Overheating GPU?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Mista Fadedglory
  • Start date Start date
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Mista Fadedglory

I have an Nvidia 6600GT that is less that a year old. I play a number
of higher end graphics games (WoW, BF2142, etc). It's very hit and
miss, but often when I play my screen will essentially freeze up and I
will have to log out. Even after logging out, I can log back in and
it takes a little while for things to get back to normal (~5 min).

I have found the nvidia temp watcher in the software and am watching
that. If there is a temperature problem, is there any solution to
fixing it? Or is it a defect in the card? the fan is running, by the
way.

Just wondering.
 
Mista said:
I have an Nvidia 6600GT that is less that a year old. I play a number
of higher end graphics games (WoW, BF2142, etc). It's very hit and
miss, but often when I play my screen will essentially freeze up and I
will have to log out. Even after logging out, I can log back in and
it takes a little while for things to get back to normal (~5 min).

I have found the nvidia temp watcher in the software and am watching
that. If there is a temperature problem, is there any solution to
fixing it? Or is it a defect in the card? the fan is running, by the
way.

Just wondering.
Click to expand...
 
While playing graphics intensive games, though your video card's fan may be
working fine, your computer case may have inadequate ventilation from case
fans to carry the video card's heat outside.
 
While playing graphics intensive games, though your video card's fan may be
working fine, your computer case may have inadequate ventilation from case
fans to carry the video card's heat outside.
Click to expand...

Is it recommendable to open up a side of my computer to get some
additional ventilation? Or is the influx of dust too dangerous?
 
Is it recommendable to open up a side of my computer to get some
additional ventilation? Or is the influx of dust too dangerous?- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -
Click to expand...

Actually, that generally screws up the air flow through the fan
positioning is supposed to provide. Does your case have an inblowing
at one end and an outblowing fan at the other? Having the lower front
fan blowing in and the upper rear fan blowing out helps considerably,
though they should have reasonably similar cfm ratings. There's all
kind of possibilities including bad case designs where the fan don't
seem to do any good at all. I saw one Compaq system that was
constantly overheating because of where the fans were stuck on the
case.

And yes, having the case open radically increases dust in the machine,
which is bad as we all know and have had constant problems with.

Also, I saw one power supply once that had its fan blowing nice cool
external air into the hot power supply into the machine's guts. The
<bleep>ing CPU was constantly overheating. When I reversed that power
supply's fan, the cpu temp dropped 30-40 degrees F, if I recall
correctly. F*cking jerk at the store where I bought it told me I was
full of sh*t. That's why he was selling computers and I was working
tech support, I reckon.

go figure. ::)))
 
Is it recommendable to open up a side of my computer to get some
additional ventilation? Or is the influx of dust too dangerous?
Click to expand...

Start with your assumptions. Temperature increases (but no numbers
provided) when computer freezes. Therefore it must be heat?
Nonsense. The first fact every poster should have grasped - no
numbers. No number followed by conclusions is exactly how junk
science reasoning occurs.

Meanwhile, your computer should work just fine executing those
programs while in a 100 degree F room. It is in a room 30 degrees
cooler ... and still fails?

Contrary to junk science reasoning, heat is a diagnostic tool.
Instead many want to cure symptoms with "More Fans" reasoning. The
informed uses that heat to find a 100% defective part.

First collect the obvious facts. For example, what history in
system (event) logs? Does all hardware look good in the Device
Manager (even when system is hot)?

All responsible computer manufacturers provide comprehensive
hardware diagnostics for free to locate or establish hardware
integrity. After doing diagnostic tests with system cool, then repeat
tests with system hot to learn what fails.

Another tool is a hairdryer on high. All hardware is in pig's
heaven when heated to temperatures that are uncomfortable to touch.
But the defective hardware will fail comprehensive diagnostics when
heated. Hairdryer is how to selectively heat and locate defective
parts. Overall heat (executing that system in a 100 degree F room)
confirms all hardware is functional.

And finally is the 'system's foundation - its power supply
'system'. Obviously the power supply is only part of that system.
But marginal computers that fail under higher temperatures sometimes
have a defective voltage (measured by meter on orange, red, and yellow
wires from power supply to motherboard). Those measurements are
useful when reported why executing complex graphics games. Those
measurements not valid with a motherboard monitor that has not been
calibrated with a meter.

Provided are many tools that provide the missing fact - numbers.
Without numbers, every answer is only wild speculation - and often
based in junk science reasoning. Above procedures instead find the
failure without speculation. And again, heat is not a reason for
failure. Heat is the diagnostic tool that finds defective hardware.
 
[...]
Also, I saw one power supply once that had its fan blowing nice cool
external air into the hot power supply into the machine's guts. The
<bleep>ing CPU was constantly overheating. When I reversed that power
supply's fan, the cpu temp dropped 30-40 degrees F, if I recall
correctly. F*cking jerk at the store where I bought it told me I was
full of sh*t. That's why he was selling computers and I was working
tech support, I reckon.
Click to expand...

Actually the earlier ATX specs were written this way. Some genius at
Intel thought it was a good idea. I think the later ATX spec makes
inward air flow optional. I believe this is one reason why some cases
locate the power supply on the bottom.

The OP might try searching here...
http://groups.google.com/group/alt.comp.periphs.videocards.nvidia/topics
 
Actually the earlier ATX specs were written this way. Some genius at
Intel thought it was a good idea. I think the later ATX spec makes
inward air flow optional.
Click to expand...

Do the numbers. Airflow in or out makes almost no difference. Far
more important was air motion. Air blowing in and over a CPU heatsink
made CPU fans unnecessary. When fan blew out, the CPU required a
shroud to maintain that same air motion - measured in linear feet per
minute. But again, one would never understand this without doing the
simple arithmetic.

Makes little difference which direction the airflow is. Far more
important today are other numbers such as CFM. To understand why
Intel had fan blowing in requires doing and learning the numbers - to
appreciate which parameters are more important. That is a point in
another post. No numbers is why wild speculation replaces facts.
 
w_tom said:
Davej said:
Actually the earlier ATX specs were written this way. Some genius at
Intel thought it was a good idea. I think the later ATX spec makes
inward air flow optional.
Click to expand...

Do the numbers. Airflow in or out makes almost no difference. Far
more important was air motion. Air blowing in and over a CPU heatsink
made CPU fans unnecessary. [...]
Click to expand...

So then how many different desktop cpu's has Intel sold since 1995
that didn't come packaged with their own heatsink fan?
 
w_tom said:
Do the numbers. Airflow in or out makes almost no difference. Far
more important was air motion. Air blowing in and over a CPU heatsink
made CPU fans unnecessary. When fan blew out, the CPU required a
shroud to maintain that same air motion - measured in linear feet per
minute. But again, one would never understand this without doing the
simple arithmetic.
Click to expand...

And lots of mental gymnastics.
 
So then how many different desktop cpu's has Intel sold since 1995
that didn't come packaged with their own heatsink fan?
Click to expand...

Intel sold CPUs both ways. Without CPU fans for OEMs who have
engineers design system using measurements and numbers. With heatsink
fans for computer assemblers. Many systems out there did not use fans
until CPU power consumption exceeded something like 50 watts. But to
do so without a fan required engineering - doing mental gymnastics so
complicated that those science concepts are not taught until maybe
junior high school. With manufacturer numbers and other parameters
such as heatsink's 'degree C per watt', linear feet per minute, etc,
then calculations were easy. However this was considered too complex
for some computer assemblers who don't even know what a 'degree C per
watt' number measures. Therefore Intel also sold CPU assemblies with
heatsink and fan.
 
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