Sapphire Vega 64 Nitro+: stupid fan speed control

Hardware GPU
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I wonder why no reviewer said anything about this. By default, when the card exits “passive” mode, fans immediately spin up to about 1200 RPM. And, well, the card can’t stay in passive mode all the time, even when just rendering the desktop. Both on Windows and Linux. All other fans are running at max 500 RPM at idle, so it is very noticeable.

Am I the only one seeing this problem? Sapphire’s support told me that I probably have a virus that mines something on the GPU (yes, under both OSes). And that I shouldn’t notice a fan spinning at 1200 RPM too. Well… The card is inside of Dark Base 900 non-TG version, with thick sound dampening pads everywhere, and they don’t help.

In the end I wrote a python script that checks the temperature and manually sets fan speed every second. With it, the card runs at 45 degrees C, 550 RPM at idle (with “automatic” fan control, fans only turn on at 55 degrees temp). So I doubt there’s something mining in the background.

On Windows I can’t turn off the “semi-passive” cooling, only adjust the minimum fan speed, so the result there is worse: the card frequently switches fans on and off, and when it turns on it’s 700 RPM (which is noticeable, but at least not annoyingly loud). For me it seems that semi-passive cooling actually makes acoustics worse.

So, yes, this problem can be solved with some tuning (and python scripts), kinda. But why is the “stock” setup so stupid?

@wendell you’ve put this card into one of the “silent” builds, if I’m not mistaken? Have you seen (heard) this problem? Or is 1200 RPM fan speed at idle acceptable for you?

Another funny thing: with +50% power limit, when running heavy games, fans aren’t spinning faster than 1700 RPM. The “stock” 1200-1700 RPM range looks more like on/off switch. It’s the quietest card I had under full load, and it’s horrible at idle.

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Graphics cards with semi passive fans tend to work that way. With fans that are commonly rated to handle up to a couple of thousands of RPM’s it’s not so easy to also make them able to operate reliably at very low revs.

Have you pinpointed at which temperature level the card starts up the fans? You might want to tweak the case fan speeds a little to keep the card cooler while its fans are off.

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Well, as I said, using a python script that does software fan control I was able to lower idle fan speed to 550 RPM. Which is inaudible for me. Haven’t noticed any problems with fan reliability.

I’ve solved the problem, actually I’m just complaining that I have to tweak/write code to make the hardware work as it should have worked out of the box. And wondering why nobody else complains. Especially reviewers. Especially those who seem to care about silence.

Also, previously I had RX 580, from Sapphire too, with most likely the same fans. Its fans turned on to 700 RPM only. Still not optimal, but at least not annoyingly loud. 1200 RPM is just ridiculous. It’s the max speed of my current CPU fan (NH-D15 with L.N.A).

Regarding case fans… They are already at the max acceptable (at idle) speed for me.

I wish GPUs had a hardware switch for semi-passive cooling, like Seasonic PSUs. Ironically, PSU is the only component that can actually stay in passive mode. At least, from what I’ve seen so far.

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Is there a way you could share your script with others who would like to use it? I recently bought the same card and coming from a Nitro R9 Fury where I had 100% control of the fan speed, its pretty irritating they’ve removed it on the Vega GPUs.

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Here it is: https://github.com/amezin/radeon-fan-control (I should probably rename the repo to “amdgpu-fan-control”)

I don’t understand what you mean by “they’ve removed it”. Was there an interface for adjusting the fan speed curve?

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an inventive way of controlling the noise for sure but what do you sacrifice in the way of its cooling efficiency?
its the airflow turbulence that generates the noise
here is where its neat to have a 3d printer
you can design and test intake baffling with audiometers
measuring the noise level with the fan running at idle and full speed.
once you find a combination that makes the best solution you can patent it
minimize the turbulence and your noise level follows suite

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Have given up on this shit fan control, and its been too long for me to remember what some custom fan controls broke, or maybe driver did reset that profile to default? w/e it was something retarded like that :man_shrugging:t2:

I prefer having fans set so that it ramps up within that last 5 or 10C depending from how brutal that fan is, then that curve before that is basically going from lowest possible to last silent point

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Thanks for sharing the script. Now I just need to ascend from my noob level experience with Python and get it working in Windows.

And for adjusting the fan speed on my Fury I used MSI Afterburner. Sapphire’s Trixx and AMD’s own software provides fan control. With Vega you get 0 control with existing software solutions. Which is just senseless.

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Have you tried the SAPPHIRE TRIXX tool for fan control? or does it nothing like like @FlawleZ said are you guys using the blower style vega cards or custom cards?
SAPPHIRE TRIXX

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Ive tried Trixx and it doesnt even register any of the sensors. I’m using the Sapphire Nitro Vega 64. I have found that OverdriveN tool does provide some fan control but it’s all based on a given temperature threshold. The bios on the card doesn’t allow for a manual override on the fan. For now I’m making do with the OverdriveN tool.

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I would ask sapphire / sapphire ED my friend has a rx 480 from sapphire dual fan card he can control both fans with msi afterburner @FlawleZ

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Wow I really hope this Python script can help me out too with my Vega 64 Nitro.
My card is super annoying, it constantly revs it’s fans really high and then goes completely off. It does this over and over as it nears the minimum temps. Neither Wattman or Trixx can allow me to actually properly control it

@amezin Is there any setup guide I could follow for running the Python script in Windows?

Thank you so much.

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Doesn’t MSI Afterburner (under Windows) work with Sapphire?

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It does.
I use it to set fan speed manually depending on what software is running.

Fans ramping up and down is annoying as hell.

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Afterburner works for you? But do other programs fail for you? I don’t think any software is going to end up working on my end.

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Have you tried the new Adrenalin driver? It’s supposed to have new fan controls for GPU’s.

https://www.amd.com/en/support/graphics/radeon-rx-vega-series/radeon-rx-vega-series/radeon-rx-vega-64

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Okay wow, new Adrenaline 2019 works for me. Thanks.

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Firestrike Ultra

Teh scheme
core+voltage -> hbm+voltage -> hbm voltage down -> core voltage down
What to eyeball?
stability -> visual -> does it work at all -> stability

Stable af

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Mmmeh, something unstable from states and its crashing after boot, no idea :man_shrugging:t2: