Is my video card overheating? Or is my motherboard malfuctioning...

[ScottMcAnally]

So I have a XFX 7900GS (the overclocked version) and I've had it for a while. I previously owned an Asus motherboard (I can't remember the name of it) and I had the video card in that build. I upgraded from an old AMD processor to a Intel Core 2 Duo. Because of this upgrade, I also had to upgrade my motherboard. I have an MSI P6N SLI Platinum now with the XFX 7900 GS in it as well as the new Core 2 Duo processor.

My problem is, I never had an issue with the 7900 GS on the old Asus motherboard, but this new motherboard doesn't seem to like it. Everything works GREAT! Except, it says that my video card is running at like 75º C and I know it isn't because I haven't had problems with it before. I have a nice Antec case which has excellent ventilation. I didn't change anything in my upgrade except my motherboard and processor. Oh and I put in 2GB of RAM.

Anyone know why my new setup is telling my computer the video card is overheating and kicking me out of my games? I'm worried that it may be overheating, but how could I tell? I've watched the computer when it is running and the fan is working on the VGA card, so that isn't it. It also seems like too much of a coincidence that this started with the new motherboard. Let me know, thanks!

 

[error8]

Check your videocard temperature during full load with ATI tool. I guess that maybe when you have changed everything in your computer, you could have somehow moved the heatsink from your videocard and now it's overheating.

 

[ScottMcAnally]

I ran ATI tool and it went for about 45 seconds before my computer attempted to shut itself down. ATI tool reported my video card going up to 85ºC which is EXTREMELY hot. I don't know what the issue is, the fan on the card is running at full speed and it doesn't feel blazing hot, there are no signs of artifacts whatsoever. Is that a possibility that the motherboard is reporting incorrect temperatures? Seems really strange that upon switching motherboards my video card all of the sudden runs 30ºC hotter.

Just a side note, I'm using the included tweaking software and I have set all of the clocks to their stock level. The GPU clock is set at 480 MHz and the Memory clock is at 1.4 Ghz. Any suggestions? If my video card did all of the suddent decide to be constantly overheating, what would you guys suggest to cool it down? The fan works and the card looks like it did when I bought it a few years ago. The only thing I've done is switch it to a different motherboard. Strange.

 

[error8]

First of all, your motherboard can't be responsible for the temperature that the videocard is reporting.
Second, 86 C is quite something for a 7900 GS, but it's not extremely high though. I had a couple of Nvidia cards that used to hit 80 C and they ran perfect. My 8800 GT was running "normal" at 86 C and I had no problem with it whatsoever.

Try this: increase your videocard fan with riva tuner .( link here http://downloads.guru3d.com/Ri....08-download-163.html). Also, try to clean the cooler, maybe there is something that got into it. If this doesn't give you any results, then maybe the PSU is to weak for your new system. Give us some details about it.

 

[DeadSeaSquirrels]

I am having a very similar issue. I have the same motherboard and I have 2 HIS HD2600XT cards. One of the cards is dormant right now however. Anyway everytime I start my computer it gets to the windows loading screen (Windows Vista) and it just restarts itself, and it just keeps on doing that. It was working fine for the past month and it just started happening.

What's even more upsetting is that this happened to me once already I swapped out all the parts and it still gave me problems, and then suddenly it went away after another fresh install of Windows, but the same exact sequence. But what's bothersome is the fact that my computer was running fine for a month and it just started again, which is how it went down the first time too. I have no idea why this is happening and I can't even get it running now.

 

[ScottMcAnally]

I took my card out and completely examined it. There was a little bit of dust in there, but nothing preventing ventilation, I removed it obviously. Booted up and am still getting really high temps.

My power supply is an Antec 500 watt PSU.

I'm thinking that I'll just get a 3rd party cooler and see if that fixes anything (it certainly couldn't hurt). I'm looking at the Zalman VF900 - CU 2

Your thoughts? Thanks.

 

[error8]

Your PSU is fine, so it shouldn't give you these problems. If you are willing to spend some money, getting a VF900 will not be a bad idea at all. But I still think that you can fix it as it is right now. If I were you, I would try to reseat the heatsink, cleaning the base with isopropylic alcohol and also applying new thermal paste.

You didn't said if you tried to increase the fan speed. It could help.

 

[ScottMcAnally]

When I turned on my PC today it was running idle at 55 C, which is great. This is after I took all of the dust out of the heat sink. Anyways, I used RivaTuner and set my fan to full speed under idle conditions and it only went down to 53 C. When I was cleaning my card I noticed that the cooling system is less than ideal, from what I could tell.

My card has some kind of automatic recognition when I play a game where the fan will speed up to full speed as soon as I start playing, much like my CPU when it gets a heavy load. So if my temps only drop 2 C in idle when the fan is at 100% versus 25%, that may be the reason right there.

My temp after playing for a few minutes with the fan manually set to full through RivaTuner was still reaching temps of like 82 C, compared to 85 C when I didn't manually set it. I always hear the fan on my video card (and yes, I'm sure it's my video card and not my CPU) when I start playing a game. Maybe my video card just runs really hot and my new motherboard doesn't want to tolerate it as much as my other one did. The reason why I'm getting kicked out of my games is because the little app that came with the motherboard alerts me that my video card is getting "too hot" and it attempts to shut down the computer.

I raised the warning level to 90 C, but I don't know if I feel comfortable with that...

Should I just get a third party cooler?

P.S. The reason why I'm so concerned is because my CPU runs at like 28 C idle and around 35 C on a full load. So I'm comparing these temps and my video card just seems ridiculously hot compared to my new Core 2 Duo. Is this a normal thing and am I getting too worked up about it?

 

[error8]

The thing is that a GPU is made to run hotter then a CPU, so you can't really compare the temperatures between them. It seems like that motherboard application is the one that gives you problems. I would uninstall it.

You can try to add more fans on the case so maybe it will lower your card temperature, but I guess you can buy a new cooler for it, if it makes you feel safer. That should really drop your gpu temperatures. It's your choice after all, but keep in mind that some videocards do run hot. Even if 82-85 C seems quite a lot, it should be considered "normal". Your 7900 GS has a threshold of 130 C. That would be the temperature where the GPU starts thermal throttling. You are still quite far from that and on the safe side. If you are not getting any artefacts or image corruption, then your card is healthy.