Maximum PC

My decision to buy a Diamond Radeon HD7970 video card has turned out to be one of the worst decisions I've made in many years.

1) the card boots at about 33c; but immediately climbs to more than 60c - all while under 2%-5% load: MW3, Crysis2, etc push the card well past 75c
2) Consequently, the tiny solo fan starts to work its little guts out and becomes PROFOUNDLY noisy

So, being the extreme-PC geek that I am, I think "liquid-cooling"; and proceed to go shopping.

HOWEVER, the "EK-FC7970" waterblock I purchased does NOT fit the (non-reference) card Diamond chose for its rendition of the HD7970, despite the vendor's "compatibility list": $130 plus shipping wasted
Therefore, the iSkyWater 300 liquid-cooling kit I bought is decidedly unnecessary - having no GPU waterblock to flow to; it is pretty, but also useless: another $135 wasted

Alas, I have now under-volted/under-clocked my HD7970 albatross to deter it from spontaneously combusting.

Bottom-line: I've spent 2 weekends and just under $800 to achieve (almost) the same performance I had with my previous GTX-560Ti card.

I think the problem lies within the Diamond ref cooler, it's very very small and not quick enough to dissipate heat from the heatsink. I'd RMA if its bothering you and wait for an aftermarket cooler like twin Frozr.

After spending that type of money on that card, I would give Diamond a call and let them know how you feel and see if the card is defective while you have their ear.

Call the people you purchased the card from and see if they will take it back and get XFX, Asus....MSI, HIS...whatever. I would NOT sit still and be raped like this!

Nasty

I think I would make a bunch of calls if it was on a compatibility list and did not fit you are do a refund if the card is listed