[nervous-ferret]

the fan on the video card is not working (geforce fx 5200, 128 mb) it seems to be working fine and ive had no error message or fluttery screen or anything letting me know the card is overheating. is ok if i use the computer normaly and just remove the side cover from my case? i was told its ok to do so and that the card shouldnt overheat. my ac vent hits the computer so im thinking that little extra cold air should cool whatever heat it produces.

am i fine?

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Hi,

You might be ok for awhile because obviosly the card ain't overheating but soon or later the card will overheat and burn up especially if you play any games or 3d graphics.

The fans are replaceable you would have to look around for one one but weather its worth it or not I ain't sure cause that card is not all that expensive. Look here

Rick

[Doby]

Hi,

You might be ok for awhile because obviosly the card ain't overheating but soon or later the card will overheat and burn up especially if you play any games or 3d graphics.

The fans are replaceable you would have to look around for one one but weather its worth it or not I ain't sure cause that card is not all that expensive. Look here

Rick

[nervous-ferret]

k i jsut checked my comp temps and my mobo is up to 131 F (55 C) is that normal or is wokring double time becuase my vid card fan is busted?

[Congo]

The mainboard temp seems high but the video card should not measureably affect it.

You need to replace the fan ASAP and dont run any 3D apps until you do lest you cook the card.

I don't think the FX5200 supports temp monitoring but check your driver settings or any other monitoring software that came with your video card / if any.

Edited by Congo, 11 April 2005 - 09:36 AM.

[The one]

lol fans are kinda there for a reason so yes id say u need 1 but why not get 1 of them coolermaster i know they have a few on the market maybe even get 1 that can be used on future cards altho would probably void warentee.

[nervous-ferret]

hmmm thanx guys...

guess i might just keep this card i have until it dies out on me. will keep a close eye on the temp though. ill just have to upgrade to a bettercard soon then...

[Rico750]

yep get a fan for it --> ebay or so. By using the video card cpu (as in 3d games) it will get to hot and damage.

Rik

[Congo]

guess i might just keep this card i have until it dies out on me.

A video card fan is sometimes easy to replace, but many cards have them inbuilt into specialised housings/heatsinks.

The fan is there to cool the GPU chip and sits over the GPU's heatsink.

The trouble with G cards is that they sit in a tower "upside down" and the heat rises into the GPU from the heatsink, thus, active cooling (fan) keeps the heat dissipating efficiently by drawing that heat away from under the card. Any airflow will help.

It would be a shame to "kill" the card, I'm sure some kid on the street would love it, and be able to fix the fan or remove it and find another cooling solution.

Edited by Congo, 11 April 2005 - 08:27 PM.

[nervous-ferret]

please dont laugh at what im about to post (i actually find it pretty funny)

since the fan on my g-card is capoot, i took the side cover out to try and let some of the hot air out. well apparently it didnt work to well. i was getting readings of 131 on my mobo and 100 on my gpu (was told those are within limit but theyre pushing it) so i went to wallay world and bought a 5 dollar fan. its about 10 inches in diameter and i have it aimed at the comp from the open side. my readings have gone down and holding steady at 88 for the mobo and 91 for the cpu. when im in game my cpu shoot sto 106 tops, but as soon as i minimize out of the game, it "cools" down to about 98. i realise this might be bad for my comp and all, but im not willing to buy a new g-card just yet. and when i do ill be upgrading to a 256 so ill also need some memory (i currently have 512 and would like at least 1gig)
but if my current "ghetto" setup is detremental to my comp, please let me know. if i can keep it like this for a while, then ill survive i guess.

[Congo]

Believe it or not, opening the side cover and blowing a fan across the PC is one of the most effective cooling solutions, but it's not a solution for everyone.

In fact, I never close the PC's case on my home PC's, and my main machine, this one, is completely stripped bare of covers, front panel and top, leaving the bare metal frame somewhat unsupported.

I still have case fans circulating the air around the machine.

[nervous-ferret]

ok...
i need a new video card, my computer going crazy with the busted one. i want to upgrade to a 256 (which means ill have to boost my memory which is currently at 512) i dont want, err let me rephrase that, i dont need a top of the line 256 card just yet. a mid level 256 card will sufice for now. ive been on pricewatch looking at prices and i found some for about 100 dollars. i have a computer savvy friend who isnt all that into g-cards (hes more of a programmer) so could somene who knows about g-cards lend me some advice. ill post some of the target price cards im looking at and let me know if theyre worth getting.
thank you

-geforce fx 5600
-geforce fx 5700
-geforce 6600
-RADEON X600 256MB Pro
-RADEON 9600 XT 256MB

theyre all 256 adnall roughly 100 dollars but dont know how good any are. i dont care if its radeon or geforce, as long as its a decent (and not top of the line) 256 card.

any help would be greatly appreciated.


ps: i mostly use my comp for gaming

[audioboy]

the cheap fan blowing into the open case should work, but if you think its just too ghetto, go spend 10 bucks on one of those PCI slot cooling fans, and stick it right next to the video card. it will suck the hot air from right there out of the case, and should help extend the life of that card.

as for "new" video cards, I just traded in my visiontek 9600XT, 256 ram. it was an ok card, but it choked quickly on doom3 at the games self-determined settings (based on hardware).
here is a good page on the ATI site for info- go to the product comparisons on the left, you get the real info on specs.
http://www.ati.com/products/gamer.html

heres the info on nvidia cards.
http://www.nvidia.co...ge/desktop.html

it will help you make a decision as to what features you want. check ebay etc. for people unloading their old cards as well.

the visiontek card was decent, but would have to turn down the settings a fair amount compared to what the game said it should run. bear in mind, the doom3 engine seems to be the tough one for cards at the moment...

I traded it in, since I just this built the PC for games, and if it choked that quick on doom3, theres no way it will get me by for the next 3-4 years- I just spent all my money on this PC, gonna take that long to save up enuf for the next major upgrade!

[Congo]

Ok, my credentials..... I have done very much research on this subject and I have plenty of first hand experience with building and tweaking high end gaming machines for multiplayer online flight simulations.

The subject is very complex so I'll try to keep this advice short. Read the following and if you need more details just ask.

Firstly, Unless you have a specific application that demands a 256mb graphics card for some reason, (ie. it won't run on anything else), then you can easily consider a 128mb card.

Many people believe that the amount of video memory a graphics card has is it's measure of performance. This simply is NOT true and is misleading to say the least.

Graphics performance is dependant on two major factors in the following order of importance.......

1. Graphics Processing Unit ( GPU ) ........ this is the video processor and it represents the state of technology or "genre" of the video card. The actual name of the video chip may well differ from the name or genre of the card, but they fall into groups of cards such as nVidia's 5900 series or ATI's 9800 series.

2. Video RAM ...... Whatever the amount is has limited effect, as long as there is enough for the application being used. The important factor with video ram is it's QUALITY. Video RAM is VERY EXPENSIVE and only the best cards use the high quality, lowest latency RAM chips on their cards.

Typically, unless the Graphics card is the top of the line in a GPU series, the RAM will not be the ultra fast, low latency type. Such cards are often denoted by the ULTRA suffix, describing the fact that they are something special.

Also typically, and this is not a good thing, poorer cards in the series will sometimes have 256mb of poor quality ram chips fitted in a devious attempt to flog them off to buyers ignorant of the facts. BEWARE of these cheaper cards, they will not perform like the top end cards despite the 256mb of sub-standard ram onboard.

GPU's are in constant development and the latest ones represent state of the art technology. When a GPU is developed, the chipmaker also creates a series of weaker and less expensive GPU's to mass market to the public and hence recoup development costs and make a profit. An example of these various models within a GPU series looks like this, in order of performance form top to bottom........

NV6800 ultra, 6800 GT, 6800, 6800SE (at the bottom of the range we often see name suffix's that vary between manufacturers and these are often misleading, avoid these cards unless you extensively research them!)

In the above case, the ultra's GPU has been specially selected and tested for overclocking pefromance, as are it's ultra high quality, low latency Video Ram chips; the ultra is usually overclocked in it's BIOS because it can handle it without problems and remain stable at high speeds. These cards sometimes have advanced cooling solutions compared to their cheaper cousins. The "ultras" are expensive toys for enthusiast gamers usually, and do not represent mainstream sales. The Ultras have all the latest GPU technology enabled on the card.

The Next one in the list is the GT model and typically is the mainstream high end solution, it is not overclocked as a rule and uses high quality components. Some of these models may be successfully overclocked to Ultra speeds with no resultant harm.

(I'm rattling all this off the top of my head, so please accept this rave as explanatory and not absolutely accurate for each card type!)

Next, we have the stock 6800 in the series which may have some GPU features disabled and the GPU's and RAM are "off the shelf". This is a mainstream model that will not perform like the true gamer's cards above.

Then, finally, we have the really crappy cards, the tricky ones with names like "Pro", "XL", and "SE". Here, you could really waste your money, with components typically substandard. You sometimes see 256mb of ram on the last two types described above.

If you see a cheap 256mb card...... it is JUNK, plain and simple, good video ram is simplt too expensive to throw around on a cheap card.

My best advice...... Forget about the price. The cheapest and best card as far as value for money for the gamer today is the GeForce 6600GT. A 128mb model that is well equipped with fast components from a known quality manufacturer, will easily outperform a 256mb model witj lesser quality components.


Nuff said.

[audioboy]

Congo, you seem to know whats up! would love to hear your thoughts on AGP BIOS settings, from my thread here-
http://www.geekstogo...ngs-t16577.html
thanx!

[nervous-ferret]

hmmm... thanx congo. will take your advice to heart as i look through v-cards. was told by a few frineds that the 6600 was a decent card for a mid level card.