Slight burning smell from Radeon HD3870

[jmsandrsn]

I thought the sun was shining pretty brightly on me when Dell decided to replace my HD2400 Pro 128MB with an HD3870 due to the HD2400 Pro not being in stock. I get the HD3870 and it's a beauty. It's the dual slot version and looks just like this one except there's no brand label on it: http://regmedia.co.uk/2007/11/27/amd_3870_1.jpg

As soon as I install though I noticed a slightly burnt smell. I was afraid something inside of the case had burnt up but looked inside and everything was ok. I turned the system on today and noticed the smell again. I ran the card through several loops of 3DMark2006 and had no problem.

Question: I mostly use Nvidia cards so I don't know if this would be normal or not. Does anyone remember if this was very common when the HD3870 came out about a year ago? Would you think it is just a matter of time before the card will fail or is it possible it's not really damaged?

[vixro]

I had this trouble with my brand new 3870 when I had it all that time ago. The card ended up working out fine. I had a small piece of plastic that had burned away (since the cards can get so hot, 90c+) If you're worried you could always take the heatsink off, apply some new thermal material, and try it out again. If you aren't noticing any problems and the burning smell is very slight... it might be nothing to worry about.

I would still keep a close eye on everything though.

[jmsandrsn]

Thanks for your input.

[Upgrayedd]

What temp is the card running at? GPU-Z is a good program for temps.

[Quailane]

I actually like that smell. It just means it's working hard.

[xtkxhom3r]

I actually like that smell. It just means it's working hard.

LOL