[MoNsTeReNeRgY22]

Well lately I have been having a problem with my video card. About 15 minutes into gaming my monitor would go black. I have tried various monitors and cables with the same effect. I then just decided to take of the side of my PC and put a desk fan to blow into it. I played for a full hour with no problems at all. So I beleive my PC or GFX card is overheating. I honestly have no idea how to install fans or a cooling system, so ya. But any suggestions are highly appreciated.

Here is a link to the case I have.
http://aspireusa.net...5c43e90e7ae76d8

Here are my specs

X-Discovery Mid-Tower Case
NZXT PF-500 500Watt Power Supply
Intel® Coreâ„¢ 2 Duo E6600 CPU @ 2.4GHz 1066FSB 2x2MB L2 Cache EM64T
INTEL LGA775 CERTIFIED CPU FAN & HEATSINK + 3 EXTRA CASE FANS ( I ordered online and I don't think they put in these three extra case fans )
Req.DDR2 MainBoard)2GB (2x1GB) PC6400 DDR2/800 Dual Channel Memory
ATI Radeon X1950 Pro PCI-E x16 256MB VIDEO CARD
250GB SATA-II 3.0Gb/s 8MB Cache 7200RPM HDD
16X DVD±R/±RW + CD-R/RW DRIVE DUAL LAYER
16X DVD ROM
HIGH DEFINITION ON-BOARD 7.1 AUDIO
LINKSYS WMP54GS 802.11G PCI Network Card
Microsoft® Windows® XP Media Center 2005 Edition w/ Free Upgrade to Windows Vistaâ„¢ Home Premium

Edited by MoNsTeReNeRgY22, 08 July 2007 - 11:24 PM.

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Pretty straight forward stuff. Your case has a template for two 80mm fans in the front between your HDDs and the inside front panel. These could be mounted as intake fans and then you need to plug them into a molex connector or a 3 pin converter if they have a 3 pin power lead. It also looks like you have a place for another 80mm fan on the clear side lower finned area. If yes, this should also be mounted as an intake.

Having said all of that, you can also get a slot fan (exhaust) that would be placed in a rear slot while the fan sits over one of your open PCI headers, however, you may be best served by replacing the stock HSF on your video card with something that is going to specifically cool it better. You can take a look here.

[Rockster2U]

Pretty straight forward stuff. Your case has a template for two 80mm fans in the front between your HDDs and the inside front panel. These could be mounted as intake fans and then you need to plug them into a molex connector or a 3 pin converter if they have a 3 pin power lead. It also looks like you have a place for another 80mm fan on the clear side lower finned area. If yes, this should also be mounted as an intake.

Having said all of that, you can also get a slot fan (exhaust) that would be placed in a rear slot while the fan sits over one of your open PCI headers, however, you may be best served by replacing the stock HSF on your video card with something that is going to specifically cool it better. You can take a look here.

[Bobbydoo8]

My 6800 GT was overheating just the other day after about 15 minutes on Half-Life 2(120*C). I just popped out the card, unscrewed the screws holding the fan housing together...saw all the dust holding it back, blew it out with the air compressor, put it back together and have been running a cool 55*C since then.....

[MoNsTeReNeRgY22]

You brought up a good point.
I just took of the case and looked at it, and what do you know.
The fan was covered in dust!
So I held the fan blades and sprayed away with my compressed air and no problems at all seem to be happeneing


Note- How did you know the temp of your GPU while you were in game?

Edited by MoNsTeReNeRgY22, 10 July 2007 - 01:30 PM.

[james_8970]

My 6800 GT was overheating just the other day after about 15 minutes on Half-Life 2(120*C). I just popped out the card, unscrewed the screws holding the fan housing together...saw all the dust holding it back, blew it out with the air compressor, put it back together and have been running a cool 55*C since then.....

Just want to point something out, I do not recommend anyone use their air compressor as it retains moisture, once you blow air out, some liquid comes with, which could case a short from the water or impurities left behind. You can do it, but I recommend you don`t and just buy some compressed air.
James

[MoNsTeReNeRgY22]

Ok, well I have like this manual baloon pump. Would that work well if I gently but my pc on its side and pumped that???

[james_8970]

Compressed air which you buy at the store is the safest and most efficiant. You could use a manual pump though this wouldn't blow much air in a concentrated area thus not doing much. Where as the compressed air you buy at the store usually comes with a stick (like the one you find on WD40), so the air flow will be concentrated into a small area.
James

Edited by james_8970, 11 July 2007 - 01:15 AM.

[MoNsTeReNeRgY22]

But I thought you just said don't use compressed air since it shoots out liquid???

[Titan8990]

It only shoots on liquid if you spray it upside down or shake it up a lot before use. You can put the first burst of air away from your computer just in case.

[james_8970]

Air compressor doesn't equal compressed air. Confusing I know.
Air compressor is the little machine (I guess you could call it that) that sits in your garage and can be used to pump up tires and be used for air tools (my favourite use). When I said compressed air I was refuring the the cans which contains air that you can buy at any local computer store.

You shouldn't get any water coming out of the cans at all, this is why we buy them, so we don't have this problem. Rarely will you get water coming out of your air compressor (the thing that sits in your garage), it all depends on temperature and current humidity, but really is it worth the risk? Also you do not need to tip anything to get water to come out of the air compressor, I get it often in the summer, but I use it a lot more then most. My air compressor is huge, it weighs in at a few hundred pounds, so believe me when I tell you that I don't shake it around or tip it upside down to get water coming out.

James

Edited by james_8970, 11 July 2007 - 03:41 PM.

[MoNsTeReNeRgY22]

Ok, now I see. Ya we had a can of compressed air, but it is all out. Gotta go to the store and buy another one

Well I was just doing a little research, and how does this look to help keep my GFX card cooler?

http://www.antec.com...p?ProdID=75060#

or

http://www.antec.com...hp?ProdID=77194

Edited by MoNsTeReNeRgY22, 12 July 2007 - 10:50 AM.

[james_8970]

I don't know much about aftermarket VGA coolers. There is one thing that I want to point out to you, quite often people do this improperly. The lose thermal pads or gease which is on the ram to keep it cooler and then don't think anything about it, till the card is fried. Also you void your warrenty the second the stock cooler is removed.
James

[MoNsTeReNeRgY22]

No, I am not taking the cooler of my GFX card. Those two links I posted, the products go into 2 expansion slots.

[james_8970]

Woops sorry, I have seen them in the past, though they arn't very widely used. I havn't read any reviews or had any personal experience with them, so I couldn't really help you with these products.
James

[MoNsTeReNeRgY22]

Well what would keep my PC cooler out of the two above?

One that exhausts hot air out of your system

or

one that draws in cool air from outside the case and blows it directly onto the graphics card.