Over 100 degrees on Radeon X800XT PE!

[karlt78]

Hi,

I've been having a few problems with my X800XT PE; namely that it was freezing after about 5-10 mins of game play. After a hard reset the card wouldn't intialise (i.e. the monitor stayed black) and wouldn't boot unless left for 5-10 minutes.

It looked a lot like a cooling issue and so I got hold of ATItool to monitor the temperatures of the GPU and it's surroundings. I am finding that whilst the card is idle the temp is 52 degrees and then skyrockets as soon as I put on a load (i.e. that funky furry die thing); the temp rises over 100 degrees!

I know these values are well above spec but I don't know what I should do about it. Is the card faulty? Should I ask for a replacement?

Also I'm currently running the tests with the case open and a domestic fan pointed on the card! Please help.

[Waldoinsc]

Is the HSF installed? and does the fan run? Have you removed and re-installed the HSF?.....sounds like the HSF is faulty, or there is no thermal paste between the HSF and the GPU chip.

[karlt78]

Yep it's installed and running at 100% through ATITool. I've spoken to Sapphire and ATI and they both agree that there's something wrong.

I agree with you about the thermal conductance issue Waldoinsc but what can I do other than ask them to replace it? It's been just over 12 months so I'm a bit concerned as it may be out of warranty.

[Waldoinsc]

what kind of HSF do you have installed?

[karlt78]

It's the standard HS and fan that come with the card. I think I know what you may be getting at but even a Zalman VF700-CU LED Graphics Card Cooler or something like it would only reduce the temperature by about 12 degrees. It would still be running at around 90!

I really think that it's the card that's at fault not the cooling, but I'm open to any suggestions...

[gygabite]

Perhaps the thermal-paste or the thermal-pad is responsible for the temps.

[Waldoinsc]

do you have any history of what your card temp's were running before this problem...idle and under load, or any other changes made to the card such as overclocking or voltage mods?

(btw, don't run ATItool with the fuzzy dice screen open until you figure out the temperature thing-->100C will definitely shorten whatever life is left in your card)

If this is a sudden change in you video card THERMAL behavior, but no change in VIDEO performance (you can still run all the games/apps with no noticable degradation before card eventually overheats), it does sound like something is affecting the heat transfer from your GPU. Perhap's the thermal compound on your card came loose from a physical shock to the system/card (have you removed the card and inadverdently bumped/dropped the board?). The thermal compound gets very hard and becomes more brittle when it cools after having been at higher temperature.

[trog100]

cause it could have been running that hot all the time and just dieing a premature death from it.. they should take it back if thats the case.. thats the line i would take..

trog

[Waldoinsc]

Trog's got the handle on the best approach, I think. You can try to troublesoot the temp problem, but it's probably easier to get a replacement card.

[largon]

whilst the card is idle the temp is 52 degrees and then skyrockets as soon as I put on a load (i.e. that funky furry die thing); the temp rises over 100 degrees!There's only one possible explanation:

Bad HSF-die contact

[Solaris17]

i agree i think its something to do with the thermal paste...

[trog100]

either way its the manufacturers thermal paste or badly fitted heatsink so its still their fault..

trog

[OOTay]

well see if they'll take it back and if not try to put some AS5 on there and if that doesnt help maybe try and see if the heatsink is warped and not making sufficient contact if it is try lapping it. See this article if it comes to that conclusion http://forum.techpowerup.com/showthread.php?t=19 Best of luck my friend.