[Crash] Graphics card craps out after one round

[Josef Nader]

I'm beginning to think it might have something to do with overheating, as my card's fan is very hot to the touch. This is strange, as I don't get this with any other game.

Regardless, it occurs after every single map change after I'm connected.

As much as I want to play the beta, I fear for my hardware. Any suggestions?

nVidia 9600 GPU on Windows XP.

[Josef Nader]

Yeah, my card is getting to about 73C after playing RO2.

Please don't tell me I need to replace the damn thing. I don't have the money for it...

[GanglarToronto]

What is your fan speed at? Jack it up to 50 60 70 80 90 100 and see how it runs.

[Josef Nader]

Not sure how to accomplish that...

[Choice]

Have you ever physically cleaned your heatsinks?

Most people don't- another thing that most don't do is reset the thermal interface material- Most of them degrade over time-and you lose performance- Really good TIM is fairly low priced- and It is not very hard to do that- Take a look at this to get an idea how to do it, what it looks like.. and what materials you will need.. looks like you are going to need Thermal Paste.. as well as Thermal Tape. (dont be cheap- get the good stuff.. google how best to apply it)

http://www.overclockersclub.com/revi..._9600_gt/2.htm

To clean the fan and sinks- (good idea to do to the entire PC every 6 months or so depending on how dusty your house is, pets, smoke, cooking, carpets, etc)


You need -
a can of compressed air
Q-tips
High grade rubbing alcohol @ 91% - they sell it at Wally world... It has a red label. Try not to use 70% rubbing alcohol as it contains more water in it and that could mess up your components if you are sloppy.-- 91% dries in a few seconds.
A Vacuum with brush attachment
Lemon pledge along with a few paper towels.

Take off and clean each fan on your PC case. gently vacuum fans and PCB's GENTLY! (with brush attachment) - Then moisten a qtip with alcohol and clean each fan blade until the qtip is clean after rubbing blades- you want to clean it so it lasts for a while- if you leave oils and dust scuz to remain it will build up again that much faster due to the surface being 'sticky' to dust-

Ah yes.. and this is where the lemon pledge comes in- spray a blob of pledge onto a paper towel - then use qtips to apply to each fanblade until they are nice and polished.- This will reduce drag.. and your fans will be cleaner, for longer- as the wax tends to resist dust accumulation.

Then put it all back together and start it up-

If you keep your pc clean, and Tims freshened.. you should be operating at normal temps with little problems.

- Oh yeah... 91% rubbing alcohol will greatly help your cleanup of Thermal interface Materials... it cuts it like a hot knife through butter and leaves zero residues...


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LoL @ SolitarioSoldat

We had the exact same post at the same exact time.. my wife just was bugging me during my construction ... lool

Great minds!

[Josef Nader]

Embarassing as it is to say, no, I have never maintained my GPU or CPU.

Guess I need to learn how to apply thermal paste.

While that's on order, I removed the side of my case, as I suspect airflow might also be a problem. I'm back to using a desk that is partly enclosed, and I think my fan may not be venting properly. I'll see if that makes any difference.

[SolitarioSoldat]

Originally Posted by Josef Nader

Yeah, my card is getting to about 73C after playing RO2.

Please don't tell me I need to replace the damn thing. I don't have the money for it...

Look my man,you are using GPU thats what 3-4 years old right? its nothing wrong with the processor on that card its the fact that you have been using the card for so long and most likely you never dissasemble the shroud to clean the old thermal paste on it and reapply new after market paste.

I'm gogin to send you new egg links from good aftermarket paste and some cleaner and purifier to slean the surface of the chip and the surface of the cooler.You dont need aftermarket cooler,just good new thermal paste.

Here are the links:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16835100010

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16835426020

[mattf]

Originally Posted by Josef Nader

Yeah, my card is getting to about 73C after playing RO2.

Please don't tell me I need to replace the damn thing. I don't have the money for it...

If 73 is as high as it gets that's weird. 73 is well, well within the operating limits of that card. The error you're getting does look like an overheat though. Maybe the part that's overheating doesn't have the temp sensor near enough to it?

[swifta]

Originally Posted by Josef Nader

Yeah, my card is getting to about 73C after playing RO2.

Please don't tell me I need to replace the damn thing. I don't have the money for it...

WOW.. that is not bad at all thought... most of these cards can get close to 85-90C without any problems.. just look at the reviews of some gtx580 and the especially hot gtx 590s... Back in the day I had a couple of 8800gtxs and one of them slowely died on me. I look online to see if I could find the problem and a lot of people were saying that some connectors, over time, were losing connections and that baking the card (i know sounds crazy) in a certain very CAREFUL way would actually fix it. So i gave it a go and it WORKED for about another year and a half then the other gave out and I said forget this... 3gtx 580s now

[Josef Nader]

Yeah, after I doshed out for the paste, I find out that 70c is average for those cards under a load.

So it's not a heat issue, it's a glitch.

I just installed Windows 7. Let's see if that helps. Driver updates and what have you.