Can dead vid card fan cause reboots while gaming?

I have a Gateway with an Nvidia 6600 video card that I've been playing Flight Simulator and Battlefield 2142 on just fine for quite a long while. Suddenly in the last few days, when I try to play either, the computer locks up, and then after a few seconds it completely reboots. I opened the case and it was a little dusty, so I cleaned up the dust, made sure the power supply fan and video card fan were clean. I felt all the heat sinks on the boards and card, and most were cool to the touch except the video card sink. It was still pretty warm even though the PC had been off for at least ten minutes. So with the case still open, I fired up the PC and started Battlefield again. Again, it let me play for a few minutes, but then the display locked up and eventually rebooted. The fan in the video card heat sink never turned at all, and the heat sink was hotter than &$(*. I think I can assume my fan on my card is shot, but I figured I'd ask here before buying a new video card.

Thanks in advance!

 

Yes, the fan not working can crash the computer. You could just replace the fan or buy aftermarket cooling for the card if you want to fix it cheaply.

I would just try to attach a new fan on it. Here are some other options.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...EPA=0&Description=nvidia+6600+cooling&x=0&y=0

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Replace the fan or the video card PRONTO!!! All kinds of whacky things can happen with overheating video cards. I'm pretty sure that a hot video card won't damage any other hardware, but you should fix it or replace it as soon as possible. It is DEFINITELY the cause of all your PC woes. Especially when gaming, the video card is working overtime and will absolutely freak out if it gets too hot....

hd2k