Curse

Brianna · Jun 07, 2008, 11:29 PM // 23:29

Alright, so I've had my 320mb 8800GTS for a few months, stock speeds as always.

A little while ago, it would be about 70C under load with the fan speeds at 60%, but as the summer starts coming along, I had to boost it to 70% to maintain said temperature because ambients are up - only naturally.

But, a few days ago.. my computer crashed again, and my card was 67C idle at stock fan speeds when I rebooted my computer, now I am up to 80% speeds and struggling to maintain 70C under load, this is obviously very bad for two reasons - Heat is undesirable, and my computer will not stay stable once it reaches about 80-85C.

So.. basically it just feels like the problem is getting worse and worse, and I have to keep bumping up my fan speeds constantly to get it to run at what it normally would. Now note that the temperatures outside of the past week have been significantly lower, so it is less hot outside, and I have been running my AC, insisting that the card would run a lot cooler in these instances (which it usually did - but now it's struggling)..

So.. does anyone have any idea of why it keeps getting worse? I am really angry at the stock cooling on all of the GPU's that I have owned, they are extremely ineffective and I'm actually surprised that anyone has ever been able to over clock with these coolers, they are garbage (Imo).

Any help is appreciated, my computer does not contain a lot of dust in it, I have checked. However I might go outside and blow it out to make sure that I get anything that I potentially missed.

Oh and all of the other parts in my computer are at normal temperatures, nothing has changed with them.

Icy The Mage · Jun 07, 2008, 11:34 PM // 23:34

Well if it gets to be a really big issue, you could always try water-cooling.

Brianna · Jun 07, 2008, 11:35 PM // 23:35

Way too expensive, I would rather just buy an all copper after-market cooler if I have to rip off this heat sink and put new thermal paste on, in which it is going out my window and I hope it gets ran over.

I really want to avoid taking things apart, but If I must.. then I must, I just don't understand why thermal paste would weaken so early on.

Aera · Jun 08, 2008, 12:02 AM // 00:02

I guess your airflow needs some improvement - tidy up the cables inside. Obviously the ambient temperatures have influence, but a lot more if the airflow sucks.

80 degrees is quite high, even for that card. If it stays that way ( and you actually have decreased performance ) I'd install some fansink aftermarket cooler. Now, let me see if I can find a proper one for that card...

Brianna · Jun 08, 2008, 12:06 AM // 00:06

Well, I have an all Aluminum Lian Li PC-7B Plus II, it features 120mm exhaust, 120mm intake, and an 80mm ''Blowhole'' exhaust on the top of the case, it is also a Mid-Tower, which from what I hear is not as good as full tower cooling.

All fans are installed correctly, I have checked that many times in the past and felt air flow to be certain, and all but the intake fan are on ''High'' setting, they are the Antec Tri-Cool 3 speed Blue LED fans. And I just recently tidied up the cables, so I'm sure the airflow isn't blocked, also seeing that I haven't messed with the cables in a while would insist that they wouldn't exactly be the culprit in raising temperatures.

The 8600 in the other computer gets 59C under load, and that computer even has more horrible air flow, when that card was in this computer I could see it peaking 70C under load on hot days, weird. But I also have an 80mm fan blowing right on the card to keep it cool, which I tried doing in this case too, but since the 8800 is so elevated, and I don't have a fan mount for the side vent, the air flow doesn't reach it. I might have to do something I didn't want to do, zip tie a fan to the side vent to get it propped up, and then bump it's speeds way way up there, I should grab another 120mm fan for this experiment.

Chthon · Jun 08, 2008, 12:26 AM // 00:26

Have you examined the GPU heatsink/fan itself? A concentrated layer of dust on the heatsink or blocking up the fan's airflow can cause severe heat problems no matter how clean the rest of the case is or how low the ambient temperatures are. Depending on the layout, you may have to remove the fan to dust the heatsink. I find Pledge Grabbits work well for removing dust from a PC since you can work the corners into small spaces you couldn't reach otherwise, and they're flimsy enough that, if they snag on something, the grabbit will tear instead of bending/breaking whatever it snagged on.

Quaker · Jun 08, 2008, 03:15 AM // 03:15

Quote:

Originally Posted by Brianna

...now I am up to 80% speeds and struggling to maintain 70C under load,

It strikes me as kind of odd that you say the stock cooler "sucks", but you're not even running it at 100%.

Brianna · Jun 08, 2008, 03:20 AM // 03:20

Yeah but at 100% it's a jet engine, I guess I could try it.. but it's really loud as I've tested it before, undesirable.

And I guess since I live in a hot place I tend to notice things not being as ''effective'' at cooling, they should probably test these things in more hotter environments.. but I guess I'm just nit picking, not fun owning a computer if you live in a hot place, lol.

Admael · Jun 09, 2008, 12:14 AM // 00:14

Whats the ambient temperature of your room?

Believe it or not, those 2-slot coolers that Nvidia are using, are amazing.

Lord Sojar · Jun 09, 2008, 12:29 AM // 00:29

Quote:

Originally Posted by Admael

Whats the ambient temperature of your room?

Believe it or not, those 2-slot coolers that Nvidia are using, are amazing.

Why thank you!

The 8800 series can handle temperatures of 100C under full load without much determent. However, the cooler you keep the card, the less likely you will be to damage the gates or MOS layers in the chip.

Brianna · Jun 09, 2008, 12:40 AM // 00:40

Then I guess I am having bad luck, but like I said, I have to keep increasing the fan speed to keep the temperatures the same over time, when the temperature in my room hasn't been changing.

It's 78F in the house, I'd say this is just about what it is always at. GPU is at 66C at the moment, which is good enough for me, cause it's not freezing my computer.. that is also what I don't understand - despite that they can ''handle'' it, it still makes my computer lock when it gets too hot.

Since it has changed, could it be anything to do with the power supply? Like some kind of voltage making it really hot? I guess that question seems daft or something, but just a random thought.

But since you do work on these cards, are you positive that it running at 75-85C for long periods of time isn't going to significantly hurt it?

Blackhearted · Jun 09, 2008, 01:08 AM // 01:08

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rahja the Thief

Why thank you!

The 8800 series can handle temperatures of 100C under full load without much determent. However, the cooler you keep the card, the less likely you will be to damage the gates or MOS layers in the chip.

On the subject of max temps for nvidia cards.., I've been curious about what my 8600 could handle since it's obviously different in temperature tolerance than my previous ati card(as it doesn't crash at about ~65°C like my x700 did). Does that same 100°C apply to the G84 core too?

Lord Sojar · Jun 09, 2008, 01:10 AM // 01:10

Quote:

Originally Posted by Brianna

Then I guess I am having bad luck, but like I said, I have to keep increasing the fan speed to keep the temperatures the same over time, when the temperature in my room hasn't been changing.

It's 78F in the house, I'd say this is just about what it is always at. GPU is at 66C at the moment, which is good enough for me, cause it's not freezing my computer.. that is also what I don't understand - despite that they can ''handle'' it, it still makes my computer lock when it gets too hot.

Since it has changed, could it be anything to do with the power supply? Like some kind of voltage making it really hot? I guess that question seems daft or something, but just a random thought.

But since you do work on these cards, are you positive that it running at 75-85C for long periods of time isn't going to significantly hurt it?

Heat degrades transistors, not matter what. Those temperatures will likely accelerate the degradation of the gate structure, but how terribly is another story. Without knowing the batch number of your card, it is impossible for me to know what your exact chip looks like internally. I can look it up if you can give the batch number. I will need the part number from your card (P/N) to check the databases for the batch. I should be able to pull the batch records off the server as long as I have clearance to that particular section of the server (I can look at the 260 and 280 batches, as well as the 9 series, so I don't see why I can't see the 8 series either, but I won't know until I try)

Each wafer has a certain number of acceptable errors. By looking at the errors in each batch, I can figure out if a given chip is more susceptible to heat based damage because of specific areas being marked as low quality. The higher end chips are used in the GTX models, or the Ultra classification in the 8 series. That is just one way of chip segregation, though.

Give me that product number, and I will do my best.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Blackhearted

On the subject of max temps for nvidia cards.., I've been curious about what my 8600 could handle since it's obviously different in temperature tolerance than my previous ati card(as it doesn't crash at about ~65°C like my x700 did). Does that same 100°C apply to the G84 core too?

Again, that all depends on the particular batch in question. Give me your product number, and I can see if I can check it out.

Blackhearted · Jun 09, 2008, 01:52 AM // 01:52

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rahja the Thief

Again, that all depends on the particular batch in question. Give me your product number, and I can see if I can check it out.

I take it i'd probably have to look at the card itself for that?

Lord Sojar · Jun 09, 2008, 02:04 AM // 02:04

Quote:

Originally Posted by Blackhearted

I take it i'd probably have to look at the card itself for that?

You should find it on the backside of the card, or on the box that your card came in.

Keep in mind, I don't know if I have access to the 8 series batch files. No promises. Both of you need to hurry with those product numbers. I have back surgery in the morning at 10am, so I have to be up early. Need to sleep sooner than later.

Brianna · Jun 09, 2008, 02:29 AM // 02:29

Ahh don't worry about it Rahja, It's no super big deal, but thank you for your offer.

Good luck in surgery tomorrow as well.

Lord Sojar · Jun 09, 2008, 02:33 AM // 02:33

Quote:

Originally Posted by Brianna

Ahh don't worry about it Rahja, It's no super big deal, but thank you for your offer.

Good luck in surgery tomorrow as well.

Ah, thanks Brianna.

<3

I will be ok, but I will be out of commission for a little while. I will probably see you guys later in the week. Good thing I have amazing insurance, 10 dollar copays FTW.