GPU temperature problems

[jdude]

Today I started up my computer as usual in the morning, it sat there for a couple hours doing nothing and then just now I was trying to play Age of Empires three. Suddenly everything looked all wierd, polygons were stretching flashing, things were green ect ect. I quit and immediately went to the ATI display panel and checked the temperature of my graphics card. It was at 94 degrees C. I read online that it shouldn't even be hitting the low 80s. I've played AOE 3 plenty of times in the past and never had this problem. The outside temperature got up to 30 degrees C today, so it's fairly hot in the room where my computer is. Could this be a factor?

 

I'm worried because I don't want to damage my computer, the only thing I've done to it since getting it is upgrading the ram from 1 gb to 3 gbs could this also be a factor?

 

I know I have a sufficient power-supply for my graphics card, we had it installed at the store and everything. The cpu looks like it's cooled very well, it has giant heat sinks and a large fan on it, but the card is just a card.

 

If I was going to buy additional heatsinks of a fan for the graphics card how would I place them in my computer so they are used properly?

 

I can take photos of the inside of my computer if necessary.

 

My specs are:

300 gb hard drive

3gb ram

Pentium core 2 duo 1.87ghz

ATI X1950 pro 256 With the latest 7.4 drivers

 

Right now it's idling at 65 degrees C. I think I read it should idle at 40 :/

 

I also haven't overclocked it or anything ever, the same goes for all other components in my computer.

[sparhawk]

If it only happened during the game, then try to see if a newer driver fixes the issue. I had this problem with Quake 4 (but not with Doom 3 which I found strange). When I first played Doom 3, I always had "snow" in the game, and I read a new driver fixes this. After that it didn't happen, but then, when I played Quake 4, I noticed that I also got snow, but only after some time. It was not so noticable in the beginning, but then it got pretty bad. When I stopped playing and waited a bit, everything was ok for some time again when playing again. I installed a new driver later, and then these effects went away. I read that this was also caused because of the gfx card starting to overheat.

 

If you were idle and the card acted strange it's bad. It will probably die soon, so you might look for a replacement. A collegue of mine also had this problem for some time, and then the card broke completely.

[Komag]

Do you actually see the GPU fan spinning when you turn on the PC? Have you cleaned out the dust wads that inevitably accumulate?

[greebo]

I've got an X1950Pro as well. Which model do you have, the one with the heatpipes? If yes, you might want to ensure that your case is well "aired", otherwise the card is likely to heat up along with the interior.

 

edit: I've got this model:

[Crispy]

I had a similar problem a while back with my old passively-cooled Gigabyte GeForce 6600 GT (GEF6600GTsomethingorother). It would get up to 115 degrees C under load! When I first read the temperature display I couldn't believe my eyes. I figured the temperature sensor must be malfunctioning, so I touched the heatpipe on the card with my finger to see how hot it really was. OW IT BURNS! Okay, now I believe it.

 

Mine was still under warranty, so I returned it to the guy I bought it from and he swapped it for the equivalent fan-cooled version. It's fine now, though I miss having a quiet PC. :(

 

So if the fan is spinning properly and everything looks OK, try getting it replaced under warranty. Sometimes they'll just make a bad card.

[Unstoppable]

Step 1 purchase air pressure can

Step 2 take case outside on table

Step 3 spray heatsink/cpu/fans

Step 4 unscrew video card and spray carefully without damaging fan

step 5 plug computer in and make sure all fans are running (outside or inside)

step 6 if needed replace fans on video card or cpu or case

 

If you haven't done this in 6 months it's time to do so. I clean mine out every 3-6 months. That should fix the overheating problem you have.

[jdude]

The card is brand new, and futureshop installed it them self, I personally don't want to have to be cleaning it out every couple of months with the possibility of wrecking it, as it's worth 300 dollars.

 

@ Crispy, if this continues that is exactly what I will do.

 

@ Greebo: I have this model: http://www.thetechlounge.com/view+image/ca...ro_features.jpg .

the box says PCI express: 256 MBIMo GDDR3.

 

@ Komag: I just opened up the side panel, the fan is spinning. There is almost no dust in the computer, just small specs of it around the bottom.

 

@ Sparhawk: That's what I'm afraid of! It scares me to think it could break.

 

Upon starting it up today in my relatively cool house as compared to yesterday it is idling around 41 degrees. This is what I've had it idle at before when not having problems. After using my computer for a bit it's heated up to 54 degrees, but this isn't doing anything that requires 3d rendering, just switching between firefox windows ect ect. I don't think that is too bad though.. is it?

 

As you can see my card is STILL on-sale http://www.futureshop.ca/catalog/class.asp...&catid=1087

I don't have much other good choices to pick from if I were to request an exchange.

[Komag]

I have an X1600, also on sale there I see, good card that.

[greebo]

From what it looks like, the cooler doesn't seem to work very efficiently. Do you have the chance of replacement? Otherwise you're probably best off with a good case cooling. 54 degrees in 2D mode isn't a very good quality sign at any rate, imo.

[jdude]

It should still be returnable.. I hope I will phone up future shop and see what they have to say about it.

[Nyarlathotep]

My 7800GTX regularly runs at 76 C, and under load, it'll occasionally peak to 115 (hovering around 104-109). I blame this mostly on the shit cooling job Dell did. Never, ever buy Dell.

[jdude]

heh, well this one is an Acer. It's been pretty good since that occurred, I've been playing hl2 with extremely high settings no problem. It may just be a glitch with the drivers that they don't know about yet with AOE3. I also blew on it and a little bit of dust came out, I doubt that was the problem though, I will keep a very close eye on it the next few days.

[Unstoppable]

Odds are you aren't getting enough circulation inside the system. Do you have an exhaust fan to take out all the hot air? You should have one fan that usually resides in front of the case sucking cool air in.

 

Some people adapt another fan called the intake fan on the side of the case. This helps bring in even more cool air, some cases already bring the holes for mounting one or the fan already mounted.

[jdude]

As far as i know there are three fans, one on the graphics card built in, a giant one on the cpu and one blowing air out the back in the power supply. Should I get another? I found them for cheap only 10 - 20 dollars Although I have never installed one before which is somewhat concerning to me.

[Nyarlathotep]

Definitely get another fan. I myself would add another two fans if Dell hadn't decided to screw me over and not supply me with anything resembling a mount point. I only have one case fan myself, and it doubles as the CPU fan.

[Order of the Hammer Bureaucrat]

I've had several 2.5" hdds die because it was over 30 degrees in the room in the past year. I sympathize with those who have components failing from the heat. jdude, if I were you, I'd open up the side of the desktop and point some cheap desk-fan at it.

[Unstoppable]

These guides should help

http://www.heatsink-guide.com/casecool.htm

 

Basically you need to have one exhaust fan in front of case which probably all cases have now sucking cool air in. Then one exhaust fan sucking the hot air out. You can add another fan on the side of the case so it brings more cool air.

 

You want to avoid putting too many fans because then the air might get trapped inside and never get out causing the temperature to rise.

 

This second guide is even better.

http://icrontic.com/articles/pc_airflow_heat_cooling_guide

 

I like to keep the side of my case cover on. If you have air condition try to manage it so that you can cool your whole room every once in a while.

Edited June 2, 2007 by Unstoppable

[rich_is_bored]

My rig has a total of 6 fans in it. A 5 inch fan in the front sucking air in. Two smaller fans in the rear blowing air out. A fan on the CPU and a fan on each of my 2 GPUs.

 

It's relatively quiet if I'm doing office type tasks, but when I fire up a game it's like a jet taking off.

[Dram]

Bah, you all and your quiet comps - my comp has 2 120mm fans at the back, 1 120mm fan on the power supply (Antec TPII 480 watt) one at the front, an 80mm fan on the side, and another 80mm fan blowing at the vid card. I leave these at full speed all the time. When you press the power button it really is like a jet plane

[Crispy]

I used to have a computer like that - fewer fans, but smaller ones (smaller ones are generally noisier than bigger ones). It probably damaged my hearing permanently.

[sparhawk]

I guess with my next computer I will also focus on a more quite one. My current machine is quite loud, and I already banned the server in another room, because this one is definitely loud. It was manufactured with the assumption that it will be put into a computer center anyway, so loudness probably was never an issue, but at home it definitely is. And this server machine IS really loud.

[Springheel]

When I first played Doom 3, I always had "snow" in the game, and I read a new driver fixes this.

 

I had the same problem with my old ATI 9800, with both D3 and Riddick (but nothing else). I actually underclocked it slightly, and that fixed the problem without any noticeable side effects.

[jdude]

quicky update on this situation:

 

I finally got off my butt and went to futureshop with the receipt and everything and they gave me a brand new card and it idles around 41 degrees and doesn't appear to heat up at all under pressure

 

This customer is satisfied

[Maximius]

Step 1 purchase air pressure can

Step 2 take case outside on table

Step 3 spray heatsink/cpu/fans

Step 4 unscrew video card and spray carefully without damaging fan

step 5 plug computer in and make sure all fans are running (outside or inside)

step 6 if needed replace fans on video card or cpu or case

 

If you haven't done this in 6 months it's time to do so. I clean mine out every 3-6 months. That should fix the overheating problem you have.

 

 

Agreed. I took my Dell apart last week, pulled out everything that would come loose, and vacuumed it out. The CPU had so much dust on it it looked like a little grey box that magically turned gold when I touched it with the hose. I keep my dust cover off completely now, all it does is trap dust inside the case, and clean it regularly.