Graphics Card Running Hot

[GeneStarwind]

I have a Nivida GeFore 6800 GT graphic card and it is running hot most of the time.. As far as i know (and i trust this) it is NOT other clocking. At the moment, i am having to have the computer case off but still it can crash. When playing even a old game like Duke Nukem 3D i can be half way though playing a game and it'll come up on the screen 'No Signal' and when i quickly use my hand to test the temp (yes, i know it's a bad way but it works) i almost burn myself.. If i leave the computer off for a couple of mins it's okay but it's still warm..

I believe the drivers are all up to date and the card wasn't the cheapest thing in the world so i don't really want to get a new one.. (this program has been buggin me for a while now but i haven't been playing many games of late so it's not been a real problem) since i got it last year am not sure about a 'replacement'.. i was doing some temp work at the shop where i got the card but he has since gone under really for money problems so taking it back for a exchange again would be tricky..

Any ideas what might help?

[jlreich]

Check to make sure the fan is working on the card. Blow the dust out with some compressed air.

How is the cooling in your case? The system should run cooler with the cover on.

Set a small house fan blowing in the case and see if that helps. If it does you may either need more/better cooling in your case, or the fan on the video card may need replacing.

Sounds like the latter to me since it very hot to the touch. It should be fairly warm but not burning.

You need to take care of the problem though. Repeated overheating is going to kill the video card.

[saphalline]

The manufacturer's warranty should be much longer than 1 year. Most of the vid card manufacturers these days have at least 5-year warranties, with some running up to the lifetime of the card (with limited coverage). Check the fan(s) on the vid card itself, like jlreich said. After that, contact the manufacturer.

[GeneStarwind]

Check to make sure the fan is working on the card. Blow the dust out with some compressed air.

The fan is working. I gave it a quick clean but i don't have an compressed air at the moment (the price on that stuff in the Uk.. whoa.. -_-).

How is the cooling in your case? The system should run cooler with the cover on.

There is an input fan at the front which is working and feels okay, there is a side plastic blower thing which is to funnel the proccessor fan.. that seams to feel okay.. The back output fan also seams to work fine as well as the power pack fan and the graphics card fan. i think the only things really that might block some of the input fan's air is a sata harddrive cable and the IDE cable for the DVD drivers. nothing too bad really.

Set a small house fan blowing in the case and see if that helps. If it does you may either need more/better cooling in your case, or the fan on the video card may need replacing.

I'll try and see if there is any fan i can find the room to have it blowing into the case ^_^ One thing though, is that the Back of the video card, the other end from where the fan is is what seam to get really hot.. the Cards fan faces down towards the bottom of the case. I was thinking of putting a fan or two on the bottom of the case to blow upwards.. if you think that would be good.

Sounds like the latter to me since it very hot to the touch. It should be fairly warm but not burning.

yeah.. but that fan feels fine and everything.. it might be more be not being too used to the heat but i would need someone else to more check when it happens next.

You need to take care of the problem though. Repeated overheating is going to kill the video card.

oh yeah.. i know -_-

So if you agree, do you think just sticking a couple of fans at the bottom of the case blowing onto the card would work? Maybe removing the plastic 'funnel'.. that thing is MEANT to help but if it does or not is a good question.

[Whyzman]

Do you know how many of your fans are being controlled by thermistors? It might be that the RPMs are not sufficient for the heat load...

As mentioned, try the fan blowing on the case and let us know if the problem still persists...

[GeneStarwind]

I don't know how many of them are, i doubt many.

I have tryed a little house fan (not very powerful, the only other ones i have are too big really for the space) and it DID lower the temp.. only by a couple of points but the card felt a lot cooler and the Card Temp (via the software for it) said it was about 2 points lower. So i guess that means if i get a couple of nice powerful computer fans, place then in the right places it should fix the problem ^_^

I'll try it and get back on how well it is working ^_^

[saphalline]

The best place to put a fan for the vid card is right on the side panel. Cut a hole and position it next the vid card, blowing in.

[GeneStarwind]

Am still having some different problems but i got a quick question. I got an old (about a year) Processor fan and heat sync. If i get some paste and put that on the metal plate on top of the card, would that work? i think it would work well but am not up on that kind of stuff ^_^

[saphalline]

If you could find a way to anchor it to the top of the vid card, and if you brace the vid card against the weight, then that might work. Not the most elegant solution, but it would probably keep the vid card a bit cooler.

[GeneStarwind]

sorry i haven't replied in a while.. my own computer went down (this problem is with another) which i wasn't able to get access to much..

anyway.. i fixed the problem... Nvida, the prats, didn't put enought paste on the thing -_- i was checking out the heat sync when i saw there was pretty much no paste there so i put some on.