Yea the card would just shut down from over heating long before it got hot enough to spontaneously combust from temps alone. It sounds like it had to be an electrical issue or defect in the card or cooler itself...
I've always went with the "grain of rice" right in the center and so far havent had any problems myself. Especially since the layout of the cores under the heat shield line up, and how it speads evenly in a circle.
Im actually trying to do something very similar. When I run some of the PSU calculators Im getting results in the 650w to 750w range. Obviusly 850w would cover it but would a 650w gold psu be sufficient as well?
I might have to do the same thing with a monitor of mine...I swear the lcd screen is fine but the power connection is just failing and Id hate to just throw away a perfectly good screen haha
So how exactly does the minimum work? I've used this forum to lookup information for a long time about building computers but never had anything to contribute myself really.