Computer issues: Overheating GPU

[Vazzaroth]

So, I have finally been able to find something that may be causing the random game hangs and really, really low Frame per Second dips: My Graphics card over heating.

A simple google search tells me my standard operating Temperature should be around 50 C or so... my temp. monitoring program consistently puts mine around 90C IDLE. It just pushed 125C while running COD4 a few minutes ago. I have a GeForce 7600 GS. I have heard these have had issues with the fan stopping, mine may have.

Are their any suggestion I could do to lower temp until I have enough to buy the new computer I've been wanting? Preferably nothing that involves buying new things, since this comp's on it's way out.

I'm very familiar with computers and hardware, but not so much at controlling heat. It hasn't been an issue before, this is the first computer I've built thats generated any decent heat.

[Solo]

Buy a better fan?

Install a liquid nitrogen cooling system?

Placate the machine spirit with a libation?

[tyckspoon]

Take the side off your case. Aim a fan at the open case. Dust it regularly, because it'll be collecting even more that way, but it'll have good airflow. Also try to move your case to somewhere in an open space (you'll need to do that to blow a fan at it anyway); if it's stuck in a desk compartment or similar, it might not have enough space for proper air circulation.

You should probably open the case and run the computer for a bit that way anyway so you can get a direct visual check of whether or not your GPU fan is running properly.

[Vazzaroth]

Alright thanks. I was thinking of using a regular fan anyway. I took the case off, removed some dust, but didn't think to run it with it off.

I'm going to be particularly angry if my FPS drops are NOT because of this. They started happening when we moved and I switched from Wired to wireless internet. That shouldn't affect anything, right?

[Zeb The Troll]

I strongly recommend NOT running a computer with the case open. The cases are typically engineered to direct airflow over heat producing parts like your CPU and video card. Also, with the case closed, the airflow is typically filtered in order to reduce dust collection. Removing the case foils both of these things. You should, however, check to see that all of your fans are working properly. If they are and you're still having trouble, there are auxiliary fans that are available to boost the airflow through your system and they can be fairly inexpensive.

[Blayze]

I solved an overheating problem with a pair of SLIed GeForce 8800GTSes by removing one side of the case and the top, and balancing a single 120mm fan (Facing upwards) between the PSU and the DVD drive.

That was only a temporary fix, though. I was forced to solve the problem forever by purchasing a Mountainmods case. Almost broken double figures on the number of fans in there now, not to mention a CPU cooler the size of Jupiter.


They started happening when we moved

Perhaps the current position of your case is inferior to its former position.

[Vazzaroth]

My case USED to be on the ground and was always filled with dust, hair, and spiders. Now it's above the ground on my desk-bottom, not in a drawer or anything. It seems like it should to better here.

What if I was to get one of these (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835186017)? It looks like that just mounts right on the card, and replaces the busted fan, right?

[Aereshaa_the_2nd]

I used to have this problem, but I made a great solution:
My computer case is 40 cm wide, and 40 cm tall. So I bought 25 80mm fans, hot-glued them to a sheet of spare mosquito net from our windows, and replaced one side of my computer case with this fan-sheet. The mosquito net, which is finer than most (around 1mm per square) keeps dust out- I just have to run the fans backward once every day. Isn't that awesome? Well, isn't it?

[Forthork]

Not sure how much money you are willing to spend, but you can probably snag a new card for $50 (say a GeForce 8600 or Radeon 2600). Either would be a fair bit better than your 7600 GS. But, that heatsink says it is compatible with 7600's. The FPS drops should be due to that, the wireless internet will probably cause more lag, but it shouldn't be FPS loss, just it may be less responsive.

[Vazzaroth]

Not sure how much money you are willing to spend, but you can probably snag a new card for $50 (say a GeForce 8600 or Radeon 2600). Either would be a fair bit better than your 7600 GS. But, that heatsink says it is compatible with 7600's. The FPS drops should be due to that, the wireless internet will probably cause more lag, but it shouldn't be FPS loss, just it may be less responsive.

Where did you find 50$ 8600s? I think the 7600 I have was about that much. I'd gladly buy on of those as a replacement, and just SLI it with a mate later when I get my new computer.

Edit: Wow. I'm seeing them on Newegg for like 65 bucks. Maybe I'll do that.

Also, I still highly doubt its my wireless as well. When I lag on games like TF, my ping is still fine. I assumed that was the problem at first, so I watched my ping. I was down to like, 6 FPS once, with a 6 Ping. :smallyuk:

[Forthork]

7600 will cost a lot because they are outdated, the 8600s/Radeon 2600 (same performance) are after rebate, I see most of them at Newegg.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130085 $62 shipped after rebate.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814145146 $58 shipped after rebate.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814161176 $50 shipped after rebate.

The eVGA one would be my pick of them all (and it was $50 shipped a few weeks ago). eVGA is an excellent brand. The Radeon might be a little better card. The Chaintech is decent as well.

Just beware the GDDR2 cards, they will probably be better than your 7600, but are prices as the faster GDDR3 8600s/2600s. And you probably want to get a 256 meg card, they aern't really fast enough to use 512. Also, SLi with low-end cards probably won't be worth it, but by the time you want to do it, you might be able to get a card better than both of them for cheap. I used to have an 8600, and it ran most anything decent at 1440x900. It wasn't as pretty as with my new 8800, but it worked fine.

Oh, and I assume you have a PCI-e card?

[Vazzaroth]

I'm about 99% sure I have an Express slot, but I don't know offhand how to check. It doesn't tell me in the System analyzer program I DLed.

I was thinking about going with this (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130085). I'm fine with dropping 80$ on it, and buying another later when I buy from ibuypower.com. The main thing I have with SLI is that my current computer doesn't support that or Duel+ core processers, so I might as well just get a new computer.

Also, is there anything that could possible be more plausible than overheating? I would hate to spend this money sooner than I planned to fix the problem, and have it still persist. I'm using my 4th edition money on this, after all. :smallwink:

Edit: I just realized the EVGA you recommended is the one I linked. And I'm fairly sure I want Nvidea

[Forthork]

If you look in your computer, check where the card meets the motherboard. You should be able to tell the slot by looking, without taking the card out (make sure if you do take it out, that the computer is fully off, and you touch the power supply to ground yourself). If it is on, while you are in there, check to see if the fan is spinning.

How the slots look. (http://www.tomshardware.pl/graphic/20041110/images/pic-agp-pcie.jpg)

Again, I would not recommend SLi, especially on lower-end cards. A single 8800gs (which can be had for 100 after rebate) will beat 2 8600GT's.

It seems almost certain that your card is heating up, especially if those temps are accurate. I would suggest trying to remove the dust from the card heatsink, preferably when the card is removed from the computer. Do not use a vacuum to remove the dust.

Also, bay any chance do you know the rest of the specs for your PC?

[Crispy Dave]

i recomen getting an older comp (free or cheap one) and and taking all the fans out and shoving them in your box

[Vazzaroth]

Yea I have PCI express. And I visually confirmed that the fan never spun after like 2 days of seeing if it would with the case open. I started pushing 125C while playing TF2. It was commonly at 115C, but it def. got to 125.

Do 8800s have epic cooling? My case right now is just OK, and only has one old fan. I plan to go crazy with cooling in my next one because of this crap, but I don't have the means right now. And are you REALLY sure two 8600s, which are the ones RIGHT below 88's, aren't better than 1 88? Generally, two slightly less good things are better than one better thing because it allows for "wider" transfer..."

Either way, if I bought either at the moment it would be ALL my money. I gotta wait a bit. But I am considering getting an 88 now for SLIing later. (But again, Im concerned with it's heat. My friend has an 88 and his computer runs so hot it makes his room an oven.

Edit: Well, Ive got a 3.0 Ghtz Processer, 2.5 gigs DDR2 ram, and SLi Incompatable Motherboard :smallannoyed:, and idk what else to tell you. Monitor and HD should be irrelevant.

[Forthork]

SLI scales badly, and 8600s weren't really good (in comparison to 8800s), and they perform on average about half of the performance of an 8800GS. Since SLI scales bad, it will rarely surpass the 8800, while using more power, requiring a more expensive motherboard, and the two cards will probably cost you more than one 8800. The 8800GS has 96 shaders, 384 MB of RAM, and a 192-bit memory bus. The 8600's have 32 shaders each, and 256 MB of RAM on a 128-bit bus (but memory and memory buses don't "stack" in SLI). There are other things to consider, but those are the main things. SLI is generally only usful at very high resolutions, and the 8600s can't deal with them because of their low memory (and the fact that the cant take advantage of more memory if the have it). About your card, I would make sure you get a fan aiming on that if you can, 125C is very bad for a card. The 8800s have pretty good cooling (the 8800GS has the same colling as the faster 8800GT), and eVGA offers lifetime warranty on 8800s (only 2 years on 8600s), so you won't have to worry later on. Now, the 8600 would still be a decent upgrade, and would be fine for casual gaming, so do whatever you want. But, if you were going to go SLI anyway, you would save money with a 8800.

A 3 ghz processor (I assume a Pentium 4) can take advantage of an 8800, and then when you get a new multi-core PC, you can use the card's full power. Also, can you find out the wattage of your power supply (should say it on the side) and give me an estimate of the computers age? You always want to make sure your power supply is good enough, it is the most crucial part of your computer. Also, what resolution do you play on, and what is the max resolution your monitor supports?

And about the heat produced, nVidia origionally launched the 8800GTS with 320 or 640 megs of RAM. These made a lot of heat, and were decent performers. Then, they launched the 8800GS (similar performance to the old GTS), the 8800GT (even better performance), and the 8800GTS 512 MB (pretty much top of the line card). All the new ones run very cool, I have not seen my 8800GS go above 60C, and I can't even hear the fan. And two 8600s would produce more heat than one 8800GS.

[BizzaroStormy]

Do you have a mini fridge? If it and/or the computer are the right size, you could stick it in there. j/k

But seriously, try opening up the case and giving it a thorough cleaning with some canned air. High amounts of accumulated dust is probably causing your fan or it's intake/exhaust to get clogged.

[Vazzaroth]

Alright, thanks for the explanation. I appreciate it when people can explain their claims. I think I will save for an 8800... except after I posted earlier I realized Power may be an issue. I believe they are hogs (again, based off my friend's 88, but IDK if he has a GS, GT, or what.) I can't find any good info on my power supply on the System Sensor software I use... nothing about wattage. The computer is about 2 years old now I believe though.

I play on 1440 x 900 right now, the highest my Widescreen supports.

Also, how old are the 9000 series? I didn't know there WERE 9000's. That explains why the 88s are decent priced now.

[Forthork]

The new 8800 are pretty much the 9000s. nVidia uses a screwed up naming system. The 9600GT performs about par with the 8800GS, a tad higher in some games, but is usually $140, where the 8800 can be had for 100 after rebate. The 9600GSO is the 8800GS, with a different name (which is why the 8800GS is so cheap, it is fading out). The 8800GS draws only a little more power than the 8600GT, about 20-30 watts more I believe. The only difference is the 8800 GS draws some power directly from the power supply, so you have to make sure your power supply has either a six-pin connector, or two 4-pin molex connectors (and use the supplied 4- to 6-adapter)
This is the adapter (http://www.com-tra.de/img/p/06759_o.jpg), it will come with your card.

About all the cards, this is pretty much their performance:
8800GTX>9800GTX>8800GTS 512>8800GT 512>8800GTS 640>9600GT>8800GTS 320 and 8800GS and 9600GSO>8600GTS>8600GT
As you can see, nVidia's naming scheme sucks.

Is there a label on the side of your power supply that says its wattage? There should be a chart like this one (http://lib.store.yahoo.net/lib/svcompucycle/outputspecs.jpg). What are the number under max power (says 450w in the pic) and what is/are the number/s (sometimes there's only one) under peak for +12v1 and +12v2 (says 18 ans 16 in the pic).

As for your resolution, that is about the max the 8600 can handle, and not high enough where you need 512 RAM (the 8800GS has 384, Crysis takes about 330 at 1440x900). Speaking of Crysis, I could play all high settings, although it would slow down in big fights, and plants and object would pop up only once you got fairly near them. Your CPU will hold you back a bit, but as long as you are going to upgrade your computer and use the card in it, it should be a worthy investment.

Now is a decent time to shop for cards, although they will be dropping in price soon and nVidia and ATi are launching their new cards this summer. The 8800GS is a great card, and as long as it is in your price range, I would recommend it. Right now, their are cards in just about any price range that perform well. If you do want a 8800GS, I would recommend the eVGA one over the XFX. It has better memory, and a quiet, probably better, cooling system. Both brands offer lifetime warranties. One of the XFX cards comes with CoD4, but I believe you said you already have that. The factory overclocked versions are fine, if its worth the extra ten bucks to you, but you can probably do that yourself with software (and eVGA's warranty covers overclocking, although most times the company probably can't tell you overclocked it).

[Archonic Energy]

Install a liquid nitrogen cooling system?


3-4 CO2 fire extinguishers can subditute that :smallwink:

[Vazzaroth]

Well, two things:

1) My power supply does not have a chart just like that, but I checked out the sticker, by dell, and was able to get some info. It says the "max power will not exceed 305W". That seems small... I hope it's enough.

2)My I have a 6 pin... thing coming out of my power supply. I will admit I know little about power supplies, as I haven't built a computer from an empty case completely. It looks more like a socket. It looks like the black end of the picture you posted would fit inside. Is the black part what the 8800 will come with to plug in, or am I supposed to plug my existing connector into the card? If it's the latter, I don't think that will work...

[Forthork]

305 watt probably will not cut it, it would even be close for an 8600. The thing is, the computer will be powered with it, on average I would say no more than 250-300 watts will be drawn, but power supplies are rated at their max load, they cannot sustain that for long. They are much more power efficient, cool, stable, and last longer at about 70% or so. You could give it a try, I ran my 8600GT on a 250 watt for a few months, but I was very close to the limit.
This (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371006) is a great PSU for the price ($30 shipped after rebate with coupon code EMCAFDAAB), very efficient, and would be more than enough for your system (it happens to be cheaper than the 380 watt version on Newegg, but that one would be powerful enough), and should you decide to build a new computer, could be reused. You just have to remember, the PSU id the most important part of your computer. If it fails, it can take out other components with it. That said, I have used cheap PSUs all before my current computer, and have all worked decent, with a few failures (never had them fail while in use, though).

Honestly, I would probably take a gamble. Get the 8800GS, maybe underclock it a little to save power, and if the PSU blows, you were going to get a new computer anyway. The card (at least the eVGA one) has a lifetime warranty, so no problem there. Also, the 8800GS I have, which is the "superclocked" version, doesn't draw much more power than my 8600GT did, due to the fact that the new 8800's use smaller chips, so if you are going to try on your old PSU, don't get the 8600 just to try to save power.