One of two 280x's fans stopped working

[nubki11a]

Hey all,

Today I received my new soundcard (Creative Sound Blaster Z). It is a PCIe x1 card but as those slots were covered by my graphics card, I put it in the second PCIe x16 slot. After I did this and booted, my computer flipped out: it flashed a message that the CMOS got reset, I got a BSOD (0x07B: something to do with an inaccessible boot device?) on starting Windows and one of the fans in my Sapphire Vapor-X 280X stopped spinning...

I removed the soundcard and after restoring my CPU's overclock settings in the BIOS the BSOD on starting Windows somehow got fixed. Another note is that upon starting Windows, the drivers for my keyboard, mouse and headset had to reinstalled by Windows for some reason.

Right now I still haven't gotten my second fan to work, temps are fine and I can use my computer but I'd obviously like to have it working again.

I have tried the following:

- Changed PCIe slots for my GFX card
- Removed and reinstalled the AMD drivers
- Checked device manager
- Changed the GFX card's BIOS (it has a button that switches the BIOS profile from standard to UEFI)
- Played games under heavy load to check if the fan would turn on at higher temps
- Tapped and spinned the fan whilst it was turned off (spins exactly the same as the working fan, also note that there were not strange noises when it stopped working that could indicate a bad fan)
- Switched around the 2 8-pin power connectors for the card
- Booted in safe mode
- Cleared CMOS myself and removed the battery manually for about 30 secs

Unfortunately I don't have access to another computer in which I could test my GFX card.

What do you guys think could have happened? What could I try to get it working again? Any help is greatly appreciated!


--- EDIT ---

Specs:
- ASRock Extreme3 Gen3 motherboard
- Intel i5 2500k @ 3.9GHz
- G.Skill 8GB @ 1600MHz
- Sapphire R9 280X Vapor-X
- Corsair TX650 PSU
- Crucial M4 64GB (windows)
- Crucial MX300 256GB
- Seagate 1TB HDD

 

[UsandThem]

This probably should have been posted in the 'Computer Help' or 'General Hardware' sub-forum to get more help troubleshooting your system, but anyways......

What model PSU do you have? Maybe you reached its limit? In fact, please list your complete hardware specs/age.

Also, try removing everything besides the one working video card, and see if there are still issues.

 

[nubki11a]

The CPU, mobo, PSU and RAM are about 5 years old. Graphics card 2 years tops. I tried removing everything (HDD etc) like you suggested but still no cigar.

What I did find out however, is that if I set the fan control to 'manual' in the Sapphire TRIXX software, the 2nd fan also starts spinning. I tried reinstalling it and fiddling around with it but that hasn't fixed it unfortunately.

Regarding my topic placement, can I move it myself or delete this? Otherwise, would a mod be so kind to move it for me?

Thanks!

EDIT:

Found a topic on guru3d with the exact same graphics card and problem: http://forums.guru3d.com/showthread.php?t=406251

 

[UsandThem]

Maybe the fan hasn't been spinning for a while, and you just happened to notice it when installing the sound card.

It's just odd though you got a BSOD and all the other issues (like the CMOS getting reset) just from adding a sound card. Your Corsair PSU is a good unit, with a 5 year warranty, but as they age they are unable to handle their full power specs. Maybe the added sound card was too much between the video card and the overclocked CPU, and caused your overclocked settings to fail when you turned on the computer. I believe a PCIe x1 slot supplies up to 25w of power, so not that much additional power.

Maybe by chance the video card's fan just happened to stop working regardless of the sound card being added in, but that still doesn't explain your other issues that happened.

Anyways, those are the only two things I can think of off the top of my head with all of that happening from simply adding a sound card (unless the sound card had a manufacturing defect or something odd).

 

[nubki11a]

Yeah definitely might be that the fan had stopped worked before. I fiddled around with it a bit more and it starts (slowly) spinning at 60% fan speed and revs up to full speed at 70%, could it be that there is a problem with the fan's power regulation in the card?

The other issues are very weird indeed. What surprised me most was that the BSOD got fixed simply by restoring my old CPU clocks and OC settings again. Could be the PSU but it works just fine under heavy load.

Anyway, I spoke with someone who has the exact same problem and he said he hasn't run into any heat related problems. My temps also look fine and as long as I keep an eye on my temps I think I should be okay.

Thanks for your help and if someone else has an idea fo what it could be, I'd love to hear it!