6800gt is over heating so bad

[ManBearPig]

Since like, 6 months ago, some games are acting really wierd. The screen flashes black, there is some artifacting, and it ends up crashing to the desktop. Its so annoying, but it only happens for certain games it seems.

The damn thing is pushing 80C regularly for some reason, and i know that the heat is making the problems.

What can i do? Why is this happening just now? Its just wierd that its happening only recently, or else i wouldnt care.

thanks guys.

 

[Ayah]

Dusty? Low airflow? You could upgrade the cooler.

 

[BassBomb]

80 isnt TOO bad for a 6800GT, but yea clean up the dust if you haevnt in a long time, thats probably why...

if its an oc then its probably no longer handling the speeds you got it to once...

other than that could be dying...

 

[ManBearPig]

you think it could be the driver? im using a xtremeg driver (the newest one). i tried switching from one xtremeg driver to another but nooo

 

[Captante]

Originally posted by: Heen05
you think it could be the driver? im using a xtremeg driver (the newest one). i tried switching from one xtremeg driver to another but nooo

It depends on the default gpu & ddr speeds set by that particular driver... the default speeds for the 6800GT should be 350mhz core &
1000mhz ddr, but even the newer Nvidia WHQL drivers used to to set mine at 375mhz core & 1050mhz core for some reason...it wasn't a problem because my card used to do Ultra speeds easily, but if yours is a poor oc'er it could have a negative effect.

Whats more likely though is that your heatsink is clogged with dust & just needs to be cleaned out so I'd try this first, however you might want to install somthing like Rivatuner & check your cards clockspeeds too.

 

[VinDSL]

Originally posted by: Heen05
Since like, 6 months ago, some games are acting really wierd... Why is this happening just now? Its just wierd that its happening only recently, or else i wouldnt care.

Um...

6 months ago it was spring, and now it's late summer?!?!?!

Truth be told, my vid card is the hottest part of my rig -- especially the mem chips -- and yours is probably the same. Your cooling was probably marginal last winter, but now it's hot and it's freaking out. If you don't do something soon, you'll probably have a new vid card by next winter, and the cycle will begin anew.

Bottom line: Get a better GPU cooler than whatever you're running! I suggest a Masscool/Sytrin VF-1 Plus!

 

[VinDSL]

Originally posted by: Heen05
you think it could be the driver?

Nope! That's what they call denial and justification!

Get some cooling on that thing, bro!!!

 

[anandtechrocks]

Originally posted by: VinDSL

Originally posted by: Heen05
you think it could be the driver?

Nope! That's what they call denial and justification!

Get some cooling on that thing, bro!!!

If he's running stock, there should be no reason for overheating.

I'd try remounting your heatsink and providing your card with more airflow.

 

[ManBearPig]

it happened again and the BSOD showed this:

nv4disp.dll - adress BFAG27DE, 0xBFA627DE, 0xA53A5546, 0x000000000

beginning dump of physical memory
physical dump completed.

then when i restarted i got this serious system error, and i press more info:

BCCode : 1000008e BCP1 : C0000005 BCP2 : BFA627DE BCP3 : A53A554C
BCP4 : 00000000 OSVer : 5_1_2600 SP : 2_0 Product : 256_1

then i pressed technical details:

C:\DOCUME~1\me\LOCALS~1\Temp\WER95b6.dir00\Mini091306-01.dmp
C:\DOCUME~1\me\LOCALS~1\Temp\WER95b6.dir00\sysdata.xml

ideas?

 

[Bobthelost]

Have. You. Checked. The. Heatsink. For. Dust. Yet?

 

[ManBearPig]

Originally posted by: Bobthelost
Have. You. Checked. The. Heatsink. For. Dust. Yet?

Yeah. I tried vacuuming it out once, but it didnt work well. I tried using qtips to clean it but that wasnt so great either. Guess ill have to get air...wonder if itd really make a big diff.

Btw, the card used to do fine in the summer so i dont think thats the prob.

 

[Bobthelost]

If the dust has been accumulating since then it may well be.

Does it make a big difference? Yes. Oh hell yes.

 

[VinDSL]

Originally posted by: Heen05
it happened again and the BSOD showed this... then when i restarted i got this serious system error... ideas?

Looks like a bad RAM chip to me!

 

[gunner46]

Had same problem with my 6800, I removed fan cover and clean out all of the dust in fan and heatsink. Could not believe amount of dust.I clean my case etc of dust once a week but, this is the first time in 1 1/2 years that I removed the fan/heatsink cover. My temps were reduced by 10 degrees C at idle and 19 degrees under load.

 

[Zap]

Can of compressed air FTW! If it's the cooler that most 6800 series cards had, there's a plate over the whole heatsink (with hole for fan). Remove the plate first, then blow out the whole heatsink, then reassemble.

 

[ManBearPig]

Originally posted by: gunner46
Had same problem with my 6800, I removed fan cover and clean out all of the dust in fan and heatsink. Could not believe amount of dust.I clean my case etc of dust once a week but, this is the first time in 1 1/2 years that I removed the fan/heatsink cover. My temps were reduced by 10 degrees C at idle and 19 degrees under load.

Holy crap man....thats insane...

 

[buzzsaw13]

80C doesn't seem too bad. I used to live with a guy with an EVGA 6800GT and that thing used to hit 90C+ when he was playing EQ2

 

[ManBearPig]

well its affecting my games for some reason, i THINK. any options in bios that may be doing it? should i increase voltage?

btw, does the BFG 6800GT oc have a removable plate?

 

[zephyrprime]

Just pick yourself up an arctic silencer for $20.
http://svcompucycle.stores.yahoo.net/avc-nv5-r3.html

 

[gunner46]

Why insane ? Before I bought any thing to cool card, I would remove cover plate on fan and heatsink and clean it with compressed air. Attempting to clean it without removing plate is useless. How long have you had the card ?
I do not know if your card has a removable plate, it should.

 

[VinDSL]

If it was me... I'd switch out my RAM, and see if that makes any difference.

The title of this thread aside, I really don't think it's a heat-related problem, e.g. it might be a false dilemma, at this point...

 

[Zap]

We can "think" all we want but we won't "know" until the guy takes out his video card, removes the screws covering the plate over the heatsink and takes a can of compressed air to blow out all the dirt. If it still glitches afterwards or runs hot, then feel free to say "I told you so" but until then, who's to know? I think blowing out the dust is the simplest and cheapest attempted fix for the issue.

If Heen05 doesn't try at least cleaning out the HSF as a few of us have suggested, then I don't have anything more to add.

Anyone here old enough to have watched the sitcom "The Facts of Life?" In it, the "bad" girl Jo was dating this guy with a motorcycle. They'd always be out on a date when the motorcycle would break down. Jo would sit by the road bored while the guy tries various things to fix it, taking apart the carburator and such. Inevitably the problem would turn out to be that the motorcycle was... out of gas.

I think this overheating 6800GT is out of gas, but if you guys want to throw new hardware at the problem or take a wrench to drivers and settings, be my guest.

 

[Zap]

See this photo

 

[gunner46]

Concur with ZAP

 

[VinDSL]

You're saying a dusty HSF will trigger a Windows stop error?!?!?!