[dashoota]

Hi guys. I have an XFX Geforce 7900GS video card. I replaced the stock cooler with a zalman vf900-cu fan so I could bring the temps down and overclock it. My problem is that when I use the computer for general purposes (web surfing etc.) and then I play Call of Duty 4 I get very bad frames per second (around 10-20fps). Gameplay is unplayable. Only when I restart the computer and immediatly play the game afterwards do I get normal fps (50-70fps). I notice the same thing in my other games too. Also, when I get the bad fps I score only around 2000 in 3dmark06. Only when I restart my computer do I get my normal score (around 5000).

I have no idea why it behaves like this. I have the latest nvidia drivers for the card 169.21 and I constantly defrag my hd. No spyware issues either. This never happened before the cooler installation. The card only maxes at 50 celsius during load so it can't be a heating issue. I don't want to have to keep restarting my PC just to get my card working properly. Please help.


Specs:
-Windows XP SP2
-Intel Core 2 Duo E6300 @ 2.0ghz
-XFX Geforce 7900GS
-Gigabyte 965P-DS3
- 1GBx2 G.Skill RAM DDR2 800
- FSP Group 500w psu

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Is there thermal compund/grease between the cooler and the card?

[zoneykid]

Is there thermal compund/grease between the cooler and the card?

[dashoota]

Hi, thanks for responding. The problem is really frustrating me and its nice to know someone is trying to help

Is there thermal compund/grease between the cooler and the card?

It's interesting you ask that. When I removed the stock cooler I saw that it was attached to the chipset by a pink-colored adhesive. The material was dry and hard. It looked a lot like dried pink bubble gum on the chipset (it really wasn't gum lol). I couldn't clean the chipset with rubbing alcohol so I used some WD40 and I was able to clean off the surface of the chipset. The previous material was still stuck around the outside of the chipset on the PCB. I tried to scrape it off with a metal scraper but I was afraid I would damage the board w/ scratches. Also I thought the chemicals from the WD40 would mess it up. So I left the material there.

So some of the previous material is around the outside of the chipset but I applied arctic silver 5 on the surface of the chipset and attached the new cooler onto it. Could that be the problem?

[Rocknrollcows]

just making a thought here, but isn't WD40 corrosive? Why didn't you just use some paper towels?

[dashoota]

just making a thought here, but isn't WD40 corrosive? Why didn't you just use some paper towels?

I don't think it is corrosive. People have used it all the time to clean chipsets.
This wikipedia article says that its anti-corrosive
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WD-40