is my gtx 690 ready to retire?

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RobCherry

RobCherry

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May 18, 2014
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hey so ive noticed in the last two days ive had some serious fps drops in games....for example i can play bioshock infinate at ultra and get between 140-220fps @ 1080p when suddenly im dropping to around 5-30fps for periods then boosting back up after 30seconds or so. i instantly turned all applications and the games off when this happened and checked the temps on my parts - cpu under full load was around 55c, ram/mb/hdd everything fine....then get to my gpu and gpu-1 is at 89c and gpu-2 is at 93c now i know these cards can run hot but this has got to be too hot...right? im sure the cards cut out at mid 90's to stop damage??
its around 2 years old now is the cards so im guessing it could be on the way out....any ideas as to why the cards are overheating so much?
 
Solution
Rogue Leader
As I suspected, it would really need a lot of dust to have problems.

It is not common for cards to fail after only 2 years, however you said they are GTX 690's? Did you get them new, because 2 years ago they were already 2 years old (based on release). Either way they should not be failing like that so quickly.

However other than the airflow suddenly being blocked or the fans failing there are few reasons for them to overheat other than the card going bad. Its possible the mounting of the cooler has failed and hence you would need to re-mount it and re-do the thermal paste. You won't hurt anything, just follow this guide:

https://linustechtips.com/main/topic/10418-how-to-change-your-gpus-thermal-paste-with-pictures/

Its still...
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To be honest I could do with giving my system a good clean as I haven't got round to that in a while so maybe some dust may be on the gpu, there hasn't been any changes to my system I a while, I've noticed my second gpu topped out at 97c which I believe is the thermal cut out point for it which would explain my fps drop when the second gpu cuts out. Also one gpu sits at 37c idle and the second gpu sits at 58c idle which is very hot..! My case does not have very good air flow at all which I always knew about but before hand I ran a r9 290 in it and never had any issues and those cards run super hot
 
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Might not be a terrible idea to really clean the cards and apply new thermal paste to both of the GPUs if you feel comfortable doing so. Worst case scenario it doesn't make a difference and it's time to retire it.
 
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so i have cleaned my whole case out today and there wasn't too much dust. i have left the side window off my case to try keep the temp down inside my case and it has helped a little but not massively. ive just played some bioshock for around 35mins and checked the temps and the highest it reached was 88c so its a little lower. i have never taken a gpu apart before and i wouldn't like to try it...but on the other hand i could buy myself a new gpu then give it a go with my 690 as in effect i wouldn't be needing it anymore.
any ideas what gpu to go for.....im open to amd or nvidia...need something pretty decent tho
 
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As I suspected, it would really need a lot of dust to have problems.

It is not common for cards to fail after only 2 years, however you said they are GTX 690's? Did you get them new, because 2 years ago they were already 2 years old (based on release). Either way they should not be failing like that so quickly.

However other than the airflow suddenly being blocked or the fans failing there are few reasons for them to overheat other than the card going bad. Its possible the mounting of the cooler has failed and hence you would need to re-mount it and re-do the thermal paste. You won't hurt anything, just follow this guide:

https://linustechtips.com/main/topic/10418-how-to-change-your-gpus-thermal-paste-with-pictures/

Its still a powerful card and this will only cost you $6-$10 for some new thermal paste, so if it fixes it, its worth it. If not then it may be time to consider a new card.
 
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Solution
no i purchased the gtx 690 2 years ago from a good friend and he had it just over 18months so in fact the card is 3 and a half years old.
ok so if im going to attempt to re-apply some new thermal paste what paste should i look to use....? im from the uk and will use this store as its within driving distance www.cclonline.com cheers
 
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I use this on everything:

http://www.cclonline.com/product/5679/AS5/Thermal-Compounds/Arctic-Silver-5-High-Performance-Thermal-Compound/CLR9007/

 
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Any drug store or supermarket should have rubbing alcohol.



I'm not sure of the layout of the 690, however it will be very clear when you take it apart where you need to cover. just make sure its all clean.
 
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ive found on the same website this.... http://www.cclonline.com/product/5674/AK-TC/Thermal-Compounds/Akasa-CPU-and-Heatsink-Cleaner/CLR9002/

its akasa cpu and heat-sink cleaner im guessing this is the stuff i'm after
 
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You could buy that.... but Rubbing alcohol from the local drug store works just as well, is probably 1/4 the price, and has many other uses than just cleaning TIM off a processor. You aren't going to need much.
 
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its only £4.68 and with the paste at £7.21 its only going to cost me £11.89 which is a dam site cheaper than buying a new gpu
i will go out and buy some either later today or tomorrow and give it a go
 
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This is true. Post an update here with what happens.
 
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ok so i have now changed the old thermal paste to new ''Arctic Silver 5 High Performance Thermal Compound'' and everything seemed to go great. apart from my 690 having around 1million screws to take out before hand haha. everything has booted up fine.....i was going to run heaven benchmarking to put my gpu under some stress and load...how long should i do do this for...a good hour or so to test it out??
 
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YEah at least.
 
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ok so ive ran heaven benchmarking for 2hrs 15mins now and my temps seem to be a lot better so far.... gpu 1 - max 81c gpu 2 - max 77c

this seems to be a lot better to me rather than the high 80's on one gpu and high 90's on the other gpu
 
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There you go, and in real life it should be normally lower. 81 is just touching the edge of getting too hot.

I think you've fixed your problem.
 
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