WTF??

[bob4432]

my rig specs -

gigabyte p35-ds3l
e2160 @ 3GHz
3x1GB ddr2-667
1x15k fujitsu max scsi
1x7.2k seagate 7200.10
1xati hd 3850 512 (asus unit - 35C @ idle / 55C peak - o/c'd to 758/1003)
antec ea380W

now here is what i can't understand. the front of my case that houses this machine has a spot for 2x80mm fans and then 1 for the hdds. i was running 1 fan in the hdd housing and 1 in the area just beneath it - everything is fine - machine is stable.

now, i add in another fan just to keep all nice and cool, and i have massive stability issues w/ the gpu - i keep getting the ati gpu recovery screen during gaming and benchmarking. i take said fan out, stability comes back.

i have kill-a-watt'd the machine and at idles @ ~95W and full draw @ ~195W and the ea380W has 2x17A for the 12V (the specs say 2 12V rails, some reviews say 1x30A 12V, but either way it should be ok) which is the same as an older 480W psu i have laying around, and with the amount of draw i figure i am ok in the power dept.

so what would cause the instability? and by stable i mean 2xprime95 stable for 12-24hrs, plus looping video bechmarks, so it gets a workout.

how could that fan cause the issue? fwiw, the fan was connected to a m/b fan header that i have used before w/ no issues, but the fan wires were running across the back of the 3850

 

[Blain]

Possible cause...
1. Fan is bad and screwing up the PS current flow.
2. The position of the added fan is causing air flow turbulence.

I'd try running the new fan, while one of the older ones was disconnected.

It may be helpful to disclose what model case you're running and a pic with the side panel off (insert some arrows identifying the different fans).

 

[lxskllr]

I think Blain's on the right track. Airflow can be tricky to predict, and you might be getting some weird effects when you add the extra fan.

 

[bob4432]

i will get a pic up, but i think it is an antec 835 - it is probably 8yrs old or so, mabye older, iti s not even on the antec site for disontinued products. the closests i found was the tx1050b in the discontinued area, but where they give a 2nd hdd cage, that is where i get the 2nd case fan that is giving me the problem - http://www.antec.com/images/400/TX1050B_inside.jpg . the fan does drop the temp an additional 2-4C on the card, but even w/out it i am g2g.