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EVGA GTX 280 overheating?

C

Codester

n00b
Joined
Dec 30, 2006
Messages
14
I've had this card for a little over two years now, and it's worked great. But about the time Skyrim came out, I started getting crashes. After just a couple of minutes of play, my screen would get "garbled" and my computer would become unresponsive, forcing me to do a hard reset. I assume this was a sign that the card was overheating, because it never happened when I wasn't playing games. So I guess my questions are, why would it suddenly start overheating after two years, and is it even worth trying to overcome this issue (by 3rd party cooling, etc), or is the card just trash-bound?

As far as trouble-shooting, I did try blowing the dust out (I regularly do), and I did try leaving the case open and even blowing a second fan directly on it. And last, I forced the card fan to 100%. None of this worked.

Suggestions and/or condolences are appreciated. :D
 
My GTX 280 on my guest PC has been doing the same thing. Been meaning to RMA it but nothing so far. The temps are at about 80c on load so it's not even that hot.
 
Use HWmonitor to check the temps. Just fire up a GPU intensive game and let it run for like 2 minutes while moving around-just to get the card heated. Alt-tab out and check the temps in HWmonitor. If it's like > 65 then it's probably overheating.

But it might just be a software problem. Try updating directx, visual c++ and video card drivers.
 
Sounds like a bad card...I ran 2 GTX 280s in SLI for years and never had that kind of problem.

You could try re-applying thermal paste to the GPU, but frankly if the problem happens after only a couple minutes it doesn't seem like it could be overheating, unless the fan on the card is simply not working at all. It usually takes a little bit for the card to overheat if everything is working properly. Sounds more like something else on the card is going or went bad.
 
The GTX 280 I have is about 4 years old. The card crashes the first time playing any graphics intensive game.
pc230529xw6.jpg

Then after a reboot the card is fine for the next 8 hours. It's really weird...
 
I'm having the same exact problem with my GTX 280, I've had it for a couple years now, maybe close to 3. It started almost a year ago doing the same thing you're describing. I found that using just one of my monitors instead of the dual setup I had fixed the problem temporarily. Now recently it's been doing the same thing again except it does as soon as windows loads. I key in my password to login and blam, garbled screen and locked computer. I've even gone as far as to underclock the card and increase the fan speed but it still does it.

I'm on the verge of just saying fuckit, and upgrading my card.
 
If it's an EVGA and assuming you registered it within 30 days, it should carry a lifetime warranty. The last time one did this to me, they were kind enough to replace it with a 470.
 
I'll probably heatgun it to reflow and then replace the TIM and see if it works. Unfortunately I got this card from my cousin and he never registered it.
 
UPDATE*

I reflowed the chips with a heatgun for about 10 minutes while circling the RAM/GPU then another 5 minutes on the back of the pcb. Applied some MX-2 and so far running 2 1/2 hours with no crashes. Temps are a bit iffy.. letting sit on BF3 for a few hours and temps are 58c idle, 87c 95% load and 100% fan speed. Not sure what are good temps for the 280 but hopefully it doesn't get any higher. I am sure the paste needs to cure a bit as it pretty watery when applied. Left the old thermal pads on there with a dot of paste on each.
 
280 runs pretty hot, so I wouldn't be too worried about that unless it goes up to 100C rather quickly.

If I ran Furmark I could get my 280s up to 90-95C pretty easily.

Also AFAIK MX-2 doesn't really need to "cure" but it will get a bit watery on the top. Not sure if you can really "shake" the tiny tube, but I typically squirt out a tiny bit on a paper towel first to make sure it's not the weird watery bit.
 
Yeah I flicked the tube a bit and squeezed some of the water out but the paste itself was still watery when I applied it leaving moisture on the GPU. I went ahead and applied the entire tube in an X.

168zwpv.jpg


Going to run it for another 2 hours, then turn it off and see how it does after 24 hours when the entire card is cold and dry since the issue doesn't usually show up on a warm card.

*UPDATE*

After 3 hours the temps have actually dropped 3 degrees. I am at 84c 95% load 100% fan speed.
 
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