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Overheating GPU nightmare

Goose

Goose

Goose

Soldato
Joined
18 Oct 2002
Posts
4,773
Location
Kent
I started a topic here because my GPU temp looked funny.

The short story is that i tried playing the Mafia II demo having not played a graphically intensive game in many months. I couldn't figure out why it kept crashing after 7 or 8 minutes. The problem is that my GPU is running hotter than the sun.

According to GPU-z at 0% load the temp is 73c! I've taken the card out to check it and whatnot and the fan is working and dust free. However, according to GPU-z the fan is only spinning at 54% speed. I've no idea why it would be doing that.

I dont know why this problem has occurred because the card has actually had very little use in the year or so i've had it and i had no problems playing Modern Warfare 2 a few months ago. The problem must have developed since then but i have no idea when or why since i haven't been messing around with my computer at all.

Any thoughts?

[Edit] The slow fan is not actually a fault. After doing some googling Catalyst Control Center controls fan speed and can be manually altered. I've set it to 100% (its LOUD) and idle temp is down to 63c. I'll run Furmark and see what happens and i'll try mafia 2 again.
 
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Run Furmark and monitor temps, they look warm, My old 8800 GTX used idel at 68 - 70c and when I had the XFX 4850 this was not that much cooler.
 
im having the same sort of problem with my powercolor 4850 gpu-z says my fan is running about 50% and idle temps are shader core 70 odd and gpu temp at about 65 at idle.

my comp shut down when playing just cause 2 and had it do the same with metro 2033 giving the card a good clean doesnt make much difference and i have ok cooling in the case.

got 120mm fans front and back with an akasa exhaust blower about 2 slots under my 4850.
 
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I ran Furmark and watched as the GPU temp reached 109c (!) after a few minutes. I had to leave the room for a few more minutes and when i came back the computer had shutdown, which is exactly what it does when i play mafia II for 7 or 8 minutes.

My CPU idle temp is 35c so i dont think it can be a of lack cooling (i have 2 front intake and one exhaust rear) inside the case messing up the GPU.
 
we have the exact same problem pretty much my dad has a comp with same cooling and same case and same specs as me and his HIS 4850 is idling about 35c.

not sure what to do about the heat issue short of replacing the cooler on our 4850's i was thinking maybe 4850's just ran hot but after looking at the temps on dads one earlier thats not the case :(
 
After googling a bit it seems this problem isn't uncommon and it is often the case that the heaksink needs to be removed, thermal paste reapplied and then re-sit the heatsink.

Of course, i have no idea how to remove the heatsink from a Sapphire HD 4850 512mb, no idea how to remove old thermal paste and no idea what thermal paste i should use.

Can anyone offer any help?

Thanks
 
Answering your three questions respectively, you use a small screwdriver, your fingernail, and the same paste you use on your cpu.
 
Perhaps you could take it a step further and buy an aftermarket cooler with a bigger fan. You're right to take the heatsink off as if the 4850's are anything like 4870's the standard thermal paste is crap!
 
I,m having an issue with my xfx4890,i mainly play,GT Legends,GTR2,and lately Starcraft 2.
My card idles at about 55c,fan at 55%,and goes up to 75c whilst gaming,at least thats what it reads by the time i get back to the desktop.
Ive lived with this as i know my cable tidying skills are poor at best,anyhow,being a big fan of the original Mafia,i got the Mafia2 demo.
Oh my word,once i get out into the open,driving around,within a few minutes the fan speed ramps itself right up,really unbearably loud,and by the time i exit to the desktop(which takes a little while with this demo),my card is reading 92 degrees.
Only in this demo,strange or what,and it seems,reading various posts about the demo,that it runs well on a variety of hardware,new,and not so new.
I know i,ll have to have looksee soon,paste or alternative cooler,its putting me off buying the full game when its out.
 
got my 4850 running cooler now i looked up a video on youtube for removing the heat sink and applied arctic silver 5 to it.

my idle temp is 54c now and my fan is running less as well at 35% when idle.

i was surpised how quick and simple the process was although im lucky i didn't rip a memory chip out on the stupid thermal pads :D

hopefully that will stop it shutting down while playing games.

edit: here is the video that helped me greatly http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tLgG9EKkMFI i had to undo 8 screws on my card, also i used turps substitute to remove the old paste :)
 
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I got mine down to manageable temps but unclogging the heat sink fins of dust. The plastic that covers the whole thing makes it hard to get at, i just used a very long, thin screwdriver to gently dislodge the dust. When i can be bothered i'll remove the heatsink and apply some MX-3 and hopefully get rid of all the remaining dust.
 
My passive 4850 - which is just being upgraded - would reach around 120 degrees on the Mafia 2 demo before occasionally rebooting the machine :D

(Now gone for a none-passive 5870)
 
goose did you check the tiny tiny vents at the edge of the round end where the fan is?

i never noticed them untill i had the heat sink off my card but there was tons of dust there very thick layer and the wee tiny vents are hard to see, i had to poke them with a pin then rotate my fan to loosen and move it for my hoover :)

so combined with that and artic silver 5 about 10-15 c cooler though i noticed my gpu still hits 100c in games although not had it shut down the comp yet like it was doing before :( :)

any one know what the shut down temp is for 4850's, im guessing im 10-15c below it now?
 
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Modern gpu's should be able to run at temps into the 90c's without shutting down and I wouldn't have thought 73c excessive unless there is a setting causing it to shut down at that temp. Thats an impressive reduction in temp though with the arctic silver.:)
 
rolypolyman said:
Modern gpu's should be able to run at temps into the 90c's without shutting down and I wouldn't have thought 73c excessive unless there is a setting causing it to shut down at that temp. Thats an impressive reduction in temp though with the arctic silver.:)
Click to expand...


i was surprised how much the temps dropped i guess my powercolor 1 gig 4850 had pretty poor thermal compound on its gpu, but it still almost hit 100c while playing a game although the same games caused my computer to just restart before the arctic silver 5. that cooler you posted looks pretty good though i might get one as even at 1920x1200 the 4850 i got for 80 quid a year ago is doing pretty well it's just the temps that are annoying me :)
 
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