Fan control issues with a 7900GS

[natto fire]

So, I was playing some HL2 and the fan went up to full speed like it always does. However, after I stopped playing the fan never slowed down.

So far I have tried:

- Rebooting/Cold starting computer
- Adjusting fan control through nTune
- Adjusting fan control through RivaTuner
- Reinstalling/Installing different drivers and retrying fan controls

All with no results. I have never flashed a video card BIOS before, but is this something that might fix the problem? Right now the ambient temperature in my room is about 50°F and the core is sitting at 38°C, so I know the fan does NOT need to be at full duty cycle. The card is an XFX 7900GS OC, and it is using the stock cooler. Thanks in advance for any tips.

edit: tried reseating the card, no luck. I guess I am going to be shutting this down tonight, no way I can deal with this racket, DC projects be damned!

Update 4/11/08: So I know they don't make things like they used to, and XFX is not exactly a stellar brand, but I honestly thought the fan would last at least until the summer when I was going to get an aftermarket cooler anyways, to combat the much higher ambient temps I will be seeing.

It appears that time is now, though as the fan starting make the tell-tale signs of bearing failure. I shut it down and jerry rigged a spare fan I had lying around to the heatsink, but I need to go ahead and order another cooler now because it is mainly a temporary solution.

I have never really been into video card overclocking much, so I don't really keep tabs on what cooler fits on what card, best bang/buck, etc. I was just going to go ahead and order a Zalman VF-700Cu and call it a day. Newegg has one for $32 shipped, which seems kind of steep for a cooler that I understand has been out for a long time. Is there any other place to get this for less, or a cooler that performs just as well for less?

 

[natto fire]

OK, I think I am going to try flashing the BIOS, but I cannot find a functioning floppy. I tried searching on bootdisk.com, but they want to charge me to get the stuff to make a bootable CD. Is there a way flash the BIOS in Windows, or a Linux boot CD?

I would hate to RMA this card when it works perfectly for everything else, and I have taken the heatsink off before, so I don't even know if it will be possible, but that is pretty much my last option, short of rigging a different fan on there that I can control myself, or going with an aftermarket cooler. Another question I have is if the card will even work if it detects that the stock fan is unplugged?

 

[toyota]

Originally posted by: Captain Howdy
So, I was playing some HL2 and the fan went up to full speed like it always does. However, after I stopped playing the fan never slowed down.

So far I have tried:

- Rebooting/Cold starting computer
- Adjusting fan control through nTune
- Adjusting fan control through RivaTuner
- Reinstalling/Installing different drivers and retrying fan controls

All with no results. I have never flashed a video card BIOS before, but is this something that might fix the problem? Right now the ambient temperature in my room is about 50°F and the core is sitting at 38°C, so I know the fan does NOT need to be at full duty cycle. The card is an XFX 7900GS OC, and it is using the stock cooler. Thanks in advance for any tips.

edit: tried reseating the card, no luck. I guess I am going to be shutting this down tonight, no way I can deal with this racket, DC projects be damned!

50°F in your room? is your heat broken?

 

[natto fire]

Originally posted by: toyota
50°F in your room? is your heat broken?

Nah, I like the cold, and I live in an Airstream trailer on a farm and only have a propane heater, which is usually turned low to save fuel. Also, it was 15 degrees the night I posted that so it varies.

 

[natto fire]

Old thread alert.

Update 4/11/08: So I know they don't make things like they used to, and XFX is not exactly a stellar brand, but I honestly thought the fan would last at least until the summer when I was going to get an aftermarket cooler anyways, to combat the much higher ambient temps I will be seeing.

It appears that time is now, though as the fan starting make the tell-tale signs of bearing failure. I shut it down and jerry rigged a spare fan I had lying around to the heatsink, but I need to go ahead and order another cooler now because it is mainly a temporary solution.

I have never really been into video card overclocking much, so I don't really keep tabs on what cooler fits on what card, best bang/buck, etc. I was just going to go ahead and order a Zalman VF-700Cu and call it a day. Newegg has one for $32 shipped, which seems kind of steep for a cooler that I understand has been out for a long time. Is there any other place to get this for less, or a cooler that performs just as well for less?

Thanks again.

 

[angry hampster]

You get what you pay for with Zalman. Extremely high quality, silent coolers. I've got a VF900 and love it. If uyou get the aluminum one instead of copper it's a bit cheaper:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16835118116

 

[natto fire]

Yeah, I have been more than satisfied with my CNPS7000Cu as my CPU cooler, which is why I went right to them for GPU cooling. I guess I could get by withe the aluminum, as I am only going with the factory overclocks, and there is no doubt that their cooler is junk, even if it is all copper. It might even only be copper plated, as I have not opened my super metallurgy microscope on it just yet, as I saw the design as very flawed.

 

[Juno]

still need help?

i don't know your budget but i love my zalman vf1000 to death. my stock cooler on bfg tech 7900gtx died after one and half years of usage. with stock, the temp was in 50ish (room temp was in 70s) which was pretty high. however, with zalman vf1000, the temp dropped 15 degrees cooler but performed at 40ish at full load. i'm very impressed with this cooler.

with the temps dropping, i overclocked like crazy.

 

[SlowSpyder]

I put a Zalman VF-700 CU cooler on my 7900GS and was very happy with it's performance. My slightly overclocked 7900GS (525 core) went from the upper 60C range to the mid 40C range under load with that cooler. And it was completely silent.

 

[Juno]

a link to zalman vf1000

 

[Lithan]

I wish zalman would make a GOOD cooler with a mount like their old passive coolers... the heavily adaptable ones that fit almost any card. I've spent almost as much upgrading cooling on my last few cards than I did on the cards, because every single damn new card needs a new cooler... I mean hell, look at silencers, they went through like 6 generations just for the 6X00's, 7X00's and ati's during that era.

The plus side is lots of manus have models with stock cooling upgrades.

 

[natto fire]

I'm afraid the vf1000 is a bit out of my price range, but thank you for the link. I was mainly concerned with fitment issues of the vf700, but slowspyders post alleved that. Thank you everyone for your input. I will be ordering the vf700 today!

 

[Throckmorton]

Why are you buying a new heatsink? Just epoxy an 80mm fan to the existing one in any fashion that gets air flowing through the fins. No need to waste money