[BeHardware] Asus HD 7950 DirectCU II: fault report!

djriful · Feb 25, 2012

http://www.behardware.com/news/12153/asus-hd-7950-directcu-ii-fault-report.html

Quote:

The Radeon HD 7950 DirectCU II from Asus, only just available in stores, suffers from a fault with the fixture for its cooler that makes the GPU heat up and can rapidly lead to crashes, especially if you're overclocking your GPU. We recommend you to avoid this model while waiting for Asus to correct the problem and recall the faulty batches.

flyingsaucers · Feb 25, 2012

Wow, dodgy as heck from Asus if this proves to be true. Almost unbelievably stupid to release the cards like that, really.

pjBSOD · Feb 25, 2012

Regardless of this unfortunate mishap, is it just me, or do DirectCU models seem to run just as hot as regular models?

pepejovi · Feb 25, 2012

I guess they were in a bit of a hurry releasing the card.

RussianHak · Feb 25, 2012

Wow, is there a bid risk of this in the 6950's?
Asus step your game up.

Goliath.ro · Feb 25, 2012

Don't they have some QA to test the product BEFORE its shipped, or they probably outsourced it to some monkeys...

greydor · Feb 25, 2012

Quote:

Originally Posted by E-Peen

Regardless of this unfortunate mishap, is it just me, or do DirectCU models seem to run just as hot as regular models?

In most instances, yes. However, people aren't buying them because they cool better. They buy them because they operate just as well as other cards only virtually silent at stock speeds.

Norlig · Feb 25, 2012

I bet it is because the GPU on the 7970's are sunken into the fram that surrounds it on the PCB. Asus probably didnt fix that properly on their cooler

nvm, they didnt

djriful · Feb 25, 2012

I hope this issue won't affect with 7970 because apparently the 7950 DCII is bigger than 7970 DCII... I wonder why.

TOP is 7970 and BOTTOM is 7950

http://techinstyle.tv/feature/asus-hd-7970-and-hd-7950-directcu-ii-graphics-cards-an-unboxing/

Kand · Feb 25, 2012

Quote:

Originally Posted by djriful

I hope this doesn't go with 7970. Apparently the 7950 DCII is bigger than 7970 DCII... I wonder why.

TOP is 7970 and BOTTOM is 7950

http://techinstyle.tv/feature/asus-hd-7970-and-hd-7950-directcu-ii-graphics-cards-an-unboxing/

6970 sized heatsink on the 7950? It looks a bit mismatched.

djriful · Feb 25, 2012

I wonder if they did use the wrong cooler on it. lol

66racer · Feb 25, 2012

Weather it broke or is an actual design flaw cant be determined by one unit, things break, could have happened in assembly.

I will say my direct cu ii card cools great at low fan speeds, If i game at 1125mv on my gtx570 with 50% fan speed on bf3 im usually around 56c in a 75F room. I like the cooler, I hate that it takes 3 slots though so I might go back to msi since my TF2 560ti wasnt a whole lot louder, just more high pitched but I can live with that since its only while gaming.

161029 · Feb 25, 2012

Asus, disappointing.

Norlig · Feb 25, 2012

Quote:

Originally Posted by djriful

I hope this issue won't affect with 7970 because apparently the 7950 DCII is bigger than 7970 DCII... I wonder why.

TOP is 7970 and BOTTOM is 7950

http://techinstyle.tv/feature/asus-hd-7970-and-hd-7950-directcu-ii-graphics-cards-an-unboxing/

The Old CUII cooler has no support on the side of the cooler to the PCB:

The new CUII Cooler has

Hopefylly supporting the coolers weight so this wont happen?

flyingsaucers · Feb 25, 2012

Quote:

Originally Posted by 66racer

Weather it broke or is an actual design flaw cant be determined by one unit, things break, could have happened in assembly.
I will say my direct cu ii card cools great at low fan speeds, If i game at 1125mv on my gtx570 with 50% fan speed on bf3 im usually around 56c in a 75F room. I like the cooler, I hate that it takes 3 slots though so I might go back to msi since my TF2 560ti wasnt a whole lot louder, just more high pitched but I can live with that since its only while gaming.

Not one unit, read the article. They tested a sample unit and a retail unit weeks later, after contacting Asus about the faulty sample unit.

staryoshi · Feb 25, 2012

Most graphics cards do not need this brick of a heatsink... You can only carry so much heat away from the comparatively small IHS... Efficiency over bulk!

Dual-slot, twin-fan radial designs are where it's at

Hope they address the issue quickly if it's more than an isolated incident.

If you do invest in one of these monsters, you ought to do yourself a favor and replace the thermal paste (with something besides AS5) - It should reduce temps further.

diabolesco · Feb 25, 2012

Well done Asus! ... for things like that I am an Asus hater.... Gigabyte forever.. xD

djriful · Feb 25, 2012

I might look at the XFX Double D. That one looks gorgeous.

Tennobanzai · Feb 25, 2012

Quote:

Originally Posted by djriful

I hope this issue won't affect with 7970 because apparently the 7950 DCII is bigger than 7970 DCII... I wonder why.

TOP is 7970 and BOTTOM is 7950

http://techinstyle.tv/feature/asus-hd-7970-and-hd-7950-directcu-ii-graphics-cards-an-unboxing/

That's because the 7970 is using a custom PCB plus it has the side support

Btw there were reports of the VRMs on the XFX DD are much higher then the reference cooler

SimpleTech · Feb 25, 2012

This is why I stick with reference cooler so I can remove it and and put a waterblock on it.

[BeHardware] Asus HD 7950 DirectCU II: fault report!

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