Overheating Video Card Problem

[Zorcher]

A few days ago while I was playing Quake 4, my video card starting complaining of overheating problems. I have tried my best to solve this problem myself, but I just can't figure this out. Here are my specs:

Windows XP Service Pack 2
1 GB Dual DDR2 memory
ECS Elitegroup 915P-A Motherboard
3.2 GHz Pentium 4 Processor with Hyper-Threading
This link has my video card: Here
DirectX 9.0c
SATA 120 GB Hard Drive
Creative SB0410 SB Live! 24-bit Sound Card
420 W Power Supply
16X DVDRW Drive

Other little details I can include: All dust from the computer has been cleaned out two days ago. I have one side fan sucking air in and two fans in the back sucking air out. Fan speed measured to be 2500 RPM. The video card's fan I don't notice any slow-downs or problems with it. I have video card connected to the top PCI-Express slot and my sound card in a PCI slot is three slots down. There are no cables whatsoever on the front side of the card. Most importantly: The video card or CPU has NOT been overclocked and I've been playing Quake 4 like I always have with no problems before.

Idle GPU Temperature for Video Card:
85-91 C
Idle Ambient Temperature for Video Card:
55-60 C

Quake 4 Hottest GPU Temperature:
127 C
Quake 4 Hottest Ambient Temperature:
80 C

I've honestly run out of ideas. If anyone can help me, that would be great.

 

[~K-Pow~]

There may be something wrong with the card itself, i don't suppose you have a different card you could try.

Welcome to the forum too

 

[Feircepc]

some advice is if ur gpu is at 120C then ur graphics card should be burning because 120c is very hot like the gpu should be dead. are u sure its not 120 farenheight because if it is 120c u definatly have to rma the card or apply new thermal compound.


EDIT: and your ambient temps are abouve 100farenheit? so ur pc is almost hot enough to boil water. i think you might have confused celcius with farenheit.

 

[Zorcher]

Nope, the computer says C and my video card is technically "overheating" if it reaches 135 C or more according to NVidia. The thermometer in there can't be wrong either cause I've felt that video card and it's hot, even the air around it.

btw, thanks for the warm welcome.

 

[Feircepc]

well i would consider sending it back because most cards idle around 30-60 stock and i think u should find some way to lower ur ambient air temps because those temps are extremly bad. i wonder how ur processor is doing.

 

[ownage]

ummm, your ambient temps are insanely high. That is not right. Get some airflow into that case. your video card is sucking up ALL the hot air your cpu and hdd put out. Not good. That video card wont last very long. There might have been permanent damage done already. And if whatever company sees physical damage on the card, the warrenty wont cover it. Just a heads up.

 

[Zorcher]

I'm assuming that the CPU is doing just fine as the fan speed is great and it's been kept cool. The most confusing about this is why my video card would complain of overheating so suddenly. Doesn't make much sense.

I would like to take a look at the card, but it's PCI Express and it seems to be held down in a clip that I can't figure out how to remove. I'm gonna have to remove it anyway if I want to send it back. Google doesn't turn up very good results when I do it by hand. How can I remove the thing?

Also, since my fan speeds are fine and I haven't changed anything, the air flow should be the same as always and shouldn't cause any problems.

The bad thing is that if I have to send it back, I don't have an onboard video card so I'm stuck until I get a new one.

 

[lhuser]

There is a problem with the internal ambient temp. could you show me the CPU temps while you're at it?

 

[mudda_fudda]

Nope, the computer says C and my video card is technically "overheating" if it reaches 135 C or more according to NVidia. The thermometer in there can't be wrong either cause I've felt that video card and it's hot, even the air around it.

btw, thanks for the warm welcome.

ur hands must be really cold because if u felt ur card ur hand would proly hurt like hell and u would proly take ur hand out of the case in like 2 seconds because 135 c is around 275 farenheight which can boil water and if uve ever put ur hand in a pot of boiling water it hurts like hell and thatsa bout double water boiling. ur temp moniter is wrong cus theres no way ur card can stand 135c

 

[MikeReiner]

Well from what Zorcher has told me, his GPU was working perfectly fine when he purchased it back in October of 05, and his troubles regarding high GPU temperature have only recently arisen...