ATI Radeon 9800 Pro overheating

[l Thomas l]

I've had this problem only once before, within the past few months. A weird smell starts coming out of the case (I can smell it from where I sit). It smells like a sort of musky wet smell, almost like burning plastic. I know I've smelt it before, but I don't know where.

Both times, this has happened overnight. Each time, I had played games maybe for a half hour during the night, that's it. That's not very much considering I can play for 2 hours straight and nothing happens. Both times, I could smell the smell before I even turned on the computer, and I notice it's strong, just didn't know it was coming from the computer.

The first time it happened, I did investigating and discovered it's 99.9% my video card's fault. The mouse and keyboard lights still work, and I can do caps lock, num lock. When I press Ctrl Alt Delete and Ctrl F4, the hard drive spins. The only thing wrong is that my monitor can't detect a signal. So then the first time, I smelled around and suspected the video card. I took it out, smelled it, the smell was strong. I went back to my inside my case (with the video card taken out) and smelled around, there was much less of a smell. The final test was starting it up without the video card. And it worked for an extended period of time.

My video card is already away from the other PCI slots, since I first got it. It goes like this, top to bottom:
- Video Card (ATI Radeon 9800 Pro)
- Empty
- NIC
- Sound Card (SB Live)
- NIC #2

This is how I fixed it last time: waited a while with the case open (about 2 hours after determining the video card was the problem), when I came back I could still smell it but it wasn't bad. Ran the computer with the case open and it was fine after that. I eventually closed the case the next morning, and it's been fine since then.

I have the stock fan/heatsink on the video card. My Dell has stock fans too, one 80mm exhaust).

No, I have never overclocked it. It's past the warranty though so I don't think I can exchange it. I've had it for 2 years.

 

[ultra laser]

If i recall correctly ATI uses this cheap waxy stuff as a thermal compound between the GPU and heatsink. Perhaps it's melting and causing the smell? If this sounds reasonable to you, you could pop off the heatsink, clean it up, and apply some good stuff (AS5, ceramique, etc.) and see if that helps.

 

[l Thomas l]

^ thanks for that. I ended up leaving it open, came back only about an hour later, and it worked fine. I played games for an hour, then now I just played for about half an hour. (closed the case the second time too) it's all fine. *shrug*. I'll just watch out when I have that smell.

That makes sense. I'll look into it.

 

[chizow]

As great as the 9700/9800 pros were for pc gaming, the stock fans are notorious for dying and killing cards. Did you check to make sure the fan was still working when you had the case open? It could also be some of the caps on the card dying, as a burning smell is never good.

I would adamantly advise against removing the heat sink and doing any maintenance on your own if you're still within warranty. The core is exposed and very brittle, making it very easy to chip and damage it if you remove the stock HSF. I'd check the fan first, if you're within warranty try and get it replaced/upgraded, if not, then look to get a new card or heatsink/fan.

 

[l Thomas l]

^^ "No, I have never overclocked it. It's past the warranty though so I don't think I can exchange it. I've had it for 2 years."

Yeah the fan was still working both times.

 

[Remedy]

I had the same issue. I just replaced the HSF with a new heatsink fan. Lower temps and longevity of the HSF combo.

 

[l Thomas l]

Okay, explain to me like I don't know anything. How do I remove the HSF and put a new one on? (I know what it looks like but that's it).

 

[l Thomas l]

Well it's getting worse and worse, and now the last few times I tried my computer, it didn't work. Seems like it's happening more and more.

 

[l Thomas l]

. . . . .. .. .. .. .

 

[Zstream]

Originally posted by: l Thomas l
. . . . .. .. .. .. .

How much dust do you have? Clean it out!

How much airflow do you have? Are you just recycling hot air? Come on man it is not that hard to realize it is a heat problem...

 

[l Thomas l]

I cleaned as much as I could. I have a can of commpressed air but it didn't get much. Then I just tried wiping away the dust, but it's too hard to get in between the little cracks on the fan. Any suggestions on how to clean it better?

I told you about the airflow already, it's just one 80mm exhaust fan.

 

[MegaVovaN]

Airflow:
1. Intake fan would help.
2. Use compressed air to blow dust from fan blades.
3. How is your cable work? If you can tie them or something so they don't obstruct air flow it may help.


Heatsink/fan:
Well, if you take out the card, you should see heatsink mounts on the back (side without the fan).
You squeeze or/and unscrew these mounts (I forgot, sold my 9800pro like 2 years ago), eventually you will take off the hsf (heatsink and fan), and see the "die" - metal core. This core and base of heatsink/fan will be covered in whatever thermal paste video card maker used.
You clean that off the die and off heatsink base with, say, alcohol (rubbing or ethyl (drinking), does not matter).
Then you apply a thin layer of new thermal grease, such as AS5 (Arctic Silver 5) (read it's instructions well), then you put back on your hsf and GAME ON!

What happens is either old thermal paste is all dried up and does not conduct heat from card to hsf well, or/and fan on your card is dead.

If fan is dead (not spinning fast, making weird noises), I guess you would need aftermarket cooler unless you want to look for this exact fan.


edit: when you take hsf off you should see memory banks as well - if they were greased, clean and re-grease them with AS5 too

 

[perzy]

It's also the the fact that the fans motor is sleeve bearing-based which is a dirt cheap crap. The sleeve wears out and the damn fan starts to run slower and slower regardless of it's dustfree or not.
In theese situation the GPU quickly overheats and burns easily and is destroyed permenently.
By a arctic cooling nvidia silenser, or better yet, a newer generation card!

 

[l Thomas l]

I still have AGP, so maybe I'll just buy a new card. It'll probably be about the same as buying a new fan and thermal paste. There's a very bad smell that is staying around my computer now. It's that burnt plastic smell that was there before, but now it sticks around even though it's not having any problems.

I have used compressed air. Cable work is bad, it's a Dell haha. Can I even install an intake fan? I don't think the Dell case has space for it. (Dimension 4500)

Thanks.

 

[l Thomas l]

What's a comparable AGP card? I'm looking for one that's fairly cheap, under $100. I would like one that doesnt have any quality problems like this one does. Also I want it to still be able to run with my power supply.

 

[mwmorph]

What is your power supply?

ATI has the AGP market sewed up.

Either should fit your need:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16814161052
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16814102709

Tough if you can stretch your budget, this is a much, much quicker card
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16814130099

 

[l Thomas l]

It's the stock Dell 250W power supply. I've read that Dell rates it lower than other brands, but I still want to be safe.

All over Newegg there seems to be a lot of bad reviews for HIS. I rather not go with them.

I'm using ATI Tray Tools right now, with some old ATI drivers (last updated them a while ago I'm sure they have new ones now). When I get my replacement card, do I install the latest drivers from ATI, or from the brand I bought the card from?

Also off top do you know the right order to do things? I remember it's been a pain in the ass to use Tray Tools and ATI drivers because I had to uninstall Tray Tools, then install the latest ATI drivers or something like that. It took me forever to figure out, and I can't remember the right order to do it.

^ That doesn't mean I want ATI. I'm willing to go with NVIDIA too.

Scratch the budget, these AGP cards are so cheap. However, my other components in my PC will probably bottleneck the card, and Battlefield 2 and America's Army are the most advanced games I play, so I don't want to get the best card. Now my only considerations are:
- Still works with the power supply
- Good quality, won't have to worry about any problems like this one
- my motherboard only supports 4X

Thanks.

 

[taltamir]

you know, I have a similar problem. I have a 9800Pro I want to ebay, but its no longer stable. The original fan died years ago, I put on a so so aftermarket fan but it seems to be having issues too. The thing was only ever stable in my dual side fans case (immediately next to the video card). trying it in an open case or a closed case without the dual side fans it is simply not stable. The thing is, I can't really imagine turning a profit from buying an aftermarket cooler and then selling it, so whats the point, I might as well just throw it in the trash.

Same to the op, just buy a newer AGP card.

 

[l Thomas l]

^ Yeah that's exactly what I figured. Especially nowadays, AGP cards are so cheap, plus less hassle than adding a fan and new paste.

So what suggestions do you have based on my previous post?

 

[Soulkeeper]

dust build up happens every few months ....
take the stuff appart and clean it

that's probably burning dust/hair you are smelling ...

 

[l Thomas l]

I cleaned it thoroughly with a toothpick, Qtip, compressed air. I got it pretty nice and clean. A day later it messed up again. It's just been getting worse and worse, so that's why I decided to get a new card.

Check out my big post a few posts up.