have i damaged my GPU ?

Evening guys...

slight problem, i'm trying to pinpoint so i can resolve, however i need a spot of advice...

system: MB: ASUS Commando CPU:E6600 (never OC) RAM: 4x1GB DDR2 Geil GFX: Sapphire Radeon X1950XTX (never OC) PS: Antec true power trio 550 watt. Case : Antec P108B OS: Windows XP x64


background:

Few days ago, bought two Artic Cooling fans to replace the stock CPU fan, and GFX card. Fitted the CPU worked like a dream now running at 30C full load 23C Idle.

Fitted my gfx card one (Accelero X2). all went smoothly. temps were something like 30 Idle, so did a render on 3DSMAX (nothing too demanding) full load for 3 mins i reached 43C - still very acceptable.

problem:

Loaded up bf2 to give it some abuse keeping my settings the same as before (aa off, everything else set to high / full / max). after 20 mins a few 'glitches' seemed very much like lag, i.e. frame sticks / hangs for a split second. i noticed this 'glitching' increased when for example, i was flying a heli. The 'glitching' got worse and worse for another 15 or so minutes until the game crashed to desktop where i found a ATI message box saying the temps were too high so it was turning down the clock speeds. i checked the temps using EVEREST to find my GPU at 101C. Immediately turned off the computer, let it set for 5 minutes...

took the gfx card out and left over night to cool down. fitted the stock cooler back on this morning, and fitted the card back in MOBO. everything works. however, i'm now getting an idle temp of 53C and playing bf2 (all gfx set to low) it's hitting 83C and still glitching occasionally.

things to consider:

1) No burning smell from components
2) when putting the stock cooler back on the GFX card, i did not re-apply any paste. - when fitting he Artic Cooler to GFX i cleaned the GPU of paste using cotton bud, therefore there was still some on the GPU when putting stock cooler back on however not as much as originally.
3) not sure how relevant but will include anyway.... windows installed updates yesterday (not sure what ones)

basically, what i want to know is ........ what have i done?

is it possible, that i've damaged my GPU so it will run hotter now?
any ideas or solutions?

thanks in advance for taking time to have read this post, please reply if you have any thoughts or indeed, i've missed some information out.

thanks again,

Tom

(tom.edmonds@hotmail.com - also usually on msn if you prefer)

 

Few days ago, bought two Artic Cooling fans to replace the stock CPU fan, and GFX card.

How did you get a fan to replace a graphics card?

Just joking, I am not the world's best typist either. Just a few basic tips for you. Have you checked to make sure the fan on the video card is working? Make sure the heatsink is making proper contact with the GPU on your video card. I would recommend removing all the old thermal paste and applying new paste. (but I do not think thermal paste is your problem, look at your heatsink mounting and fan.)

Good luck!

And welcome to MajorGeeks! (please excuse my since of humor).

E

 

Thanks for the reply.... your 'since' of humour has been excused, as has your sense of humour =P

i've now replaced the artic cooling that i installed on my gfx card, with the original stock cooling (the copper heat sink and the red box with fan and heat sink insde) fans are working fine....

however... just a small point. the artic fan has a 3 pronged plug and the ati fan has a 4 pronged one. does it mater what four pins i use on the gfx card?

 

What kind of plug is it? Is it like a plug from the PSU, or one of the small types that plug into the mobo? Normally, they will only plug in one way.

E

 

thanks for the reply, i'll take some pics in 5 minutes and post the links...

 

GFX card socket....


AC cooler plug...

 

You are talking about the stock fan right? If so, it should plug in one way only. There should be a raised piece on the cooler plug that fits in the notch on the card's plug.

E

 

ha, thankyou... yeah, i realise this....

my point it...

the cards plug has 4 prongs....

the cooler's socket only has three prongs....

does it matter what 3 prongs i plug the fan into.... shift the plug over to the left of the socket, or to the right....

it's a very small technicality, and i'm sure it won't effect much, however i'm a little desperate.

 

You got me there. The stock cooling fan plug is 3 prong and the card has a 4 pin plug? Or are you using an aftermarket fan that has a 3 prong plug? Not sure what to tell you. Sorry, not sure what to do in this case.

E