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#1 2010-04-12 23:22:34

Sly
Member
Registered: 2010-02-28
Posts: 40

Noisy ATI Card

Hey. I have an ATI 4870X2 and I'm using the xf86-video-ati driver. As of lately (unless I didn't notice it before) the fan on the card is quite noisey. It should be as the load on it shouldn't be that much, the sound isn't noticeable in Windows. So, how would I go about changing the fan speed, and are there tools out there like the Catalyst Control Center in which I can control all of my setting from with the said driver?

Cheers.

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#2 2010-04-13 02:57:24

lagagnon
Member
From: an Island in the Pacific...
Registered: 2009-12-10
Posts: 1,087
Website

Re: Noisy ATI Card

So you dual boot the machine Arch-Windows and in Windows that fan is not as noisy? I find that rather hard to believe that it would be quieter in one OS and not in another. Or are you not now dual booting and you have just noticed the fan noise increase over time?

Open a terminal and type "aticonfig --help". I understand you can control the fan speed with that utility.


Philosophy is looking for a black cat in a dark room. Metaphysics is looking for a black cat in a dark room that isn't there. Religion is looking for a black cat in a dark room that isn't there and shouting "I found it!". Science is looking for a black cat in a dark room with a flashlight.

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#3 2010-04-13 14:25:29

Crozepp
Member
From: Basque Country
Registered: 2010-04-03
Posts: 42

Re: Noisy ATI Card

lagagnon wrote:

Open a terminal and type "aticonfig --help". I understand you can control the fan speed with that utility.

This solution is for the fglrx driver.
I have a 4850 card and my fan in arch was very loud too, this is due to the lack of power management in the free ati drivers. AFAIK there's no command for managing the fan speed or temperature with open ati drives.
My solution?
Shutdown the computer, open the box, take the GPU and clean all the dust with a compressed gas spray. You can get surprised for the amount of dust inside the fan and pipes. I've extracted BALLS of dust.
After that my computer is quiet again as in windows.

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#4 2010-04-13 16:32:53

dcc24
Member
Registered: 2009-10-31
Posts: 732

Re: Noisy ATI Card

Or, you can just switch to fglrx smile See the ATI/AMD Bar&Grill thread.


It is better to keep your mouth shut and be thought a fool than to open it and remove all doubt. (Mark Twain)

My AUR packages

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#5 2010-04-13 20:13:11

Sly
Member
Registered: 2010-02-28
Posts: 40

Re: Noisy ATI Card

lagagnon wrote:

So you dual boot the machine Arch-Windows and in Windows that fan is not as noisy? I find that rather hard to believe that it would be quieter in one OS and not in another. Or are you not now dual booting and you have just noticed the fan noise increase over time?

Open a terminal and type "aticonfig --help". I understand you can control the fan speed with that utility.

Yes, I dual boot Arch with Windows 7, still, and it's not noticeable in Windows. It's so damn noisy in Arch, obviously not as noisy as it can get, but a lot more than it should be.

Is this fglrx driver as good/better than xf86-video-ati? I don't play games while on Arch.

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#6 2010-04-13 20:51:26

Crozepp
Member
From: Basque Country
Registered: 2010-04-03
Posts: 42

Re: Noisy ATI Card

fglrx pros:
-Powersaving and fan control.
-Better 3D
cons:
-Slow maximizing/minimizing/resizing with compiz/kwin unless you have a patched Xorg
-Video tearing unless you use opengl and vsync
-No compatibility with >=1.7.x Xorg unless you use >=10.4 beta

xf86-video-ati pros:
-Best desktop experience overall
-No tearing
cons:
-No powersaving and fan control
-Poor 3D

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