Curse

Narada · Mar 30, 2006, 10:38 PM // 22:38

For several months I've been unable to play Guild Wars on my primary box because for some reason the video card started to overheat and fail, my computer usually rebooted as a result. I've just been playing it on my laptop, but I'd like to give this box another crack at it, because it's really not all that horrible of a rig. I've made sure that all my fans work, airflow is good, and cleaned out all heatsinks/fans, the GFX card included. The box itself sits up on the desk level with my monitor, so there's not too much of an air restriction going on. I've tried lowering the resolution as far as I could stand (1024 x 768, no AA) and I was able to play for about an hour before overheating. Basically I'd just like to know if anyone has any particular tips or tricks on keeping my graphics card's temperature from skyrocketing everytime I run GW.

Specs (A bit dated, sorry):

DirectX 4.09.00.0904 (DirectX 9.0c)

CPU: AMD Athlon 64, 2000 MHz (10 x 200) 3000+
Mobo: DFI LANParty UT nF3 250Gb
Mobo Chipset: nVIDIA nForce3 250Gb, AMD Hammer
Memory: Corsair XMS 1024 MB (PC3200 DDR SDRAM)
Graphics: ATI Radeon X700 Pro 256 MB AGP
Case: Thermaltake Xaser III VM3000 "Skull" (link for pictures)

Temperatures at idle (I run a little hot):

Motherboard 37 °C (99 °F)
CPU 46 °C (115 °F)
PWM 29 °C (84 °F)
GPU 43 °C (109 °F)
GPU Ambient 44 °C (111 °F)

Any help would be greatly appreciated... If not that's cool, I'll probably build another computer in a year or two to keep myself updated.

Seef II · Mar 30, 2006, 11:49 PM // 23:49

It just means you need a new GPU cooler (don't do this if you're not comfortable with it) or just RMA it in for an exchange. Shouldn't be painful at all, especially if that card's still under warranty.

twangansta · Mar 31, 2006, 02:28 AM // 02:28

Hmmm that is very odd. My 6600gt often goes to 85 degrees Celsius while playing games and my computer doesn't restart.

Try playing with your case open, lowers the temperature by about 5-10 degrees. And update your video card to the latest drivers.

Akilles · Mar 31, 2006, 06:00 AM // 06:00

You do not have a normal computer, I mean that you have a custom built one which leads me to think you like to get alot of performance, are you maybe overclocking to much if at all? I say thsi cause I find most people with custom coupters tend to overclock stuff.

lord_shar · Mar 31, 2006, 06:00 AM // 06:00

Have you checked for separation between the GPU and heat-sink? If so, add a fresh coat of thermal paste (spread very thin, and silver based goo works best), then reseat the heat-sink.

Forsythe · Mar 31, 2006, 06:07 AM // 06:07

My top card idles at around 68 C, under load high 80s, low 90s. Tough little suckers.

koneko · Mar 31, 2006, 06:33 AM // 06:33

Mmm, LanParty.

Try cleaning the thermal compound between the GPU and heatsink and reapplying a coat of goop like lord_shar said. If that doesn't work too well and your warranty period's already expired (what do you have to lose at this point?), consider purchasing something like an ATI Silencer 1 along with a tube of Arctic Silver 5. The load temperature on my card was around 70-80C with the cooler that came with the card and I would crash spectacularly. All the time. I bought a similar product (made for NVIDIA cards by the same people) and load temperatures dropped by 10C. Significant decrease.

Narada · Mar 31, 2006, 01:45 PM // 13:45

Nope, no overclocking for me at all. I slagged my old AMD K7 doing that, I'd rather not do the same to something a bit more expensive.

Is it possible that this is occuring because I have my BIOS shutdown temp at 70+ degrees Celsius? I thought that only applied to the CPU, but might it also be the case with the GPU as well?

Thanks for that ATI Silencer idea koneko, my card is definately not under warrenty anymore. Unfortunately the Silencer 1 only works with a PCI-E X700, not an AGP. Nothing else on their site works for any other variant of X700 either I don't think (I gave it a quick search). I suppose that I could still apply a new coat of Artic Silver and see how that holds up. I've never played with thermal compounds on a GFX card though, so I'm a bit reluctant to start taking crap off.

Thanks for the replies so far everyone, I'll probably go out and buy some thermal compound within the next couple days and try it out.

koneko · Mar 31, 2006, 05:02 PM // 17:02

D'oh, missed that. Maybe the Thermalright V-1 Ultra, then, which I know works on the AGP versions. (I use a Thermalright XP-90 for my 3200+. Magnificent. So I'd expect their other products to be of the same quality...)

I doubt that the temperature threshold setting in the BIOS has anything to do with it. That setting usually forces the machine to halt/power off (here, at least).

Applying AS5 to a video card is similar (almost the same?) to applying it to a CPU, you just have to be a little more careful when cleaning and pulling the HSF off. I use a Q-Tip to dab away at the goop on the GPU. Slowly.

Arctic Silver Instructions
Basic guide for applying AS5 - written for cleaning the chipset, relevant to GPUs also (?)

Linsys · Mar 31, 2006, 05:38 PM // 17:38

I would suggest these two mods:

VIDEO COOLING: http://www.compusa.com/products/prod...813&pfp=BROWSE
Make sure your video card is supported

CPU COOLING: http://www.compusa.com/products/prod...406&pfp=BROWSE

This thing is a pain in the ass to install.. but once its in it cools like none other.

Uzul · Mar 31, 2006, 05:46 PM // 17:46

i been putting a zalman v700cu on my 6600gt a few months ago because constant usage (this pc is used more like a server than a normal pc) killed the original fan withing 10 months O_o - it works like a charm!
back in those days i was looking for an arctic cooling device - but there was none for the agp-version: so i took the zalman - easy install, awesome cooling.

Lrdeo · Mar 31, 2006, 07:14 PM // 19:14

I used to have a similar problem with my 9800 SE ([email protected] Edition) when I unlocked the pipelines and overclocked it, the card would end up seizing if I left the comp running allday or spent several hours playing games. What I did was I bought a Vantec PCI fan card and put it in right next the the video card and left it on high. Never had a overheating problem after that. So if you have an empty PCI slot and you don't feel like taking the card out and slapping one of those heatpipe/heatsink dealies on it you might want to look into this. They go for about 18 bucks at xoxide.com or you can try Fry's I got mine there for 12 bucks when it went on sale.

Alias_X · Mar 31, 2006, 08:29 PM // 20:29

I think we can safely say it isn't overheating? IF the temperatures you give us are correct, then that seems normal, if not a little less than normal. Is your motherboard reporting different temperatures and automatically rebooting or whaT?

It seems odd that you would be overheating with temps like those, and I really don't think custom fans and a few degrees less is going to do anything to fix your problem.

Linsys · Mar 31, 2006, 08:32 PM // 20:32

Quote:

Originally Posted by Alias_X

I think we can safely say it isn't overheating? IF the temperatures you give us are correct, then that seems normal, if not a little less than normal. Is your motherboard reporting different temperatures and automatically rebooting or whaT?

It seems odd that you would be overheating with temps like those, and I really don't think custom fans and a few degrees less is going to do anything to fix your problem.

Well these are his temps at IDLE, with GW acutally using resources it could be 10-15deg higher then this easily.

koneko · Mar 31, 2006, 08:47 PM // 20:47

Quote:

Originally Posted by Linsys

Well these are his temps at IDLE, with GW acutally using resources it could be 10-15deg higher then this easily.

Or higher. *points at older post*

Quote:

Originally Posted by Alias_X

and I really don't think custom fans and a few degrees less is going to do anything to fix your problem.

You'd be surprised. And besides, Narada needs to start somewhere to fix this, this is as good a place as any to start.

LouAl · Mar 31, 2006, 10:08 PM // 22:08

my friend had a similar problem with a 6800 Ultra. He had to run his system with the case wide open and a big 24" fan blowing into the case.

He tried everything including updating BIOS/drivers, new thermal paste, and who knows what else. In the end he sent it off and got a new card, but it still didn't fix the problem.

The interesting thing was that it was both his cpu and gpu that were heating up but the gpu was the one causing problems. Also, for some reason the issue was specific to GW. Other games would increase temp but not anywhere nearly as high.

He installed a new cooling fan inside his case and everything is running like a dream.

I know you said it is probably not an airflow issue, but it is worth looking into.

Narada · Apr 01, 2006, 01:36 AM // 01:36

Quote:

Originally Posted by Linsys

Well these are his temps at IDLE, with GW acutally using resources it could be 10-15deg higher then this easily.

Yeah, to monitor during GW I've been having to ALT-TAB between it and Everest-- the highest I managed to see the GFX card reach was 70, though for some reason I've got this cloudy memory in my head that I observed it at 92 and flipped out, shutting my box down.

The reason I'm not sure about the "cloudy" thoughts is because I get muddled things in my head every once and awhile (and suffer from almost constant short and some long term memory loss) due to a prolonged episode of "mini-seizures" I went through earlier this year for a period of about a week and half. So basically my brain is a bit "buggier" now than it used to be... sorry that I can't say it hit 92 for certain. I'm thinking it's probably some random creation of my subconscious, because I don't believe that I wouldn't at least be having some more "aggressive" problems with my video card if it hit a temperature that high. :/

Seef II · Apr 01, 2006, 09:01 AM // 09:01

Heh, at this point I'd just RMA the thing, don't void your warranty...

For reference, my PNY 6800 at stock (stock fan, too) runs 43 C idle and somewhere near 52 C load, and the 2.8C at stpck is 34 idle, 42 load. Cleaning out the CPU heatsink knocks it down to 32 idle/38 load but my temps are fine for a couple more months.

92 C is actually not too dangerous to the chip, Intel and NVIDIA set the thermal catastrophe level at 135 C (+/- a few depending on your specific core) - it's still not healthy though!

Elisa · Apr 01, 2006, 10:19 AM // 10:19

My 6800GT is horribly overheating at the moment as well, usually freezes my frames and makes weird artifacts pop up. It runs up to 134 degrees C while playing Guild Wars (even though the GPU is limited to 120C max!)

I don't know anything about changing coolers or adding paste or anything, I've never even looked inside my computer. What do you guys suggest? I feel my card might just burn out in the next couple of weeks.

Narada · Apr 01, 2006, 09:49 PM // 21:49

Hey, sorry about the thread necromancy, but supposing the local PC shops don't have Artic Silver, what would you guys recommend in its place? I've got time to go out and get it tonight.