Video Card Over Heating Issue

[Genenut 8]

video card overheating.... best way to deal with issue is a) take the side panel off, put screening ( we have some regular window screening in the house we can fashion a cover from ) in place and run a regular house fan pointing at it, b) put an additional fan in that runs off an expansion card slot or c) something else?

 

We have used canned air to clean it as best we can and have removed the card, blown it off and the slot and re seated it already.

[wolfie2kX 528]

video card overheating.... best way to deal with issue is a) take the side panel off, put screening ( we have some regular window screening in the house we can fashion a cover from ) in place and run a regular house fan pointing at it, b) put an additional fan in that runs off an expansion card slot or c) something else?

 

We have used canned air to clean it as best we can and have removed the card, blown it off and the slot and re seated it already.

 

An overheating card generally means something is blocking air flow or a fan somewhere is no longer circulating enough air to keep things under control... Make sure ALL of your fans are working properly... Excess heat can be given off by say - your CPU.

 

You might also consider adding an extra case fan or two if you've got places for them. Have one pulling in cooler outside air, and another pushing the warmer air out.

 

Removing the case side isn't normally recommended as that alters the case's air flow design.

 

Also, you might want to consider checking your thermostat. If you've got it set fairly high, no amount of air being blown into the case will do the job. You might feel comfy, but the computer might be getting overwhelmed by the heat. Humans can sweat, but computers - not so much. Which is a good thing given moisture isn't good for computers.

[Genenut 8]

We've checked all the fans. They are all working (the one on the GPU actually bit Daemonrocks as he checked for airflow when his hand ventured too near). The video card is just in a bad spot really in the case and I think its not getting enough airflow along with a dust problem.

 

IT seems stabler now that we have used alot of canned air on it. (daemonrocks got 90 minutes of GW before it froze instead of 5-20 minutes). he can surf for hours so its not the CPU itself getting too hot or he would be having crashes all the time. Even playing with his new webcam or editing lords video greeting last night didnt cause a crash and those are both CPU intensive things. GW is more GPU intensive ....

 

If we take the side off the airflow will be corrected by a house fan blowing into it to recreate the correct flow just much much more of it. We cant adjust the thermostat too much. We live in a multi unit house and ours is surrounded by 5 others so with some of the other units providing great insultion above and others providing heat from below our house with the furnace turned down to 60 never gets below 66 degrees in the winter. Add the dryer, the oven or other heat generating devices being run in our house and its usually 72-76f degrees.

[wolfie2kX 528]

The building I'm staying in is pretty much the same - surrounded by units above, below and on both sides and only one wall exposed to the outside

 

OK.. So it seems like it's more of a case design/air flow issue.. I'd look at getting a couple of cheap case fans then - the 120 mm ones shouldn't cost more than say, $5 - $10 tops and install them to force air circulation.

 

That's certainly cheaper than the alternative - a different video card - one that has onboard cooling fans and the like. Those can, however cause other issues - depending on your motherboard's layout and what, if any other cards you have plugged into it.

[stubbie 21]

Depending on what type of video card cooling you have, just blowing compressed air might not be enough.

Some of them have fins on the heatsinks that can get clogged with dust.

The only way to clean them is to dismantle the cooling unit from the card.

and....

Just be sure it is your gpu at fault. Install a temperature monitoring utility like GPU-Z or ATI Tray Tools.

Google your card model and see what the normal temperature should be.

It probably is a gpu heating problem from what you have described but it doesn't hurt to be sure.

Edited December 26, 2010 by stubbie

[Genenut 8]

Well daemons system is much stabler today after canned air was taken to the video card. He got 3-4 hours of GW with no freezing and crashing and left of his own choice. It would appear he has a dust leading to over heating issue .... I think I will need to buy stock in a company that makes canned air. Its an old Nvidia fx 5500 so I'm not sure if there is a way to have it report card temps. It does have a fan mounted on it which we also relocated the cable powering it as it was REALLY close to the path of the blade of the fan which might also have played a factor. The biggest factor is though the card is upside down from the CPU so the air flow that drags air from the front to the back doesn't always adequately reach the corner with no vents that the video card sits in. Maybe this summer (ask knuckles , we have a blizzard watch/storm in new England right now so going out is not an option) when the weather is more predictable I can hit a bigger staples/best buy and go replacement fan shopping for the card as the fan and heat sink look pretty cheap that are on it. In the meantime daemon will be doing a routine blow out of the dust every month on his computer to keep his frustration level to a minimum.

 

Thanks everyone for your suggestions.

[Schot 407]

Something I started doing last year was controlling my fan speed manually. I found my card tended to under utilize it's fan. While playing Sacred 2 at High settings for example my card would climb up to about 80-90° C. Meanwhile it's fan would be lollygagging at around 20% fan speed. I never really crashed but I was having some pretty crappy lag. So I enabled manual fan control on my ATI and set the fan to 45%. At 45% fan speed it isn't too loud and keeps the temperature at 40-50° C. A major improvement on my gaming to be sure.

 

Or you could try my mad scientist experiment. Crack the window open a tiny bit or if possible create a tiny hole leading outside. Then run a tube from outside into the pc. The internal fans should pull in a bit of that wonderful winter coldness and chill out that cranky card. ^^

[daemonrocks23 17]

one problem schot. I am so far away from the slider(our window for the living room/dining room space), about 28 feet of space between the slider and my computer! plus I am close to the kitchen which may not be helping this season

Edited December 28, 2010 by daemonrocks23