: 77C
Delta: 27C (prior it was 40C)

Second test was with an unlocked powerlimit up to 15% for testing purpose - 400watts.
Core: 51C
Hotspot: 85
Delta: 34C (prior it was 50C)

All tests were ran in normal user situations where the processor also disperses some heat into the loop. (Gaming)
I can only imagine that Alphacool achieves these perfect digits by testing the GPU in a separated loop or where the CPU idles.
So yes, the block works within spec now.

I want to thank Alphacool for making support public so we can easily reach out to each other and come to a solution. My luck is living in a neighboring country so shipping was only 18EUR.
Maybe it would be a-not-so-bad-idea for Alphacool to create a in dept video where they show how to mount this waterblock in particular.
Or edit the manual with more in dept information about fixing steps and torque.

Might edit this post later, Must go rn.

 

[DarknightOCR]

From what you can see in the photos, I see that alphacool tested the graphics in furmark.

that is, it has been known for several years that furmark does not pull the gpu total.
just see that the clock reached was only 2090Mhz at full load.
when we know that the 7900xtx reaches clocks of 3GHz in many games.
in furmark all graphics will accuse good temperatures, now if it is tested in a heavy game or in 3dmark (timespy or fitestrike) you will see that the temperatures are much higher.
so if the test was done only in furmark, it is not acceptable at all, since the temperatures and clocks reached there are incorrect and unrealistic.

dirtyalpaca received the graphics and a small test already reached 85°c. I can bet that in a heavier game it will pass those 85 and in a few days it will have higher temperatures again...

unfortunately I am not seeing alphacool wanting to solve the problem, when it is already seen that there is a problem...

 

[DirtyAlpaca]

From what you can see in the photos, I see that alphacool tested the graphics in furmark.

that is, it has been known for several years that furmark does not pull the gpu total.
just see that the clock reached was only 2090Mhz at full load.
when we know that the 7900xtx reaches clocks of 3GHz in many games.
in furmark all graphics will accuse good temperatures, now if it is tested in a heavy game or in 3dmark (timespy or fitestrike) you will see that the temperatures are much higher.
so if the test was done only in furmark, it is not acceptable at all, since the temperatures and clocks reached there are incorrect and unrealistic.

dirtyalpaca received the graphics and a small test already reached 85°c. I can bet that in a heavier game it will pass those 85 and in a few days it will have higher temperatures again...

unfortunately I am not seeing alphacool wanting to solve the problem, when it is already seen that there is a problem...

Good catch.
Also the picture coming from Vanzin's end shows the screenshot was taken within the first minute.
So I replicated their test and got the same results in the first minute.
As you said, 2085Mhz is the maximum clock FurMark touches during my test!

The thing is.. these AMD cards run on RDNA. This technology works on a mixture of power and thermals.
We place these blocks to keep our build silent and make these cards perform on high clocks thanks to low thermals.
Unfortunately the block did never deliver the wishful outcome, but basically it still runs within spec..

Either how, I feel like Alphacool gave their best shot and are not willing to change anything about it. The thread or issue is being classified as a user error. There's nothing else within my power than to deal with this. Pull my own conclusions and create awareness on r/watercooling to those dealing with the same problem.

Regardless the problem my greatest respect goes to @Vanzin for dealing with this problem.

 

[DarknightOCR]

So I see that there is some problem with the block.
it's not normal to have so many reports of the same problems, and all with alphacool block.

it is true that not all brands of blocks are compatible with our XFX, but I see many users with blocks from competing brands without any kind of problem.
and of all alphacool block users who commented on the net and forums, they all complain about the same thing.
they all applied several times the block, several thermal pastes and even kryoshseet to try to minimize the problems .
I myself only managed to improve after applying liquid metal.
is there any gap or lack thereof in the construction/measurements of the block.
no matter how bad the wc loop is, no matter how bad the thermal paste is, it's practically impossible for a wc block to be worse than a stock air cooler.
Sorry about that, but I think it's really bad, not trying to confirm where the problem is, and coming to say that they tested the graphics and everything is fine, when the truth is, the software they used to test it doesn't even come close to any heavier modern game. It seems that they are trying to deceive the consumer.

 

[Vanzin]

Hi,

as you are writing are these GPU getting warm and that is normal. The import thing for us is the Delta between GPU and GPU Hotspot temperature. The Delta will be always identical. If your GPU is going to 80°C and the Delta is 20°C, The Hotspot is 100°C. So if you are lowering the GPU temperature the Hotspot temperature will also be lower. And in this part we couldn´t recreate any problems like DirtyAlpaca had. THe Screenshots I have posted are only a few from testing, which I got after asking to post something here. We have also tested the GPU in other applications, for which we had asked DirtyAlpaca, what he was using for his tests.

 

[juanpcm]

I was asked to send them a photos of my imprints, and even thought mine is a reference, the problem is the same, when i took it apart to send the photos, i noticed too the bending PCB, they replied saying that it wasn't mount properly by looking at the imprint of the paste.. and to remount it, this is my 4th time, last time i spread it evenly and on top of that put a lot more that id normally use, but it didn't change anything, i have mine at -10% at around 70s, 80s, if i move it to +15 it will go fast to 95s, but i didn't let it go any higher and lower it again to -10...

I also ask them to make a quick video doing it and how to apply the paste and then showing how its supposed to look after, but they said them have many different models to cover.. I always followed the instructions, the next thing im going to try is to not screw the ones around the GPU much and maybe don't use the outer ones.. Furmark wont do anything, it doesn't push the card to actually get hot, Ive tried different benchamarks but none of them make the temps go high, only games.. my GPU is around low 50s while the hotspot get to +95s

These are the ones i sent..

 

[Horushka]

I was asked to send them a photos of my imprints, and even thought mine is a reference, the problem is the same, when i took it apart to send the photos, i noticed too the bending PCB, they replied saying that it wasn't mount properly by looking at the imprint of the paste.. and to remount it, this is my 4th time, last time i spread it evenly and on top of that put a lot more that id normally use, but it didn't change anything, i have mine at -10% at around 70s, 80s, if i move it to +15 it will go fast to 95s, but i didn't let it go any higher and lower it again to -10...

I also ask them to make a quick video doing it and how to apply the paste and then showing how its supposed to look after, but they said them have many different models to cover.. I always followed the instructions, the next thing im going to try is to not screw the ones around the GPU much and maybe don't use the outer ones.. Furmark wont do anything, it doesn't push the card to actually get hot, Ive tried different benchamarks but none of them make the temps go high, only games.. my GPU is around low 50s while the hotspot get to +95s

These are the ones i sent..

View attachment 5394View attachment 5395Hello. Any progress with your situation?

I’ve ordered Core waterblock for my Red Devil 7900 xtx and just found this thread while still waiting for delivery. Makes me worry now.
Are those problems mainly on Eisblock Aurora? Or Core series waterblocks are affected too?

 

[DirtyAlpaca]

Eisblock pictures

https://www.alphacool.com/download/pics/13551_Alphacool_Eisblock_Aurora_Acryl_RX_7900XTX_Merc_310_with_Backplate_pics.zip

Core pictures

https://www.alphacool.com/download/pics/13552_Alphacool_Core_RX_7900XTX_Merc_310_with_Backplate_pics.zip1

Looks very identical.
You are covered by consumer rights as a European citizen.
Cannot wait to see your results! @Horushka