Cooling Help

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Rahburt-33

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Mar 17, 2008
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The graphics card in my sig works great when I play games..... for about 10 minutes. (In games it jumps up to 140degrees F) The top of the card (the side without the heatsink and fan) seems to be the part that is getting real hot. What I am wondering is if it would be a smart idea to put a cooling fan on top of the card, blowing air onto it, or would that be a bad idea? (the cpu fan would pretty much be right above it)

Or does anyone have any cooling suggestions? I don't have any money nor do I know how to install a new GPU cooling unit.

Thanks in advance.
 
But when im playing games the screen blacks out, and when it comes back it shows a vpu recover screen
 
I'm assuming your card is artifacting or causing the PC to blue screen? what are you using to monitor the temps? I just ask because most seem to display C rather than F. Don't wanna bother pushing you in a direction without details.
 
I am using Everest Ultimate, it has both C and F
Yeah it artifacts, not so much blue screen but it does just restart
and like I said above it blacks out, sound and program still going, then it might kick back in and say "VPU recover, send error report to ATI"
 
did it always do this or is it a new thing?

I have been having problems with the cat 9.5s doing the same thing to me, 9.4s and earlier don't seem to do it.

it could be a remarkable coincidence on my end that it just randomly happens and I think it's the 9.5s but my card never gets above 50c load. There is no way it's the temps for me.
 
Are you using the same card as me? I have the AGP version =P
It was doing this alot on my last install, but I one day it just worked fine, usually.
So it could be a Driver rollback?
 
I use a 4830, but I never had a bit of problems with it until I installed the 9.5s

I have them back on today for the first time in a while and sure enough I got the VPU recovery thing again little while ago and I hadn't even gotten into the game fully.

It could just be a coincidence. I am just narrowing it down and can't think of what else it could be but the 9.5s
 
When I kept getting that with my 3870, I noticed that the overdrive function was enabled in the catalyst control center. So I turned that off and disabled the monitor overclock function for LCD refresh rate and I haven't had a problem since.
 
I do that anyways, but it's kinda hard to have it blow down directly, I have made custom mounts with a metal coat hanger(ghetto classy) but really I find it's easier to put a fan in the hard drive cage blowing across the top of the card, in my case I have an open slot above my vidcard and the hot air blows out the case, it also keeps my chipset cooler too as a benefit.
 
I did the same thing with mine to narrow down a cooling issue but found that its better to face it the other way pulling hot air away from the cards.
 
Rahburt. I noticed in your sig you put "450w PSU (needs upgrading)

Now is the time. It will resolve your restart issue. It is not heat related.
 
Well the power supply needs upgrading because it takes the computer a bunch to start up, but once its going its fine

And I dont have money for a new PSU =(
 
Rahburt-33 said:
it takes the computer a bunch to start up, but once its going its fine
Click to expand...

This is not a sign of a good / fine PSU / system. You might spend lots of time trying to fix a possible video card / driver issue when its the PSU (or something else) all along. If you don't have funds to buy a new one, can you reduce the load on the PSU by disconnecting unnecessary components (doubt if it will make any difference, but worth a try).
 
Well at another forum we ruled out that it wasn't the psu, and I have already tried removing everything that I don't need.
 
Rahburt-33 said:
Well at another forum we ruled out that it wasn't the psu, and I have already tried removing everything that I don't need.
Click to expand...

out of curiosity how did you rule it out?

what brand is the power supply? and do you have a power rating on the rails?

how many pins are in the plug for the vidcard? and are you using an adaptor to power it?
 
Lmao I already know it's a bad brand, its just been able to hand the computer pretty well.
Yeah the video card uses a 8pin connecter, it takes 2 molex's to power it

It was ruled out because of the temp. The PSU has a 12v rail though, I just dont know what wire it is connected to
 
uh, how does the temp of the video card rule anything out? that temperature is perfectly within range of normal operation.

all power supplies have 12v rails, you judge by the max amperage on the 12v rail.

what is the brand of the power supply?
 
on thew side of the power supply they usually give the amperage ratings and the wattage ratings for each rail.

Check it out and see if your's does.

do you have both of those molexes connected to the same group of connectors or have one in two different?

if not, try that.
 
I had it connected to 2 different ones the day I got the card, and I don't know what to look for. Is there a way to tell what connector is connected to what rail?
 
Well I get that the temp is fine, Its a bad brand though(L&C something like that)
Under the +12v it says 18A, under the -12v it says 1A

If you guys need a pic ill take one tomorrow (Its to dark to right now)
 
well, from what I can tell, and it's pretty ambiguous because I read a few conflicting reports you need around 20 amps.

18 sounds like it is pushing things a bit, and with just about anything else drawing on the 12v rail it likely wouldn't be enough.

I gotta say I really think it's your power supply.

if you can't afford a new one, I have an ultra 400 watter sitting around I won't ever use(not the best brand in the world) that I will let you have for shipping cost. It's rated at 20amps on the 12v with 240 watt max.

It may not work, but it's worth a shot, PM me if you want it.
 
Rahburt, take stealthy123's power supply. If nothing else, you'll at least rule out certain issues.
 
Ill probably do that, I can get some money for s hipping from these old games I don't (and now can't) play
 
Or you could try getting rid of one of those hard drives. I had my 3870 running in virtually the same setup you have with the same size psu and having 2 hard drives in it caused my system to become unstable because of being underpowered. If I unplugged the second drive, it was fine.
 
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