Vista graphics question: sitting on desktop still makes video card fan run

vetteguy

Diamond Member
Sep 12, 2001
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So I recently installed Vista on my Dell XPS 700 that has a 7900GS. When I had XP on here, if the computer was idle the fan on the graphics card would spin down to a point where I couldn't hear it at all (this is, overall, the quietest computer I've ever had). Ever since I installed Vista, however, the fan on the GPU is always on-even if I'm just sitting at the desktop with nothing running. Now, I understand that Aero uses my GPU for rendering, but it seems to me that unless it's actually doing something (i.e. window animations, flip3d, etc.) the GPU would still be idle. Is this not the case? Am I always going to be treated to the GPU fan when I'm looking at a web page? I want to update the drivers, but since nVidia still doesn't really have anything new, I'm holding off.
 

lxskllr

No Lifer
Nov 30, 2004
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I have the same thing. I assume it's the transparency that's causing the fan to run. I'm using the default drivers also. Once everybody gets their act together there should be some driver tweaks that'll quiet the fan on desktop. Maybe the full Nvidia control panel or RivaTuner :confused:
 

dguy6789

Diamond Member
Dec 9, 2002
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I know that in a game, if you look at a perfectly still section with nothing animating, the gpu is still crunching along. That is probably the case with Aero as well.
 

Arkaign

Lifer
Oct 27, 2006
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Welcome to the world of pointless graphics usage while just looking at windows. Just wait till it deactivates you for right-clicking where you should have left-clicked.
 

Markbnj

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Sep 16, 2005
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Originally posted by: Arkaign
Welcome to the world of pointless graphics usage while just looking at windows. Just wait till it deactivates you for right-clicking where you should have left-clicked.

Yeah, it would be so much better if that GPU had nothing at all to do outside of games, which are obviously the one and only application that it was designed for.
 

lxskllr

No Lifer
Nov 30, 2004
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Originally posted by: Arkaign
Welcome to the world of pointless graphics usage while just looking at windows. Just wait till it deactivates you for right-clicking where you should have left-clicked.

I spend a lot of time in front of my computer, and the "pointless" graphics of Vista make it much more enjoyable. I'd have a hard time designing something that I think looks better. The gui is just about perfect. I like the dark colors and glass effects, very soothing. The gui alone is worth the upgrade price for me. As it is though, I got my copy free :)
 

Arkaign

Lifer
Oct 27, 2006
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Originally posted by: lxskllr
Originally posted by: Arkaign
Welcome to the world of pointless graphics usage while just looking at windows. Just wait till it deactivates you for right-clicking where you should have left-clicked.

I spend a lot of time in front of my computer, and the "pointless" graphics of Vista make it much more enjoyable. I'd have a hard time designing something that I think looks better. The gui is just about perfect. I like the dark colors and glass effects, very soothing. The gui alone is worth the upgrade price for me. As it is though, I got my copy free :)

Meh, I nearly puked over the teletubby XP luna look, and Vista is just another mac-chasing fuzzy waste of cpu/gpu cycles and space. I *WORK* on my PC, I don't need it to look like designer toilet paper.
 

dighn

Lifer
Aug 12, 2001
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I've actually been a little worried about this. The interface looks good but if that means the fan on my 7600 will be constantly in full operation mode, I guess I'll have to hold off the upgrade for a while before I get around to installing a custom, quieter fan (not the only reason). When playing games the sound is covered up by the games, but in desktop the noise would drive me insane.
 

makken

Golden Member
Aug 28, 2004
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im more worried about this on my laptop - I don't have a seperate fan for my GPU (ATi X600) and for GPU intensive things (eg games), after several hours, the keyboard gets hot enough that i just can't type on it anymore (the GPU is located right under the middle of the keyboard).

most of the time, my laptop is going to be on for 8, 10 hours at a time.. is this going to be a problem?

I guess i can force ATi Powerplay to run it on powersaving mode (reduces core and mem clock by 1/4). As it stands now, I have my video card on full whenever my laptop is plugged in and to run at 1/4 whenever i switch to battery mode.
 

dguy6789

Diamond Member
Dec 9, 2002
8,558
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You can always turn Aero off if it causes an inconvenience. But those who like the look and have no problem with it have the option to use it should that be their desire.
 

miniMUNCH

Diamond Member
Nov 16, 2000
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Yeah... just turn aero off if it bugs you.

Thank Apple et al for creating a huge but possibly pointless buzz about 3D rendered desktops such that microsoft had to follow suit. Then, when MS did follow suit because folks were "bagging" on 2000/XP's GUI, the same folks now say, "Oh... weak sauce. You are just copying what OS X has had for years." MS can't win for losing.

But at least you can turn Aero off... still looks nice without it.
 

IEC

Elite Member
Super Moderator
Jun 10, 2004
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Or you can hack up your XP files to make it look like Vista without all the 3d-accelerated effects ;)

RyanVM forums FTW
 

SoundTheSurrender

Diamond Member
Mar 13, 2005
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Originally posted by: miniMUNCH
Yeah... just turn aero off if it bugs you.

Thank Apple et al for creating a huge but possibly pointless buzz about 3D rendered desktops such that microsoft had to follow suit. Then, when MS did follow suit because folks were "bagging" on 2000/XP's GUI, the same folks now say, "Oh... weak sauce. You are just copying what OS X has had for years." MS can't win for losing.

But at least you can turn Aero off... still looks nice without it.

It's more like those cheap Chinese copies of legit items is what Microsoft is doing. Mac mastered the GUI and how it works while MS copied a poor but similar design.
 

Arkaign

Lifer
Oct 27, 2006
20,736
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Originally posted by: SoundTheSurrender
Originally posted by: miniMUNCH
Yeah... just turn aero off if it bugs you.

Thank Apple et al for creating a huge but possibly pointless buzz about 3D rendered desktops such that microsoft had to follow suit. Then, when MS did follow suit because folks were "bagging" on 2000/XP's GUI, the same folks now say, "Oh... weak sauce. You are just copying what OS X has had for years." MS can't win for losing.

But at least you can turn Aero off... still looks nice without it.

It's more like those cheap Chinese copies of legit items is what Microsoft is doing. Mac mastered the GUI and how it works while MS copied a poor but similar design.

Yep, it makes me want to vomit on my keyboard every time I see it. Fwiw, vista systems have been coming into my shop daily with various problems. Can you believe they are selling 512mb Vista systems!!! Omfg it's horrible beyond belief. Someone installed the Sims on a 512mb Vista notebook w/ATI X1150 video, and it took upwards of TWENTY minutes to start the game, and when it did, it froze it solid. Next reboot, error 0x80070241. This thing is 4 days old lol. I'm selling him XP MCE 05 OEM after I showed him my Qosmio G35. Sooo much freaking better.
 

Tegeril

Platinum Member
Apr 2, 2003
2,906
5
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On appropriate hardware, Vista runs wonderfully. These same companies were selling XP on 128MB of ram. It hurt then too and did this same nonsense.

If anything is Microsoft's fault, it's saying 512MB is the minimum instead of 1GB, despite that being quite high.
 

WT

Diamond Member
Sep 21, 2000
4,816
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Interesting observation ... I hadn't noticed this using Vista RC1, but then again my 7900GS cooler has left the building, replaced by a Zalman VF900 which cleared up any and all card abnormalities (MSI, woot,pilferage !). I plan on installing Vista Ultimate sometime early April as soon as I can afford a C2D upgrade on that rig, so hopefully Vista has a few more things worked out by then.
 
Aug 23, 2000
15,509
1
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Originally posted by: Arkaign
Originally posted by: lxskllr
Originally posted by: Arkaign
Welcome to the world of pointless graphics usage while just looking at windows. Just wait till it deactivates you for right-clicking where you should have left-clicked.

I spend a lot of time in front of my computer, and the "pointless" graphics of Vista make it much more enjoyable. I'd have a hard time designing something that I think looks better. The gui is just about perfect. I like the dark colors and glass effects, very soothing. The gui alone is worth the upgrade price for me. As it is though, I got my copy free :)

Meh, I nearly puked over the teletubby XP luna look, and Vista is just another mac-chasing fuzzy waste of cpu/gpu cycles and space. I *WORK* on my PC, I don't need it to look like designer toilet paper.

But designer TP is so smooth on my @ss.
 

uallas5

Golden Member
Jun 3, 2005
1,479
1,657
136
Originally posted by: dighn
I've actually been a little worried about this. The interface looks good but if that means the fan on my 7600 will be constantly in full operation mode, I guess I'll have to hold off the upgrade for a while before I get around to installing a custom, quieter fan (not the only reason). When playing games the sound is covered up by the games, but in desktop the noise would drive me insane.

I think it has something to do with the Nvidia drivers (I'm using 100.59 with a 7600GT). I normally never had the fan sound problem on RC2 at desktop. And didn't have the sound when I first loaded up the RTM just recently. Once I loaded the new drivers, the fan started to spin all the time. I seem to remember this happened once before with their drivers, but I'm not exactly sure.
 

aka1nas

Diamond Member
Aug 30, 2001
4,335
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Is the fan temperature controlled or is it based on 2d/3d clockspeeds? I could see current drivers getting stuck on the latter case as they think they are always running a 3d app and not throttling clock speeds.