stock 4870 artifacts at stock clocks

[Korndog]

So I just recently got a second hand ATI-make 4870. I've read that they run really hot, but for some reason it runs 80-82c on idle... I've looks at several reviews and it seems to run at 50c idle / 80c load. I'm not overclocking it and it still has the stock heatsink.

I have a fairly accurate IR thermometer and measured the back of the card to read about 60-62c near the gpu. Ambient temps are 29c and case is 30c.

while playing games it starts to artifact about 10min into them.

I'm not sure, but I believe there is something wrong with the controlling software (ATI Overdrive; Catalyst Control Center). Enabling the Overdrive to overclock clock speeds seems to have no affect on the card. Even enabling manual fan control doesn't work. I made sure to download the latest version. Does anyone know why it's doing this? I can understand why it would have problems at stock speeds..

[Bobnova]

Is the fan running?

[Korndog]

yes, it spins up at full speed when i boot but then slows down to a quiet/slow rpm
ati CCC says it's at ~20%

[Bobnova]

Even at 20% it should idle cooler then that. What's your CPU temp and/or mobo temp?


I think it's probably time to take the lid off the cooler and clean the dust out.

[Korndog]

my cpu is at 32C because it's watercooled; northbridge is at 40c
the side is taken off and there's a 120 mm fan placed right next to the card
i'm pretty sure it's clean cuz i just installed it 2 days ago

I'm reallllly tempted to buy a waterblock for this thing, but if it's running like this at stock speeds i'm worried there might be an issue with the card itself...

[xtkxhom3r]

there is definitely something wrong with the cooling bro i suggest you take it out and make sure the heatsink is mounded correctly

you should take the heatsink off and add some fresh thermal paste and try it again...

[baditude_df]

It's almost like your HS isn't even making contact with the GPU properly. Have you checked the GPU memory temperature to confirm that it's not the GPU sensor that's awry? It should be reading about 10 deg hotter than your GPU.
Blow the thing out well and have a look at what comes out. Give it a try and see if things smarten up. If not, Unscrew the heatsink and have a look at the contact it's been making with the GPU,VRM,RAMchips etc. There's a chance that it's been taken off b4 and not had TIM and or Thermal tape applied properly when it was reseated.

[Marluce]

+1 for this :D It's almost like your HS isn't even making contact with the GPU properly. Have you checked the GPU memory temperature to confirm that it's not the GPU sensor that's awry? It should be reading about 10 deg hotter than your GPU.
Blow the thing out well and have a look at what comes out. Give it a try and see if things smarten up. If not, Unscrew the heatsink and have a look at the contact it's been making with the GPU,VRM,RAMchips etc. There's a chance that it's been taken off b4 and not had TIM and or Thermal tape applied properly when it was reseated.

[Korndog]

It's almost like your HS isn't even making contact with the GPU properly. Have you checked the GPU memory temperature to confirm that it's not the GPU sensor that's awry? It should be reading about 10 deg hotter than your GPU.
Blow the thing out well and have a look at what comes out. Give it a try and see if things smarten up. If not, Unscrew the heatsink and have a look at the contact it's been making with the GPU,VRM,RAMchips etc. There's a chance that it's been taken off b4 and not had TIM and or Thermal tape applied properly when it was reseated.

i took the temperature of the back of the card where the gpu sits on the other side and it reads about 60c so 80c for the gpu seems plausible. i used an IR thermometer so it should be pretty accurate.

I will try reapplying paste and reseating it though

do you guys think having a 26" set at 1600x1200 could be contributing to the high idle temps?

[xtkxhom3r]

no...

[baditude_df]

no...

I would tend to agree with this. That is generally not something I have noticed to contribute to higher idle temperatures. Then again, I only moved from a 19" to a 22" wide.

Again, blow the HS out with some compressed air and see what comes out. Then see if that helps.

[Bobnova]

It's a second hand card, having already been run (unless you mean something else by second hand) it can have quite a bit of dust in it already.

[sandyduff]

+1 for reseating the heatsink... maybe it wasnt mounted properly during assembly... either that or RMA it...