HELPP!! GPU is idling at 87C

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invinsible94

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Jul 11, 2008
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i have ati x1900 512mb
i downloaded atitools because i couldnt play cod4 because my gpu kept overheating, hitting 95-105C
using atitools and the catalyst software it showed that my idle temp was at about 85-87
i messed around wit atitools and changed my fan control and increased it to 50%, unless it exceeds 85C, to run at all times but its still idling at about 74C, which is still too high to idle. can someone help me please
 
turn it up to a hundred...

or use riva tuner to do that...

I always keep my fan on my 8800 gts 640 at 100%... lowers temps by like 10 C....

also whats your ambient temp? anything you can do to improve that?
you might also have bad airflow inside your case... is it really dusty? if so clean it out
 
wat is a "normal" idle temp range be for this gpu?

i cleaned up the inside of my computer a few days ago, so i doubt that dust is the culprit.

i dont want to keep my fan at a 100 b/c it gets really loud. but also, with the fan at a 100%, i still cant play games like cod4 or mass effect, even on medium, even low, settings. it just heats up instantly even when at 100%.
 
When you cleaned the dust did you make sure you got the fins on the video card? those temps are too high for idle. I have a X1900XT and if i remember it was in the 90's when playing games.

I also had a fan failure(software related) and the card got up to about 118c but still did not crash or artifact.

If you are interested in a aftermarket cooler the there is a accelero X2 made for those cards and works extremely well and is silent at %100(i mean silent)
 
I seem to recall the X1900 cards being very heat tolerant. If it can't stand being around 80C then I think the problem might be something other than the heat.
 
The entire range of Ati cards do tend to run somewhat hotter than the nvidia counterparts, whilst its concerning when you see the raw numbers, and 85+ is a high temp, these gpu's can run successfully and quite safely at that rate and higher day after day. Apart from bios mods and specialised drivers their is little you can do about it, apart from considering water cooling. I have had the same issue and concern regarding the new ATI 4870. I was hitting 100c in benchmarks and gaming, which worried me. As my cpu is overclocked (core 2 E8400 running at 4.2ghz) and fitted with an excellent Thermaltake 735 watercooler, I decided to add a gpu water block. The problem was, nothing is available here for the 4870 (Australia). I noticed that the Gigabyte blue eye is recommended for 'up to' the ati X1900 and did some research. The die size of the 1900 and 4870 is almost identical, but the bracket for the heatsink is identical in size. I took a punt. Not only did it fit perfectly with the default mount, but it made one hell of a difference in the card. Temps dropped at idle from 78C to 23C! In 3d mark vantage @890mhz core, 1270mhz ram, it peaked at 70C!, well UNDER stock idle. Seriously consider water cooling, despite overclocking this chip will run for years at these temps. Gigabyte need to update their compatability tables. The best benefit? Serious and stable overclockability!
.
 
The 4870's are hot because the fan runs at a low speed(something like 13%). ATI did not want to be thought if as loud anymore(many of there other cards where loud, ALL my ati cards have aftermarket cooling for this reason, but i hope the 4870 will not need it since i value quieter operation.). After a day of gaming the X1900XT at 118+ i am not worried about ati temps. The card did not even artifact or anything.
 
sorry for the late reply, i was outta town for a while. i run the fan at 100% and its idling at 61C which is good. but whenever i play a game, bioshock for example, it jumps to over 100C and after playing for 10-15 minutes, the gpu crashes, the screen turns black, and i have to restart my computer. i use atitool, and even when i underclock it, down as much as 500/594 mhz, down from the default 648/774 mhz. i dont know what to do, i dont remember having this problem last year. is there something i can do to allow me to play any game?
 
There is something wrong, can you hear the heatsink spin up to full?

Are you against reinstalling the heatsink with new thermal paste?

Those cards get hot, but not 100c on full fan.

It almost looks like card is damaged. The X1900XT i have will run at over 100c(found out the hard way) without damage.
 
i hear it spin to full. and i have never messed with computer hardware, so how easy is reinstalling the heatsink with new thermal paste?
 
Ok, before taking it all appart, just have one last look for dust. the fins on that card are close and do collect dust. If its there, peel it off then use compressed air to finish it, you can also remove the plastic over the blower to clean it

x1900kd0.jpg


If its clean and still getting that hot, make sure all the cards are tight. if so, it looks like reapplying is the only option.

To do this take off all the screws from the back of the card, the heatsink will just pull straight off(or more the the point the card will pull of the heatsink). You will need to clean the the existing compound(on both the GPU core and the heatsinks. NO NOT REMOVE THE MEMORY CONTACT PADS) with qtips and 90+% Isopropyl Alcohol(running alcohol from the drug store). Once all the thermal past is off the GPU core and heatsink, you then apply a thin and even layer of thermal paste(you have to get this somewhere too, Arctic silver 5 works well). You spread this layer with a clean credit card or other straight object(clean the edge you will use with the alcohol). Once you have a even(and fairly thin) layer on the GPU. Place the heatsink contact side up and lower the card onto it, start with the 4 screws with the cross retaining bracket behind the GPU. Remember to plug the fan back in before installing the card.

Remember removing the heatsink WILL void any warranty, but i assume its over anyway.

The copper is what you clean, the pinkish pads, dont touch those...
CoolerB.jpg

Image from Hexus.net

More pictures of the heatsink removed here
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Diamond/X1900XT/3.html
 


Ideally 20C but if not 30-40. Really powerful cards 50-60. Get a new fan?
 
i can't, or at least dont know how to, remove the card to clean it. i have a dell xps 400. i cant get to all the little screws to take it out. however, a new, and much bigger, problem at hand now. now when i turn on my computer, weird lines begin to appear all over the startup screen, before i get to the welcome screen. same thing in safe mode. its practically impossible to use my computer now. im pretty sure it has something to do with my video card. is it fried? is there a way i can make my pc work? i need help!! thank you for all ur help btw.
 
Did you redo the heatsink?

You have to take the card out of the system to remove the heatsink. If you have lines shut it down. There may be too much damage if it is lining all over.

You should be able to just pull down the blue holder(i think it snaps into the cpu heatsink or something.) as far as removing the card, look on the back, there seems to be some kind of tool-less system for holding the cards.

If it comes down to it you may end up having to just get a new video card. there are many that will use the same or less power then the X1900XT so power should not be a issue.
 
i pulled down the blue holder thing, but then i dont know what to do. theres also like a big plastic thing that the card is attached to, or is that also part of the card. theres also some blue thing in the back, but theres also screws in it. im soooooo confused lol. also, as far as the actual system, i can work on it and do stuff. i opened up atitools, and it reads my temp and detects my gpu, so does that mean that its not fried/dead?? also, i can do work on it. however, it seems like the screen is broken up into parts, like i see identical copies of some shortcuts on my desktop and two mouse pointers. theres also small rectangles all over the screen. but it seems to run ok, just very hard to read. i also clocked the card down further, as a precaution. will cleaning the heatsink and fan get rid of the rectangles and mirror image??
 
i kinda figured something out bout the removal. the back of my computer (with all the wires and ports) kinda swings out near where the gpu card is. now do i just pull on the card and it comes out?? cuz there seems to be some blue plastic thing at the bottom where it connects to the motherboard.

and if absolutely nothing can be done to salvage my current video card, can you recommend a cheap gpu that i can buy? i wont be using it for games any longer. and would all video cards fit my computer?? meaning, all i would have to do is take out the current gpu and replace it with another one?? you have all been so helpful!
 
When a video card does that, in most cases it means the cards memory or core have been damaged(my first Geforce 4 ti did this) OR are overheating. You will not know until you clean the heatsink(its up to you if you want to try to redo the thermal paste, but if cleaning does not work its likley the card has already suffered damage).

This seems like bad luck. I have seriously abused a X1900XT and its still going.

Fan error(it was off even when set to 100% i hardwired that bastard to my power supply after, it was an aftermarket cooler so it is not loud at full speed) and hours of games before my girlfriend noticed that the numbers in the start menu(vga temp) where overlapping because it was over 100c,
x1900fe0.gif


Alright did a little looking into it.

http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/systems/xps400/

Make sure to lay the computer of its side when doing this as the card is heavy and will fall out. Do not loose that power cable for the card, your next one may need it too. Make sure all the slot covers are lines up before closing the holder after too.
dellxps400eo9.gif


dellxps400hf7.jpg


As for video card selection. It will depend allot on what you do. Most cards will hardware accelerate DVD's and even blueray now. Do you have vista? my guess is no, but i have to ask
 
yeah i have xp. is there something i can do to prevent my future card from dyin on me? so, any card will fit my computer? nvidia and ati?
 
Any card should fit within a limit. You only have 1 PCI-E power cable, that said an 8800GTX would not work(can you get some numbers off the power supply?). Look in the case and see how much clear room you have in front of your current card. this will give an idea of what to get. Most cards are around the same length as your X1900XT.

One way to ensure heatsink clogging is not a issue is to get a card that has no fan. Without air forcing through a heatsink it collects much less dust. You have to make sure your case has decent airflow for such a card to work. Since your card is upside down, you have an advantage that your heatsink is close to the rear vent.

Another option is to make sure the card is cleaned at least every 6 months or so.

If you look in my sig(under the funny windows error) you will see a link to a video card power listing. try to find something that does NOT exceed your current card. Low idle power is a good thing as it will run cooler.

Remember if you are not gaming even something like an 7600GT(old but good, and some are passive), 8500 ,8600 from Nvidia or a 2400's and 2600's from ati.
 
I'm sure that just tossing your old card isn't the brightest idea. I thought about it when i fried my x800gto, however then you're just adding to the large amount of electronic waste going into the landfills. If you can, I would recommend either finding a place online or locally that will take old/broken computer parts.

I heard that Best Buy was going to try an electronics recycling program, however i do not know if the program is running right now or not.

I still have my x800gto sitting in it's box waiting for a day to be recycled :)
 
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