Radeon 4850 HD Overheating

[iPwn]

Some epic noob walkthrough would rock... forgive me, for I am more of a software guy...

Recently my desktop started shutting off for no reason. I found it to be that the Video card was overheating.

Exhibit A:

So I took it out, blew off/out the dust and put it back in the computer. Then, I noticed a noise on startup coming from the gpu.

Exhibit B: Turn up your speakers a little.

As you can see, the fan just died.

I've identified the screws that would need to come off in order to get the fan and the rest of the front off:

What I need is, some tips, tricks, some kind of walkthrough on what I would need to do in order to get this thing back online. How would I replace the fan motor? Can I even buy one? I couldn't find anything online but then again I haven't looked at the motor and wouldn't know where to.

All useful posts will definitely get some rep.

Thanks in Advance

 

[Cabbs]

Chances are you aren't going to be able to find just a fan for it. The two easiest options are:

1: Remove the plastic cover and unplug the fan. Rig up a case fan with zip ties to blow on the heatsink. Probably the cheapest if you have a fan laying around.

2: Replace the cooler. Can be cheap depending on the heatsink. http://www.performance-pcs.com/cata...oduct_info&cPath=54_196_684&products_id=26689

 

[iPwn]

Thanks for the reply!!

1: Remove the plastic cover and unplug the fan. Rig up a case fan with zip ties to blow on the heatsink. Probably the cheapest if you have a fan laying around.

I took all the screws off the bottom but she's a no go. Wouldn't just pull off and I really don't want to force it just yet. The fan seems really impeded so I'm going to try to clean it out from the top and see what I can get from there. Will post updates but currently, I have to get a spare video card from my bro-in-law

Edit: I don't have a can of air just yet (Me = Broke ) but would appreciate any suggestions on how to attack this thing from the top and get it cleaned out.

 

[foothead]

Use an air compressor and a blowgun? The exhaust from a shop vac? your vacuum cleaner's hose attachment?

 

[iPwn]

Use an air compressor and a blowgun?

I actually sold my air compressor (I know I know...freakin stupid) to my father in law so next time we're at his house I'll have to do that.

your vacuum cleaner's hose attachment?

... is weak and doesn't produce enough force

Sorry for the double post, but I may have lucked out here. I was browsing through the other HD 4850 threads and ran into this:

Visiontek has lifetime warranties on their AMD cards...

Is this true? I plan on calling tomorrow as that's exactly what I have.


Wellll shucks. Turns out I lost the receipt for my card and it's required for all warranty work. Nice goin me, you rock!

And there's no way to retrieve them from CircuitCity (Online) even though they take every bit of information from you they can... with all the technology we have you would think someone would be able to print me a freakin receipt from the database you know they keep. I shall be calling them tomorrow instead of VisionTek now.



As a last resort, removing the heatsink and installing one of these.

 

[Indigo]

If you didn't hold the fan still while you were dusting the card out, that could easily spin the bearings completely out of spec assuming they didn't already dry up.

and did you mean Radeon HD 3850? I haven't seen any 4850's that look like this one, but I have a 3850 at home that is identical to this card in appearance.

If that's the case, just an FYI, but you can easily buy a replacement card for a little more than I pay for a tank of gas these days.

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applicat...CODE=GOOGLEBASE&cm_mmc_o=VRqCjC7BBTkwCjCECjCE

 

[iPwn]

If you didn't hold the fan still while you were dusting the card out, that could easily spin the bearings completely out of spec assuming they didn't already dry up.

Yea, I didn't... and it does sound dry or our of alignment as you can tell in the vid. When manually moving the fan, it does feel like there's a lot of static friction so would that be dried bearings from dust accumulation?

and did you mean Radeon HD 3850? I haven't seen any 4850's that look like this one, but I have a 3850 at home that is identical to this card in appearance.

Nope, 4850... I can upload the box pic if needed.

 

[Cabbs]

It's probably a sleeve bearing, which means drying out is inevitable. They can be re-lubed, whether it is worth the trouble or not is up to you.

 

[Indigo]

I THINK I configured a PC for a family friend with a single slot 4850 if I think about it, but I don't recall for sure. The ones I've seen are all dual slot, so I wasn't sure.

I wouldn't bother with the fan myself - once they dry out and come loose like that, it's better to just replace the fan or get a new HSF assembly like you're thinking.

 

[cboucher]

I've used this on fans before. Works pretty well.