Fan stopped revving up on HD 3850

[Martimus]

My computer has been randomly shutting down recently while playing oblivion. I figured out that it was overheating. I believe that the fan on my HD 3850 is supposed to rev up when it gets hot, but it never seems to. I can never hear my fan, except for when I first turn on the computer and it goes full blast. Is there a way to change the fan speed manually? I think ATI tool will let me do it, but I am not sure where to get it.

I'm not sure what happened recently, as I was able to play for over a week without problems, and now it won't go more than 20 minutes without shutting down. I did overclock the card when I first got it to 700/999 MHz, but I never changed it after that. It seems to run pretty stable at stock speeds, but I get noticible slow downs at those speeds, so I would much rather just increase to cooling on the card.

Here is what my computer is running at:

- AMD Athlon 64 X2 4200+ (S939) running at 2.2GHz (Was running at 2.3GHz, but I brought it back to stock after these failures)
- ECS KN1 Extreme nForce4 Mother Board
- HIS HD 3850 256MB running at 700/999
- Windows XP Home

 

[Martimus]

Can anyone help? I will try to D/L ATI tool when I get home, but I was hoping that someone with a little more experience overclocking a video card would give me some advice. (I have never overclocked a video card before)

 

[imported_Scoop]

If the card is overheating, there should be a sign of it other than just shutting down. If you aren't getting any artifacts on the screen or other oddities which shouldn't be there, it's something other than overheating.

 

[Martimus]

I have only had one time where there was any artifacting. It was like an old Nintendo game, where the screen just filled with the same sprite repeated across the entire screen. But now it just shuts down after a few minutes. I stopped playing a game after about 10 minutes and the card was at 75C. I imagine it gets even hotter after a longer session.

 

[Martimus]

I guess it isn't the video card. I thought it was after I was able to get the computer to work by opening the case and setting the CPU and GPU to stock speeds. It dies while running memtest86+. That really sucks, because I have DDR1 memory, and I definitely don't want to update my entire computer. I don't even know where I can get replacement memory. It could be my MB or powersupply as well. I'm not sure.

 

[BlueAcolyte]

You can use rivatuner for changing fan speeds. And why in gods name do you have DDR1 memory with a 3850. I think it's definitely the RAM. You can probably upgrade your entire computer for fairly cheap ($200-300), comparable to buying new DDR memory which is grossly expensive.

 

[Martimus]

$200-$300 I don't have. I just cleaned off my processor, reapplied thermal grease, and moved my tower to a place with better airflow and have the case open. I may replace the power-supply if I continue to have problems, because that would be the simplest fix. A new MB or Memory would be a problem considering I have a S939 processor and DDR ram.

edit: Also, I received no errors while running memtest86+, but my computer shut down. Considering I was able to keep it up and running for hours with better air flow, before putting my cover back on, I think it still has to do with heat. It isn't in the best location now, but it will have good airflow until I can figure out a better solution.

 

[schneiderguy]

Originally posted by: BlueAcolyte
And why in gods name do you have DDR1 memory with a 3850.

A s939 X2 processor with DDR1 ram is still plenty fast for gaming

 

[spittledip]

Power supply perhaps? What PSU do you have in there??

 

[zagood]

Originally posted by: spittledip
Power supply perhaps? What PSU do you have in there??

qft.

-z

 

[vaylon]

It's not his system specs.

ATI cards will generally freezeup instead of artifacting like nvidia cards when they begin to overheat.

Check your bio's settings.

 

[Martimus]

Originally posted by: spittledip
Power supply perhaps? What PSU do you have in there??

I have a Antec NeoPower 480W PSU. I had an Antec TruPower 400W PSU die on me before, so I wouldn't be surprized if this does as well. The last one gave a nice puff of black smoke to let me know what the problem was though. Like an idiot, I bought a second Antec Power Supply.

As an update, my rearangement of my computer, while putting everything back to stock seemed to work. I was able to run for a few hours without incident last night (Compared to 10-20 minutes before) This isn't a good solution for me though, because now my computer is out in the open where my 2 year old daughter can get at it, and now that the case is open, she could do some damage. I may replace my case fans with some higher capacity fans. I currently have some very low noise 120mm fans installed, but they run at low speeds. Maybe I can get some that push more airflow, to help with cooling for a more permanent solution.

Also, where can I d/l rivatuner? ATI tool doesn't seem to support the HD 3850.

 

[JACKDRUID]

are you still overclocked GPU? if so, set it back to stock speed and see if it still freezes..

 

[Martimus]

No, I set it back to stock speeds. It would still freeze at stock speeds with the case closed, but with it open, it seems to work alright. I want to up the clock on the GPU a little bit though, as the slowdowns while moving quickly in Oblivion are annoying, especially when that didn't happen when I had the GPU overclocked.

 

[JACKDRUID]

when you close the case, does the door press against any cables etc? one of the cables shorting could be the cause of this...

but more likely its the heat... the heat could be due to other components though.. do you have another graphic card? if you do, try it with case closed see if that freezes...

 

[Martimus]

I have my old card for sale on ebay. Before I plug that back in, I want to go through another Memtest86+, to see if it makes it through without errors. I may have fried my memory when I overclocked my processor by 5%. (Not likely, but possible)

 

[Martimus]

I am RMAing the card today. The fan stoped working at all, so now it will die after just a few minutes. I am a little upset about the whole deal.