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I cannot play graphically intensive games without my PC shutting itself off!

Monkey_Business

Monkey_Business

Guest
I've owned my Gateway FX6710-01 gaming desktop for a little over a year. I used to be able to play games such as Crysis, STALKER Clear Sky, Far Cry 2, CoD 5 World at War, for as long as I wanted without having to worry about my computer shutting itself down because my graphics card is reaching critical temperatures.

Now, I can only play older, DirectX9 games that don't heat up my graphics card past 110 *C. My CPU temperature is normal, the highest I've seen it (according to CPUID HW manager) is 45 *C. Which is a bit warm, but well below a temperature where the BIOS chip would have to shut it down to prevent it from getting damaged/fried.

My GPU has NOT been overclocked, it is running on its stock speeds. It is using it's stock air cooler. Under the terms of warranty, I cannot RMA my GPU, as I did not purchase it individually. I bought my PC as a whole, from an electronics store.

I can't run Crysis, STALKER Clear Sky, or anything, for more than 20-30 minutes without my computer shutting itself off. The only game I can play is Battlefield 2.

My guess is that my card is starting to die. Which I expected because of the inexplicable temperatures. I'm surprised that it lasted as long as it did. Do I have to wait for it to burn itself out to have it replaced under warranty? Should I keep a fire extinguisher next to me?

I've been told that it's the power supply, but I doubt this because I upgraded the 400W it came with, and bought a Corsair TX750 750W PSU which has almost twice the capacity as the previous PSU. Unless it's faulty. Does a computer shut itself off if it gets hot enough to start causing damage to itself? It's not my CPU overheating, the highest temp I've seen my CPU is 45 *C while playing Crysis.
 
if your card is getting to 110c then you need to cool it better, period and anyone who tells you different has no clue.

those cards will start to choke around 80c and the hotter they go the worse they get and 110c is death.

take the heatsink off remove and clean any grease thats on it and add some new stuff, just enough to cover the gpu.

depending on if you have warranty left call gateway and tell them how freaking hot your card is getting and ask them to replace it.

also is this an ATX or BTX case?.
if its BTX then the videocard sits so the heatsink and fan are facing up, not down.
one would believe that they would cool better that way but they dont. they actually run hotter.

you can also download rivatuner and have it automatically run your video card fan at a higher speed.
or i belive the ati catalyst control center has the fan speed option there.
force it to run as high as you can tolerate (the noise)

the power supply could be bad, not based off heat but load on the power supply.

but 110c on a video card is bad bad bad.
 
110C is insane, my heavy OC'ed 4890 doesnt hit that and the 4890's are known to run HOT.

What type of GPU do you have? and did you try cleaning the heatsink its probably just clogged up, i have to clean mine every 3-6 months.
 
Rifterut said:
110C is insane, my heavy OC'ed 4890 doesnt hit that and the 4890's are known to run HOT.

What type of GPU do you have? and did you try cleaning the heatsink its probably just clogged up, i have to clean mine every 3-6 months.
Click to expand...

Radeon HD 4850 (512 MB) I think the worst thing about it is the noise. The fan running 100% constantly while playing games forces me to either crank up the volume, or play the game listening with headphones. Very annoying. Maybe my HD 4850 will finally die and I will have a very good reason to have it replaced under warranty. Are the HD 4850's known for those kinds of temperatures using the reference coolers?
 
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It's been cleaned out a few times with a can of pressurized air, I've never actually taken it apart. That would probably void the warranty.
 
if your card is still warranty, you should be able to RMA it by saying that it's reaching 110C and causing hard crashes even after cleaning out dust and verifying the gpu fan is working properly. So call your 4850 manufacturer.
 
no, that temp is not normal. something is wrong with your computer in general or your video card in particular. contact your computer maker and inform them of the problem, that the video card is causing stability problems because of its operating temperature.

they will replace it under warranty if that is the issue. i dont see why this is such a point of confusion.









if you want to do something yourself, (i don't recommend this) take the video card out, take the heatsink/shroud off, and re-apply the thermal paste properly to the core and memory. assuming something's not horrendously wrong with the fan, or the airflow in your case in general, then the problem is most likely the TIM between the GPU core and the heatsink is fucked. this course of action will solve that.

if the heatsink itself is fucked, then the heatsink can be replaced by any number of aftermarket coolers. i recommend the arctic cooling accelero S1 rev2.
 
Fayd said:
no, that temp is not normal. something is wrong with your computer in general or your video card in particular. contact your computer maker and inform them of the problem, that the video card is causing stability problems because of its operating temperature.

they will replace it under warranty if that is the issue. i dont see why this is such a point of confusion.







if you want to do something yourself, (i don't recommend this) take the video card out, take the heatsink/shroud off, and re-apply the thermal paste properly to the core and memory. assuming something's not horrendously wrong with the fan, or the airflow in your case in general, then the problem is most likely the TIM between the GPU core and the heatsink is fucked. this course of action will solve that.

if the heatsink itself is fucked, then the heatsink can be replaced by any number of aftermarket coolers. i recommend the arctic cooling accelero S1 rev2.
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I'm taking it to the electronics store I bought it from, and having them look at it, then repair it under warranty if there is anything wrong with it. I probably won't have it back for 3-4 months.

Hopefully, the GPU will be replaced with an identical, and maybe not faulty model.
 
Monkey_Business said:
I'm taking it to the electronics store I bought it from, and having them look at it, then repair it under warranty if there is anything wrong with it. I probably won't have it back for 3-4 months.

Hopefully, the GPU will be replaced with an identical, and maybe not faulty model.
Click to expand...

3-4 months???? I take it that you're not in the US? I would probably just suck it up and buy a new GPU rather than be stuck without my system for that length of time.
 
mfenn said:
3-4 months???? I take it that you're not in the US? I would probably just suck it up and buy a new GPU rather than be stuck without my system for that length of time.
Click to expand...

The last time my PC was serviced, to replace a dead hard drive. Under the extremely unfair, bull$h!t warranty policies I was outright lied to about before I bought my computer, they have to ship the PC out to the manufacturer (in a different state) to get repaired. They didn't even look at my PC for One month, because they employ 3-4 people in the tech department and have Hundreds of PC's that need repair. I did not have my computer for nearly 3 months the last time it was repaired.

A lot of major, conglomerate electronics retailers intentionally devise the most unfair and awful warranty and return policies to maximize profits. I've been told that this store I bought my computer from is "The Wal-Mart of electronics stores" in terms of taking sheer advantage of consumers for the sake of profit.

After I build my new rig, I'll send the other One in for repair and actually have another to play games on in the meanwhile.

And yes, I live in the United States.
 
Personally, I would just completely forget about having warranty work done on it, and fix it myself.

Pull the GPU, install an Accelero S1 Rev2 w/low-noise 120mm fan and away you go.
 
Raduque said:
Personally, I would just completely forget about having warranty work done on it, and fix it myself.

Pull the GPU, install an Accelero S1 Rev2 w/low-noise 120mm fan and away you go.
Click to expand...

Is this what you're talking about? It looks like it's a passive cooler, judging from the absence of a fan. Passive coolers are usually put on low-power multimedia graphics cards, since they usually don't produce much heat.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...6017&cm_re=accelero_s2-_-35-186-017-_-Product
 
Monkey_Business said:
Is this what you're talking about? It looks like it's a passive cooler, judging from the absence of a fan. Passive coolers are usually put on low-power multimedia graphics cards, since they usually don't produce much heat.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-017-_-Product
Click to expand...

That passive cooler is so badass, it's the Chuck Norris of coolers. I put one on my HD3870 and my previous idle temps are now my load temps (65c), and my card idles at 35c. That was with Arctic Silver Ceramique and a lapped factory heatsink. You can buy a "Turbo" unit for it that includes two low-noise ~80mm fans if you need it - I strapped a thin, low-speed 120mm fan to mine.

Look up some reviews on it, you might be highly surprised.

Edit: Newegg's pictures don't do this beast justice. Without something for reference, you can't tell just how MASSIVE it is.
Witness:
http://raduque.com/images/accelero1.jpg
http://raduque.com/images/accelero2.jpg

Yes, I know my case is dusty. The cat sleeps on top of it, everything gets sucked right in by the front fans.
 
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Monkey_Business said:
I just blew air. I've been told that the single-slot HD 4850's can very easily reach 100+ *C using it's reference cooler.
Click to expand...

Yeah, heat, model, cooler, whatever...don't care what you've been told about that. Everybody ships stuff that will properly cool the card, cuz otherwise they would warranty-replace at the cost of their retirement funds.

In other words, if you've got a bum fan, blowing air will solve nothing. The card has to save itself, so your system will shut down. I've watched it happen, and it's happened to me.

Check the fan.
 
Slugbait said:
Yeah, heat, model, cooler, whatever...don't care what you've been told about that. Everybody ships stuff that will properly cool the card, cuz otherwise they would warranty-replace at the cost of their retirement funds.

In other words, if you've got a bum fan, blowing air will solve nothing. The card has to save itself, so your system will shut down. I've watched it happen, and it's happened to me.

Check the fan.
Click to expand...

It's spinning alright, because I can hear it from several rooms away.
 
Praxis1452 said:
I'd bet poor contact with the gpu core then. It's got to be. Easy fix too.
Click to expand...

Bzzzt.

In most cases, if you can hear it from several rooms away, you've got a bum fan. Excessive noise is a classic symptom...it's grinding, and thus it's running at less than effective RPM.

You actually have to check the fan. Physically. Spin it, watch it with your eyes, feel the air flow with your hand...don't blow air while it's unpowered and think you've done troubleshooting. Don't listen to it from the next room and think it's fine.

Your system is shutting down when gaming...not when web surfing. You have a heat problem.

Work the problem.
 
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Slugbait said:
Bzzzt.

In most cases, if you can hear it from several rooms away, you've got a bum fan. Excessive noise is a classic symptom...it's grinding, and thus it's running at less than effective RPM.

You actually have to check the fan. Physically. Spin it, watch it with your eyes, feel the air flow with your hand...don't blow air while it's unpowered and think you've done troubleshooting. Don't listen to it from the next room and think it's fine.

Your system is shutting down when gaming...not when web surfing. You have a heat problem.

Work the problem.
Click to expand...

It could also be that the fan is running at max due to the high temps. The ATI blower can get quite loud in that situation.

OP, I bet you have a giant clump of dust blocking the airflow within the cooler itself.

picture.php


Blowing on it with your mouth isn't going to do jack. You need to take the the cover off of the cooler (so that you can see the actual heatsink finds like in the pic) and clean it with compressed air.

It that doesn't work, then it does sound like you have a bum fan. Since you're going to have to replace it anyway, it can't hurt to at least try to clean it.
 
I have a X1900XT and anytime I ran any application (read: game) that used 3D, it would shut down. To be more accurate, it would kill the video signal though it sounded like the PC was still running. I think it was overheating since any regular Windows work had no effect. When I switched to a new card, the problem went away. I wish I could figure out how hot it go before the shutdown but I am not aware of any software that can keep a running long and write to file ...
 
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