Desperate for help. 6800 overheating without sense.

[Mauasatto]

Hey guys.
I've read and searched just about anything I could find with any relevancy to my problem before burdaining you with another thread. I'm f*ck*ng dying here, trying to solve this problem without getting a refund for the card, cause I really love 3D games and want the best I can afford... any help will be highly appreciated!
The fact is, I've been trying to deal with this problem for about 4 months now, and it just seems to be getting worse somehow... (?)

I've even done an RMA and waited 30 days to get a card back. Could be that I got the same card, except the idle-temperature for the GPU is 10celcius higher after the RMA!

The idle temperature in the summer for the GPU was ~54c, and now, in the winter, after the RMA, it is ~62c!

The problem is with the overheating of the 6800 card.

My computer is a music-studio computer, and I'm using a dual-boot: one for the music, and one for the
internet, games, etc.

Doom3 has had no problems whatsoever, but while running Beyond Good & Evil, the GPU has crossed the 90celcius boundary within ~4 minutes, and I am concerned that if the 6800 burns out, it might damage the studio-computer or the sound card!

Here are the details while running BG&E:
ambient: ~14c
CPU: ~35c (fan @ ~3500RPM)
MB: ~30c
PSU: not-PFC, single-fan, 420w, not-the-best at all (Asus-probe shows it is stable).
Case has 12centimeter fan pointed toward the outside.

6800:
NO-overclocking neither at present nor at past: clock is 350mhz GPU / 1000mhz RAM.
Game ran @ 1024/768, truecolor, 100hz refresh rate, maximum graphics options, no blur, no antialiasing.

6800 BIOS: 6800 bios 5.40.02.15 (I have searched for Nvidia bios updates but have found none anywhere, maybe they exist but I don't know how to find them..)
MB BIOS: 1.01 (I have the 1.19 update ROM with AFUDOS.exe, but I've never updated a BIOS before and I'm afraid to try the update in case it harms the studio-computer's boot that cannot be tampered with...)

AGP aperture at 256MB.
"Fast-writes" in my BIOS: I can't find it so I couldn't try to turn it off.

Software:
Windows XP sp1a,
Nvidia drivers 66.93
Asus enhanced driver 1.3
Smartdoctor 4.54

Another issue is that I can't find the Nvidia "temperature-settings" in the 6800 tab under "display>advanced", so I can't tell if it's just a smartdoctor issue.

I've tried just about anything - opening the case and pointing a fan at the card to see if the card shows lower temperatures (it does - it goes down slowly...), cleanup tools after uninstalling drivers just to reinstall older + newer drivers, coolbits (to see if the "temperature-settings" appears - it did not), except for a few things:

Adding another 12 centimetre fan on the front of the case: this will cause noise in the studio, and will probably just lower the temperature 3-5 celcius... this is not it, I believe. Nevertheless, I have ordered such a fan and am expecting it to arrive in a few days.

The Asus technician I'm in touch with says I should re-RMA the card: But what if they find no problem with the card (as I'm afraid they will not)?

I haven't tried buying a thermaltake pfc PSU I've had my eye on: but what if the problem persists, and I end up spending $50 for nothing?

Formatting the HDD: haven't tried this yet, but I will if you guys tell me to... 🙁

The whole point the way I see it is the idle temperature of the card: 62 celcius at windows while MB is 30?! Come on!! Which of you guys sees this as normal?

I am so pissed off at Asus and Nvidia and the whole world, I feel like breaking the stupid card in two!
Except I really WANT IT TO WORK... 🙁

 

[meltdown75]

hm why is your agp aperture @ 256? i think it is usually at 64mb but i could be wrong. u should def. flash your motherboard to the newest bios though... also make sure your agp is set to 8x and not 4x.... that's where i would start... are you seeing artifacts on the screen during games etc? if not, consider getting a vga cooler for the card? good luck... 🙂

edit: oh yeah and why no sp2? 🙁

 

[Mauasatto]

Originally posted by: meltdown75
hm why is your agp aperture @ 256? i think it is usually at 64mb but i could be wrong. u should def. flash your motherboard to the newest bios though... also make sure your agp is set to 8x and not 4x.... that's where i would start... are you seeing artifacts on the screen during games etc? if not, consider getting a vga cooler for the card?

Well... I *would* flash the BIOS, except I have never done it before, and while reading Asus instructions on how to do it I encountered several discrepancies which cause me to hesitate... 🙁
I will post a message in the MB's forum asking how to do it.

As for the AGP aperture, I'm not sure. Nevertheless I have tried it @ 64 as well as @ 256 - overheating persists.

I have seen no artifacts at all, however I have gotten a crash or two (without artifacts) in BG&E. I'm not sure if it was hardware or software related. Could be either one.

edit: oh yeah and why no sp2? 🙁

Oh, I've heard too much problems revolving the use of SP2, and since I'm using a router/firewall, I don't want to take the chances with any "fresh" microsoft releases...

good luck... 🙂

Thanks. I hope having posted in this site will have proven to be the right thing... 🙂

 

[daveybrat]

I haven't tried buying a thermaltake pfc PSU I've had my eye on: but what if the problem persists, and I end up spending $50 for nothing?

You're never spending money for nothing when it comes to buying a good power supply. Even if it doesn't fix this particular problem, it will alleviate any future problems from springing up.

Never underestimate the importance of a good quality power supply. 🙂

 

[imported_JeReMY]

Maybe you should put in another case fan close to your video card.

 

[DaveBC]

Hi Mauasatto,

I have a PNY 6800. The Idle temps always around 60 - 63 C. Under load I have only seen it get to 80C, but I notice that the default warning is 125C. I have not had any stability issues either. FYI

 

[Mauasatto]

Dear DaveBC and ALL:

Originally posted by: DaveBC
I have a PNY 6800. The Idle temps always around 60 - 63 C. Under load I have only seen it get to 80C, but I notice that the default warning is 125C. I have not had any stability issues either. FYI

Yes, I have heard all about the 125C thing.
My card under heavy load quickly passes the 90C, in under 4 minutes!!
Yesterday, I turned off all smartdoctor warnings and all possible background software and ran BG&E. The computer froze completely. No graphic discrepancies, but just a plain freeze! (this happened after ~3.5 minutes of the game running).
Definitely due to overheating: I put my hand on the right side of the case in the front, and the air there sure felt hot!

Here is my plan of action for the next week concerning this incredibly tedious problem:
A. I will try updating the Motherboard BIOS.
if GPU is still 62c idle and >90c overheating, then:
B. I will try replacing my Power Supply Unit for a PFC supply unit.
if GPU is still 62c idle and >90c overheating, then:
C. I will try adding an extra 12 centimetre fan taking air outside of the PC.
if GPU is still 62c idle and >90c overheating, then:
D. I will try a clean Hdd format and install only the latest Asus drivers, and the game "Beyond Good & Evil".
if GPU is still 62c idle and >90c overheating, then:
E. I will try installing the card in a friend's computer to see if the card is overheating there.
if GPU is still 62c idle and >90c overheating, then:
F. I will RE-RMA the card.

And if the card comes back from the RE-rma STILL overheating, then I will get a refund (warranty is not void).

Nevertheless, any additional advice would be highly appreciated, especially from someone with similar present/past problems.

 

[Rage187]

try getting a name brand PSU, as noted aboe, you would be amazed at how many things are affected by a chessy psu.

 

[imported_Dexx]

I just bought one myself had the same problem over heating lockups at stock speed what I found was my
Antec 430 power supply was not putting out enough power to the card i had a new case with the same Antec 430 ps and all problems gone!