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The fan on my graphics card is going out. Should I worry about the graphics processor overheating?

post #1 of 22
12/7/09 at 5:53am
Thread Starter 
Ok so I have an old-ass computer. Dell XPS Gen 3 from December 2004. Several months ago I started hearing a alot of noise from a fan, and eventually figured out that is was the fan on my graphics card (which is an ATI Radeon X800 XT). Then it (the fan) seemed to start working fine again for a few months, but in the last couple days it struggles to start turning when I turn on the comp, noisily pants along for a minute or two, then quits altogether.

Should I be worried about the graphics processor overheating? I definitely don't have money for a new graphics card right now, let alone a whole new computer. I don't do any gaming, 3D rendering, or anything else that would be considered graphics-intensive. My monitor is an Acer X193w (a 19" widescreen LCD)

*please excuse the double-posted thread. I realized how much more traffic the Members Lounge gets after I posted in the Gear-Fi non-audio section
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post #2 of 22
12/7/09 at 6:04am
I would recommend replacing the fan if possible. If your case has good air circulation you will probably be OK, but why risk it. You can get a VGA cooling fan <10 bucks on newegg.
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post #3 of 22
12/7/09 at 6:04am
Why are you worrying? Just buy a replacement cooler. One of the accelero models will fit ATI X800XT but they're quite big if you have a piddly case might stick out.
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post #4 of 22
12/7/09 at 6:07am
If it comes with a fan and it's failing, I would worry about the GPU. It's there for a reason and unless you live somewhere extra cold, I could see it going bad altogether.
If you don't do anything graphics intensive, there are a whole bunch of GPUs out there that you can pick up for cheap. You can probably find something for $20 on newegg or tigerdirect. Don't know if the Dells from that time allowed you to swap parts or if they were proprietary.
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post #5 of 22
12/7/09 at 6:39am
Yeah lolz. Just take off the cooler, unscrew the fan [remove connector] and cable tie some 80mm fan on there for good measure. OR go buy a new gpu.
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post #6 of 22
12/7/09 at 11:14am
You could use a program like Real Temp to keep an eye on it and even set an alarm if it over heats. I'd say as long as you stay below 100c or so it should be fine.
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post #7 of 22
12/7/09 at 11:24am
X800XT get pretty hot you can't run it passive unless you have a large heatpipe cooler. If you just remove the fan from stock little cooler it'll overheat in no time and die.
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post #8 of 22
12/7/09 at 11:49am
Quote:
Originally Posted by iriverdude View Post
X800XT get pretty hot you can't run it passive unless you have a large heatpipe cooler. If you just remove the fan from stock little cooler it'll overheat in no time and die.
Nom Nom Nom Nom Nom...your avatar always cracks me up. OP...Iriverdude speaks true. You need a cooler on that puppy or plan on buying a new card.
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post #9 of 22
12/7/09 at 1:54pm
Yeah, I think you should be worried.
Replacing the fan seems like a cheap investment instead of burning the cpu and hence destroy the card.
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post #10 of 22
12/7/09 at 2:20pm
Yes you should - it has the fan for a good reason.
Try taking the fan off, blasting it with a bit of air and spray some WD40 (or similar) into the motor.
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post #11 of 22
12/7/09 at 4:14pm
Thread Starter 
I think I tried to take the fan off a few months ago when I figured out which fan it was. I couldn't figure out a way to remove the fan itself from the heatsink housing, and I'm usually pretty good at those kinds of things (I'm a DIYer and a Mechanical Engineering major). It seemed like it wasn't replaceable. I'll check again though when I'm home tonight, like I said this was a few months ago. Maybe I'll get one of those dedicated PCI slot fans.

I don't wanna spray WD40 in the motor & risk it leaking out once I remount it to the board and shorting something out.
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post #12 of 22
12/7/09 at 5:41pm
Here's the fan and heatsink assembly if you wish to replace it with the stock one:
ATI Radeon X800 X850 9800 Series AGP Video Card Fan New - eBay (item 180439108380 end time Dec-29-09 08:28:17 PST)
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post #13 of 22
12/7/09 at 5:43pm
It should have an automatic shut-off in the event that it overheats (most modern processors have temp sensors built in). Replace the fan with anything that looks equivalent and is cheap.
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post #14 of 22
12/7/09 at 6:49pm
Not really, gpus just tend to overheat and artefact.
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post #15 of 22
12/7/09 at 6:56pm
MomijiTMO is correct they don't shut down, your PC will crash and eventually if the memory and GPU are damaged due to overheating you'll get constant BSOD.

What's the big deal? If you case is big enough get a Accelero, or just whack a 12cm where the original fan was.
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