Heat issue (probably)

Hi guys,

I've been having intermitent P.C. issues and I thought all was solved after replacing a HDD. The drive was bad and most problems are solved but after playing some graphic intensive game for a while tonight, I started getting some real bad artifacting. I'm thinking the video card is over-heating (9800 AIW) and was wondering what is the best way to add some cooling to his card? I have a large case with an exhaust fan I've added to he top as well. Oh, btw I've already completely blown out the dust inside and checked the fans, all are working.

Thanks in advance.

 

As huey say's, this vid card should not be overheating under normal circumstances, especially with the case set up you describe.

Are you certain its the card, as there can also be a few other causes for 'artifacting' (image distortion) but we would need to know your rig's specifications, the gaming software you are running, and at what stages the problem occurs, in order to help you diagnose correctly.

For many overheating issues with video cards, often an increase from the default fan sizes within your case can be a godsend, as well as ensuring that your hardware within, is correctly positioned for maximum heat dispersion.

What are your mobo and CPU temps under load?

Regards....

 

Hi guys,

Thanks for the responses. He are few more details.
Specs: Asus P4P800 mobo, P4 3.0g intel, 1 gig of Corsair ram, 9800 AIW, new WD 250 gig HDD

I don't overclock and the card does seem very hot to the touch. As far as when the artifacting occurs, I just put everything back together this weekend after my old HDD died a slow death and the artifacting was occuring quit often before.
After installing the new drive and starting fresh with Windows I was gaming yesterday and thought the problem was solved but after about an hour and a half artifacting started up really bad. Any other thoughts?

Thanks

 

O.K., quick update. I just got home from work, booted up and within 5 minutes (while only checking folders and email, no intense gaming) the artifacting started. This seems like maybe it's not overheating. What else besides a bad video card could cause artifacting? I did try an alternate video card (PCI this time) before replacing the HDD and still got artifacting.

edit: it now has strange lines of color immediately after the initial log on screen

 

Ya might try different Video drivers, but make sure you uninstall the old ones first.

You posted your specs but didnt include your PSU, whats ya got there?
An underpowered PSU can cause many prob's

 

Thanks Asus,

I will try diferent drivers shortly. I'm trying a different video card in the system atm. but I'll try different drivers. PSU is 350 watts and I have the case open and artifacting still occurs. I'll report back in a few after trying this other video card.

 

OK, I've narrowed it down. With a Nvidia TI4200 in I just tried playing Everquest and all seems well. Is there any way to salvage this 9800 AIW? I hope it just wasn't a PSU issue because the 9800 had a power lead and the TI4200 doesn't. I don't have a larger PSU to test it with and I'm not sure what the warrenty is on this 9800 (approx. 20 months old).