Video card is heating up

[Rachet]

History:
About 2 weeks ago I got a trojan in my system which I removed
A few days later while playing the demo version of Battlefield I noticed frame rates
were slowing down. The next day my screen froze during the game, then the screen went
gray/black and my system froze.

Windows gave me a message that there was a driver problem, either change display driver or shut off hardware accelerator. I did both but the problems persist.

System reboots fine but idle temp (using ATI tools ) is 80 degrees C.
Asking for 3d view in ATI tools quicky brings the temp to 100 C. Add web serving and temp reached 112 C. Battlefield will no longer load.

System Specs;
ATI AIW 800XT.......... 1 1/2 years old, run at stock speeds
Asus P4P800 SE
PIV 3.2 (Northwood)
Enermax 350w PS
1 gig Corsair Value select DDR

One other system problem, I get scripting errors when I try to pull up some web pages.

Can this be an OS and/or driver problem?
How can I tell?

If it is the video card can the problem be fixed.

Steps taken:

removed video card, blew out dust in card, CPU and case, I do this every 4 to 6 months
removed cooler on video card and replaced thermal compound ( not artic silver used noname brand that I had at hand)
set video card fan speed to 100 %

Budget is tight until I find a new job so I can't go and get a new video card.

Any suggestions will be appreciated.

 

[BlueAcolyte]

WOW, that's hot. 112C is too hot for anything, I don't care what kind of computer it is. Have you opened the thing and dusted everything off?
If you have any vents or desk fans, why don't you take the side panel off and point the fan/vent into the computer? Also, are all your fans actually running?

Finally, did you rescan your system for anything?

 

[Rachet]

Everything in the case has been air dusted, all the fans are working, running it with the side panel off doesn't do a thing. The heat is coming from the video card, almost like it is being overclocked too high.

ATi tools says it is running at default, if I underclock the card, the temperture doesn't change either.

I've scanned the system with MCafee, Adaware, and Sysbot.

 

[The Bakery]

Man...

An idle of 80c is really a huge problem if no applications are demanding the cards use.

Check your bios to make sure the voltages are correct.

If your fans are all working at proper speeds and you are positive that the heatsink is
properly seated, maybe you should delete and reinstall all video drivers with the most
recent offerings from your manufacturer.

Uninstall ALL drivers and software - then reboot and reinstall.

Perhaps your trojan damaged your video drivers? You are 100% positive that you've
remedied the situation, right? No processes running out of control in the background?

Edit - If you can put that card in another system, you could determine if the card has
any kind of hardware fault that is causing the overheating.

 

[Rachet]

Voltages???????????????

Vcore is 1.568 which I believe is correct
what other voltage are you referring to.

Temps:

CPU ....... 45.5 C

MB ......... 38.0 C

The only thing that looked odd was the fan speed for the CPU, it was in RED,
1785 RPMs, it was the only fan speed that was in RED.

 

[BlueAcolyte]

Well CPU and Mobo are ok, VCore is high, but it is a P4. looks ok, looks like some driver fault or maybe the heatsink isn't making contact properly.

 

[Rachet]

I thought I would try to test the card in "SAFE MODE" to see if somehow,
the Trojan I got a few weeks ago could have affected the card.

I could not get "ATI TOOLS" to work, error msg missing kernel, does anyone know a tool
I could use that will work in safe mode which will let me monitor the GPU temp?

Also I use dial up to surf, same problem with modem, anyone know how to get
a 56k modem to work in safe mode?

 

[Rachet]

At this point I have no other machine to test video card.

Installed new Ati 8.4 drivers, idle temp went up a couple of degrees.

I was thinking about getting a new vga cooler, Zalman VF700 series but I wanted to
see if the card could be cooled down.

Well I located my 10" summer room fan, removed the side panel to my case and
blasted my video card with the fan on high.

The good news: idle went from 76C - 42C, in about 40secs.

The bad: once "show 3d" (ATITOOL) was turned on, temp went from 42C to 98C
I shut "show 3d" off at 98C

The same outcome, only it took longer to get there, now I am wondering if a cooler would really work.

Over the next week I'm going to format hard drive and reinstall windows and drivers and then test again to see if anything changes.

 

[SergeC]

Sounds like the heatsink is making very poor contact with the core. Remounting it would work wonders. A better cooling solution would be even better, but cost money.

 

[Bill Kunert]

I hate to ask an obvious question, but is the GPU cooler fan actually turning? Since an external fan cooled it I have to wonder.

 

[Rachet]

Update:

Graphic Fan finally stopped completely. I decided to take the heatsink and fan apart, re-clean, lube and remount. Reformatted my hard drive and installed latest graphic drivers. I also set my system Bios to default.

Video card is working now, idle temp is 40C and using 3d, it goes to mid 70's.

When the card was working the speed was not actually at 100% even though ATI tools listed it at that speed.

I think the trojan I got screwed up my OS or bios.


I just ordered a Zalman VU700-cu for a new cooler from Newegg, just in case the fan is going.

Thanks for your help

 

[Rachet]

With the Zalman VF700-cu
Video card runs at 32 C at idle, in low 50's running "FEAR"

That is the good news,

the game is now pausing for an instance during play, even though a year ago it was running fine with higher graphic settings. I'm not sure
if I was using XP SP2 when I was running last year.

I'm trying to eliminate the other components as possible problem areas.
Any suggestions would be appreciated.
I have already tested the memory and CPU with a stress software and both passed.

Anyone know a PS test software?

 

[myocardia]

Originally posted by: Rachet
Anyone know a PS test software?

SpeedFan is the closest there is. Of course, a digital multimeter is much better, and can be had for ~$10. Wal Mart even sells DMM's now, but I can't remember for how much.