Mau1wurf1977 wrote:

There is software you can use to display CPU / GPU temperatures and other stats while playing. I believe MSI Afterburner and ATI Tray Tool do this.

I'm looking for a utility that works with older cards (especially the FX5950) and Windows 98 if possible.

If no such thing exist, what other programs can be used (without the overlay). GPU-Z?

If I recall correctly the temperature on the FX5950 is displayed in the Nvidia utility software which is accessed most easily by right clicking on the desktop.

vetz wrote:

If I recall correctly the temperature on the FX5950 is displayed in the Nvidia utility software which is accessed most easily by right clicking on the desktop.

Ok cool.

I will quickly setup a XP test system and see how I go 😀

I would like to review some cheap graphics coolers from eBay.

Another card I have is a Radeon 9700 and a Radeon 9800XL, a custom version for German MEDION. Do these have temperature sensors? I could also build a PCIe test system. Got a wide range of cards: 6600GT, 9600GT, 8800GT, 7800GT, 7800GTX...

The higher-end GeForce FX cards have temperature monitoring, but not all GeForce FX cards do. I would assume the Radeon 9700/9800 should also support that functionality (I don't remember if my 9700 did). GPU-Z and other applications like Speedfan or PC Wizard should also be able to read from the temperature sensors on supported cards.

Remember the temperature sensors in these chips are fairly inaccurate; just like in CPUs.

Ok so far so good:

What's a good way to stress it? Furmark? Or should I stick with running a game. I believe it must be running in Window mode for me to see the temperature in the driver?

I will also try GPU-Z because that can log temps.

I prefer Furmark since I can surf the web while testing.

DosFreak wrote:

I prefer Furmark since I can surf the web while testing.

Working well!

I removed XP and used another disc with SP2 on it. It now had USB 2.0 speed and all the components got detected 😀

The FX5950Ultra seems to have to core clocks. One for 2D and one for 3D. I will come up with a testing protocol (same time of the day, letting it run for half an hour or so) and then swap the cooler for these eBay cheapies. It will reveal if they are suitable or garbage...

I'm not sure if Furmark will peak a NV3x chip. It might be too bottlenecked by the shader ALUs.

I'd try Doom3 in a window. Run High detail and make sure vsync is off. The engine has a 60 fps limit so make sure the scene is complex enough to keep it below 60fps for max GPU usage.

I don't have that game but will try another one and 3DMark. It's not so much about the max. cooling capacity but about a comparison between the stock and replacement cooler. Basically I want to know if it's worse, similar or better. The stock cooler is pretty massive so I doubt it will keep up but you never know...

3dmark 03 pushes the gpu very much. 😉 more than 05, 06, vantage.

I settled for Splintercell and, indeed, the temperatures got higher. Up to 67C compared to just 60C with Furmark 😀

Got MSI Afterburner going 😀

Another question regarding cooling the memory

Many cards don't have memory cooling. But others do. What do I need to look out for? Does it depend on memory type? GDDR, GDDR2, GDD3? Do some run hotter than others?

The memory chips on the FX 5950 Ultra run very hot. Too hot to tough with the finger. The stock cooler covered all memory chips on the back and front.

I'm now putting little memory coolers on each chip, just to be safe.

Here a few images of replacing the cooler:

So it changed absolutely nothing? 🤣

d1stortion wrote:

So it changed absolutely nothing? 🤣

The fan is a lot quieter 😀

I was surprised that the cooler could keep up. The 5950 is meant to draw a lot of power and run hot, but so far so good.

As far as cooling and memory my rule of thumb is that if the reference board has cooling on the RAM, you should put coolers on the RAM (nVidia or ATi or whoever originally designed it, designed it that way for a reason). Generally it's just a passive sink on the reference boards, but some of them (like the 5800 Ultra) integrate it all into one sink that cools both the GPU and RAM. Either way, when going to BGA sinks like what you've put on, they benefit from airflow - which that style cooler will provide. Keep in mind that with a cooler like that, your case needs to be exhausting hot air that is generated by the card now, because you don't have a blower pushing said hot air straight out of the case. I know back in the day Zalman would include vented slot covers to address that, for example.

One other thing to note, since you've plugged that cooler into the card - the card's fan ramp is going to be designed around its stock cooler, so tweaking the settings a bit may improve either noise or temperatures.

Yea I wouldn't mind having that fan run at 100% when under load as it's very quiet anyway. Yea the RAM coolers did the trick. They are now comfortable to touch. I read an old review and they also mentioned how hot the Ram coolers got on the reference 5950.

Sorry for capturing this older one, but I read that MSI Afterbruner 1.x still requires WinXP upwards. I am searching for something like that for Win2k.
I do not want to overclock or use additional features/switches for the installed gpu, all I want is to see the FPS and perhaps the VRAM/RAM uasage.

Any Idea what can offer this on Win2k?

Thx!

dr.zeissler wrote on 2022-07-10, 16:21:

I am searching for something like that for Win2k.

My SIV utility should run on W2K and report GPU information, but as you have not specified which GPU you have it's impossible to know what may get reported.

If you post a Menu->Machine->GPU Info screen shot to my SIV thread I may be able to improve what get's reported. I suspect a lot will depend on if the driver has NVAPI or ATIADL support.

Matrox Parhelia AGP and Parhelia AGP LX. Most intrest is in displaying FPS and render pipeline OGL/D3D.
VRAM usage would be nice but is not essential. Temps are not essential.