BFG RMA fan speed and general temperature question

[wahoyaho]

If I control my fan speed with Rivatuner, does that void my warranty with RMA? And can they find out if I changed it with Rivatuner?

Also I'm just can't seem to figure out why my GPU temperature is so high when everything else seems to be about normal. My CPU works at about 40/55 but my GPU idles at high 60's, right now it's at 67 and I have my fan speed turned up to 75% :/ On load it can go from 80~95 depending on the game I'm playing. What changes do I need to make in order to make it cooler? I haven't OC'd it at all, my friend's computer has his GPU running at 50 idle with stock fan speeds :/

 

[TidusZ]

They definitely cannot find out, that's all done through software. If you were to boot your computer into linux instead of windows, the fan speeds would be default. You don't have to worry about that voiding your warrenty.

On the other hand I read stories of people smothering their xbox 360's with blankets to make them overheat/fail in order to get an updated version in the mail. Didn't work for all of them.

 

[wahoyaho]

Oh ok, because I googled before I asked here and some people were saying if your video card fails when you had your fan speed changed, they could find out.

What do you mean by failed? Like the RMA department refused the RMA because they said it was tampered with?

 

[Zap]

Increasing fan speeds only makes the card run cooler. I fail to see why that would be the cause of any failure.

What exact GPU do you have? That 95ºC load temperature... is it with the fan cranked up or on auto? Is it only in something like Furmark or in a particular game?

 

[wahoyaho]

I have the BFG 8800GT OC and the 95c load is with 100% fan when playing LOTR: Conquest. I also tried Cryostasis and it went to the high eighties and hovers around 89/90c.

 

[error8]

If your 8800 GT hits 95C with the fan speed at 100%, then the cooler must be full of dust, or you have a 50 C ambient room temp or you have the crappiest case in the world. Anyway you look at it, it's not normal. I would clean it up and if this doesn't work, I would RMA it, because I have a feeling that if you leave the fan at stock speed, it will overheat the card and crash and that means that you have a faulty card.

 

[TidusZ]

My 8800gt was warmer than I was happy with so I grabbed an Accelero S1 when it was <$20 Cdn. Year later and its still cooling it way more than it needs. It's truly overkill.

 

[wahoyaho]

My ambient temp is around 25~28c @@, I don't think it's the case neither since the card was fine when I first got it, staying in the 70s during load. How can I check if it's the cooler and how can I clean it out?

I had considered an aftermarket cooler but it would void my warranty for sure so :x

 

[error8]

Originally posted by: wahoyaho
How can I check if it's the cooler and how can I clean it out?

Take the card out and start blowing air with your mouth into the fan and through the back of the heatsink. If you have a can of compressed air it's even better. You can also use a fine brush to clean the fan blades. I'm really thinking that you've got a lot of dust inside the heatsink and so, the air doesn't passes through it as it should, making the card overheat.

I'm assuming you have the stock cooler of the GT, the single slot version!?

 

[wahoyaho]

Yah, stock and by single slot do you mean if I use SLI? No I use just one card. I'll turn off my comp and try a can of comp. air.

 

[error8]

Originally posted by: wahoyaho
Yah, stock and by single slot do you mean if I use SLI? No I use just one card. I'll turn off my comp and try a can of comp. air.

No, I was referring at the type of the cooler, as in single slot, that occupies only one slot and you can have an empty PCI slot, or whatever is underneath the card. There are non reference 8800 GT with dual slot coolers too, but the reference card had a single slot one, probably the worst cooler ever made.

 

[wahoyaho]

Ah ok, yah it's a single slot I think.

//edit

I just cleaned out the video card and it's idling at around 60c now :s that's almost a 10c difference, I didn't know dust could make such a big difference. I couldn't really blow air into the inner part of the heatsink though, only the outer part. Any ideas?

 

[Zap]

Originally posted by: wahoyaho
I just cleaned out the video card and it's idling at around 60c now :s that's almost a 10c difference, I didn't know dust could make such a big difference. I couldn't really blow air into the inner part of the heatsink though, only the outer part. Any ideas?

Wunderbar!

The cans of compressed air should come with a tube. You can insert the tube into the fan opening to blow through the heatsink. That's about the best you can do, but it should get the majority of the dust. And yes, dust buildup can definately negatively affect temperatures.

 

[wahoyaho]

I was just playing a game earlier and when I exited it was near 100c @@ Now it's load temp is around 75c. All I can say is wow...

Does the same thing happen with the cpu heatsink? Maybe I should give this a try on the cpu as well.

 

[Zap]

Originally posted by: wahoyaho
Does the same thing happen with the cpu heatsink? Maybe I should give this a try on the cpu as well.

Yes. Also the motherboard chipset heatsink (especially if it has a fan on it).