Can a card overheat from being underpowered?

[blackangst1]

I had an issue with overheating a couple of months ago and RMA'd my card. They sent it back and said everything is fine. Well, I found a new game, and during the intro sequence I hear the fan ramping up, and when I finally get to charactor select screen, I see temps at 110 and everything shuts down. Ive opened my case and had a fan blowing directly on card and although it allows me to get into game, its still hot and fan is at 100%.

Now, the reason Im asking about power, is my PS is right at minimum recommended for the card (500W, 36A), so Im thinking with the extras its not enough. What say you?

ABIT AB9 Pro mobo
C2D 6600 CPU 10% OC
MSI GTX260 (not the 216 model)
2 HD
1 DVD rewriter
4 120mm case fans, 1 320mm fan (Antec 900-2 case)
Antec SP500 PS http://www.antec.com/specs/SP500_spe.html

Let me know if you need any more info.

 

[LOUISSSSS]

we really won't be able to tell you anything until you isolate your problem: its either underpowered PSU or overheating vid card.

so isolate one of the problems, either get a better cooler for ur card or a more powerful psu. i'd go with the cooler first, then the psu. or jsut get both since 500watts is low for that system and 110c is hot for that gpu

 

[L00PY]

Have you tried running everything at stock speeds and seeing if you run into the same problems? Also what sort of case, CPU, and GPU temps are you getting during idle? During load?

 

[blackangst1]

Have you tried running everything at stock speeds and seeing if you run into the same problems? Also what sort of case, CPU, and GPU temps are you getting during idle? During load?

Stock speeds are same results under game load. CPU and case temps are fine <75 GPU is also fine idle. It just seems to ramp up quickly when under load.

 

[Concillian]

Stock speeds are same results under game load. CPU and case temps are fine <75 GPU is also fine idle. It just seems to ramp up quickly when under load.

Sounds like the card.

You can also unplug all unecessary devices and turn off motherboard features, underclock your CPU, etc... so they're using less power so your PSU has more juice for the card, but it sounds like the issue is not likely to be with power.

How are you powering the external PCI-E connections on the card? Your power supply has dedicated PCI-E connectors? or are they all daisy chained onto adapters?

 

[blackangst1]

Sounds like the card.

You can also unplug all unecessary devices and turn off motherboard features, underclock your CPU, etc... so they're using less power so your PSU has more juice for the card, but it sounds like the issue is not likely to be with power.

How are you powering the external PCI-E connections on the card? Your power supply has dedicated PCI-E connectors? or are they all daisy chained onto adapters?

One is dedicated, the other is chained with DVD writer.

 

[Painman]

It's not your PSU. If your +12V is bad, then it's usually not going to overheat the vid card. It's usually going to starve it of power and make it become unstable and fault out that way.

Might not hurt to check the load voltages with a multimeter anyway - your PSU sucks as far as Antecs go. Not their best model by a long shot.

I'd pull the 260 apart, clean off the stock TIM from the GPU and its mating surface (only) and apply some fresh, quality compound. Put it back together with even torque on the screws. Keep an eye on temps.

 

[Painman]

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[Painman]

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[Painman]

Sorry for the multipost!

 

[blackangst1]

Thanks Painman and HOLY MULTIPLE POSTS!!!!!

 

[Modelworks]

No, under powering something like a video card cannot cause it to overheat, it just won't work.

now if the +12V is dirty power, meaning the PSU is not filtering it properly then it can cause the video card to fail and other things too.
The way to check that is to set a meter to AC not DC. Then measure just like you would for DC. The reading should be under 10 millivolt, that reading is called ripple and needs to be really low.