Whats goes on everyday, Stardock Forums, life, and all
Published on October 12, 2009 By GeneralEtrius In Everything Else

Hi all,

I've been having problem with heat issues with my computer when I run graphics intensive games such as Crysis. I clean the sysem interior of dust regularly, but it doesn't seem to help. I've noticed that the component that heats up the most is the graphics card, so I think that is the culprit (Maybe dust has collected on the inside fan areas of the card.

What appears to be the problem is that the graphics card is heating itself up so much that the computer shuts itself off to prevent damage. This is annoying because it is preventing from enjoying games with good graphics. My PC is a Gateway FX 6800 with an ATI Radeon 4850, 3 gigs or memory, and an Intel i7 920 running at 2.66 Ghz.

This has been a fairly recent problem, graphically intensive games ran perfectly before. I regularly download driver updates for my card.

I tried Gateway support, but they weren't much help. I might try ATI, but they recently merged with AMD, and it seems the bigger a company gets, the worse service it has.

Below are some ideas on what might be wrong:

  1. Graphics card has accumulated dust on fan vent interior and is heating up because of that.
  2. Driver issues. When I did my first update, I accidently downloaded Catalyst Control Center even though I already had it, but I highly doubt that it is causing the problem.
  3. Vista. Vista is a resource hoh, so it might be stealing resources from the computer and straining the graphics card.

If anyone could help me, I would appreciate very much.


Comments (Page 2)
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on Oct 14, 2009

To clean the card, I should just get some of the PC cleaning swabs, and stick them into the vents to get the dust out, correct?

Compressed air blown into the vents is your best bet.

Swabs can push dust further in.

 

If you have another free fan port in your case, add the fan.

Also, check ambient temps. If you are keeping your room warmer, the computer will also be warmer. And a few degrees can make a difference.

on Oct 14, 2009

How many fans did you say you had? I had a fair bit of trouble until I upgraded to 3, which really isn't that many.

on Oct 14, 2009

That's what I'm thinking. I'm probably going to take the card out to clean it. What I'm worried about is that the computer would act strangely after I did it.

You don't need to worry about this unless you actually damage the card before putting it back in. You can swap the gfx card in and out (with the power off) without the computer knowing any differently once you turn it back on. Also, you don't really need a wrist strap (although they aren't a 'bad' idea). Just make sure you ground yourself by touching the metal parts of the computer before you take the card out and don't be shifting around on carpet or something while you're handling it. The idea is to not build up any static electricity while you're handling the card. If you do, just touch the metal parts of the frame again to get rid of it.

on Oct 16, 2009

Checked the temperature of the GPU at idle fan settings (idle is 45% speed). Around 90 degrees C. What is going on with my card. Dust can't be causing all of that heat...

on Oct 16, 2009

Your problem might be fans. I, too, bought a Gateway, which kept overheating. I opened it up and there were NO case fans! I bought two--one for the front and one for the back. They cost about $17.00. Now, no more overheating.


Just why they built a computer with no case fans, I'll never know...

on Oct 16, 2009

Your problem might be fans

There are two fans in the back, but they really aren't spinning fast. There is a side vent in the case with a CPU cooling fan.

on Oct 16, 2009

Your problem might be fans. I, too, bought a Gateway, which kept overheating. I opened it up and there were NO case fans! I bought two--one for the front and one for the back. They cost about $17.00. Now, no more overheating.


Just why they built a computer with no case fans, I'll never know...

Because they're gateway

on Oct 16, 2009

Your problem might be fans. I, too, bought a Gateway, which kept overheating. I opened it up and there were NO case fans! I bought two--one for the front and one for the back. They cost about $17.00. Now, no more overheating.


Just why they built a computer with no case fans, I'll never know...

Because they're gateway

Unfortunately, I didn't figure that out until it was too late... Not a bad machine though, since I figured out the cooling thing.

on Oct 16, 2009

Okay, I measured the vent with my eyes , and it appears that there is room for two fans to suck cool air in through the case. I'm probably going to get a second side fan, clean out the graphics card, and get more RAM. I'm probably going to wait one more video card generation before upgrading, those those ATI Radeon 5870s look very nice (next year they'll be obsolete though )

on Oct 17, 2009

I've just been looking up a fx 6800 and the problem is your case. The card is too low down to feel the effect of the cooling fans you have. The best you can do with that is to put a 80mm fan at the front (looks too small for a 120mm), below the HD cage. That should give a good blast of air onto the card. If you have a fan cooling the cpu, the case has space for another below it, do that too.

 

I don't have a problem with overheating, despite my pc being under the desk, and the desk being in a wall cavity. And the pc being seriously overclocked. I have every available opening filled with a fan.

NZXT Beta
Asus P6 deluxe
i7 920 o/c to 3.61Ghz

2 x 4890 in crossfire
Samsung 128Gb SSD
2 x 1.5Tb HDs
6Gb ram o/c to 1451Mhz

on Oct 18, 2009

I've just been looking up a fx 6800 and the problem is your case. The card is too low down to feel the effect of the cooling fans you have. The best you can do with that is to put a 80mm fan at the front (looks too small for a 120mm), below the HD cage. That should give a good blast of air onto the card. If you have a fan cooling the cpu, the case has space for another below it, do that too.

This describes exactly what I did that fixed the problem...

on Oct 18, 2009

This describes exactly what I did that fixed the problem...

Sounds good. I can't wait to unlock this my PC's potential. I'll probably get this all done in about a month or so.

on Oct 18, 2009

I wouldn't wait if I were you.

on Oct 19, 2009

I wouldn't wait if I were you.

I've got people who are good with upgrading PC's coming down in about a monthm and I'll do it then. Until then, I'm going to take my desk fan and have it blow air through the side vent to help cool down the card.

on Oct 21, 2009

I wouldn't wait if I were you.

I've got people who are good with upgrading PC's coming down in about a monthm and I'll do it then. Until then, I'm going to take my desk fan and have it blow air through the side vent to help cool down the card.

You might also remove your side panel...

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