Am I frying my video cards?


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Hi all,

I’ve recently switched PC cases from a CM HAF X to a Fractal Designs Refine R5. Two weeks later, my 970 just “failed” when I turned my PC on - and by failed, I mean I was getting no video signal out of any of the GPU’s ports. The GPU fan would start spinning when power was on. I’ve since opened up a RMA ticket with ASUS, whom made the card.

Luckily, I had my old GTX 580 that I had replaced with the 970. It had been sitting in a box for about a year. I plugged it in and it worked fine. I tried to boot up Overwatch today and noticed that the GPU fan was unusually loud. I checked GPU-Z and noticed that my GPU temps were getting above 90C.

At this point, I’m not sure if the failing 970 and the running-hot 580 are related, and if it was caused by something I may have done. I’m worried that I may have fried the 970 somehow and the 580 is next. It could also be that the 970 just happened to fail and the 580 is just an old card and a bit dusty/rusty after sitting in a box for a year. I’m not sure how to troubleshoot this further without going out and buying another GPU. I’d rather avoid that if possible (low $CDN means high GPU prices) but if there is no other way, I could go grab a 750 Ti.

Can anyone shed any light on this, or anything I can do to troubleshoot this? 

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2 minutes ago, d10p said:

It could also be that the 970 just happened to fail and the 580 is just an old card and a bit dusty/rusty after sitting in a box for a year.

most likely.

 

you could always double check your standoffs and make sure you are not shorting anything.

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25 minutes ago, d10p said:

I checked GPU-Z and noticed that my GPU temps were getting above 90C.
 

That's most definitely not healthy.

While there has been subjective discussion saying that GPUs should be able to run up to 105C (which has since been lowered), constantly running them at this sort of temp is not going to do them any good, and will certainly shorten their life.

 

What sort of temps do you have inside the case during gaming? I'm presuming you have good airflow for the case and your room temp isn't too high?

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Hey all, thanks for the replies so far. I was pretty paranoid about things breaking. I've sent my 970 in for RMA; hopefully that gets resolved.

 

Here are some temperatures I've recorded with OpenHardwareMonitor:


Idle:(all temps in Celsius)
MOBO: 35 / 30, MOBO CPU temp (not sure how this differs from the CPU core temps below): 29.5
CPU: 36 / 35 / 39 / 38 / 39
GPU: 46 (usually sits around 55 when watching videos, the other main use with PC aside from gaming)
HDD: 33

After a game of Overwatch (1080p, all settings low so my fan doesn't explode and temps stay below 90):
MOBO: 41 / 34, MOBO CPU temp (not sure how this differs from the CPU core temps below): 34
CPU: 42 / 42 / 43 / 41 / 43 (max temps seemed to reach around 55)
GPU: 87
HDD: 33

The GPU seems to be the one that heats up the most. So I will try cleaning out dust, cleaning off the old thermal paste and applying some new stuff. I've never done this with a GPU before so hopefully I don't mess it up.

Do those CPU temps seem high? It's been over 5 years now since the CPU has had its thermal paste applied as well, so perhaps that could use a fresh coat as well?

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It is a bit high, yes. Try applying new thermal paste to it. That should make it cooler. Putting paste on a GPU is the same way you would on the CPU.

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87C is pretty warm...but iirc...those cards do run a bit on the hot side.  Anyway 97C is the threshold for a 580GTX...which is when (I believe) it will start throttling back.  

 

Not sure why your other card died...maybe it was just a fluke.  I wouldn't worry about the 580's temp.  Before installing the new GPU ... I would ensure that nothing is shorting.  I have the R5 as well ... and haven't had any surprises with the case (like metal touching where it shouldn't be).

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Careful you don't snap your clips on the heat sink + fan(s) mounts when you pull it. Those have a nasty habit of being made out of plastic or some other shoddy material that'll break. Do it very carefully and gently. :yes: 

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I have a Nvidia 560 and the fans are loud on Overwatch also. Last time I heard the fans this loud was with an unoptimized 2d game and others informed the developer who fixed it so it could be the game.

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Hello,

 

Are the fans inside the new case oriented correctly and working properly?

 

Regards,

 

Aryeh Goretsky

 

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Do you have a 120mm fan in the side panel if not put one in and you'll see a marked decrease in GPU temps with plenty of cold air going straight to the GPU 

 

also time to replace the thermal paste on ya HSF 5yrs is probably 2 more than it should have been used 

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