r9700np cant liiiiiiiiiiiiiiive without heat??!!!

omg guys, this is the strangest phenomenon ever seen since oc history, a video card that wont work if its hot enough!! yes, like an old *** car motor that needs to heat up. Its unbelievable but its the only reason i can think that causes the following artifacts:

http://mx.geocities.com/phobmx/oc.html

Heres the story: My new home is very cold, this time of the year its even colder. I get up and the computer probes start at 17°C!!! this is an impressively low temp here in mexico. But thats not all, if i run any intensive 3d app just after boot, i start to get artifacts on the screen... only when the video card chip gets above 30°C it acts like normal. Its not damaged, in fact i was playing unreal 2 a while ago and forgot to turn up the video card fan speed up... well i didnt notice until artifacts start poping all over the screen, heck it was at 60°!! but after a couple of minutes it turned down to 54° which is normal for an overclocked r9700np IMO.. artifacts gone...

WTF??

pls post your thoughts m8s

Hi,
Dude, you should be concerned more about your hard drive. Most hard drives should be at room-temperature before being powered on. You can damage the hard-drive platter when it is spun up while it is cold. It has something to do with metals and contraction/expansion.

Do you have the option of leaving the computer powered on all the time?

I dont think your electronic equipment will like it over time to be exposed to such drastic hot/cold cycles.

You also might have some contraction/expansion problems because of the heat with the seating of your video card. Also you may also have condensation (water) problems with such drastic changes in temperature.

cobray said:

Hi,
Dude, you should be concerned more about your hard drive. Most hard drives should be at room-temperature before being powered on. You can damage the hard-drive platter when it is spun up while it is cold. It has something to do with metals and contraction/expansion.

Do you have the option of leaving the computer powered on all the time?

I dont think your electronic equipment will like it over time to be exposed to such drastic hot/cold cycles.

You also might have some contraction/expansion problems because of the heat with the seating of your video card. Also you may also have condensation (water) problems with such drastic changes in temperature.

Click to expand...

omg, i didnt know it could damage my drive... thnx for the info. Since its a raptor that would be very likely to happen (cuz its 10krpm)

i guess ill leave the computer on 24/7 for now, a nice heating/entertaining solution hehehe

Most hard drives should be at room-temperature before being powered on. You can damage the hard-drive platter when it is spun up while it is cold.

Click to expand...

His drive is at room temperature, his room temperature just happens to be lower than usual. Because of this, his case temp will be lower and the hard drive will operate at a lower temperature overall. But the drive temp will be well within the operating range listed by WD (5C -> 55c).

It has something to do with metals and contraction/expansion.

Click to expand...

The change in temperature of the drive, and other components, between off and operating will likely be the same at a low room temperature as it is at a 'normal' room temperature. So the total thermal expansion of a component would be at least very similar if not the same.

Also you may also have condensation (water) problems with such drastic changes in temperature.

Click to expand...

Condensation is also not a concern because you are RAISING the air temperature and air can hold MORE water vapor at a higher temperature. When the system is shut down the lowest the temperature will drop is back to room temperature, and since it is most likely not raining, nor is dew forming, in your computer room (I hope) there should be no problem.



My computer is in my basement, and for a few weeks now the startup temp has been between 17-20C and I have no problems. Also, my watercooled/overclocked 9700np operates at 30->35c. It doesn't make any sense that colder temps would result in desktop corruption, but as they say, sh*t happens. I have seen similar desktop corruption on my computer when I have overclocked the card too far, but have never seen anything like that resulting from it being too cold. Very strange...

What's the core revision of this card? Lots of earlier 9700s gave up the ghost for no apparent reason.

You're walking the tightrope; if it artifacts at low temperatures then the silicon is on very shaky ground. I wouldn't trust it.

Try checking the aux power connection for any remote looseness. Also, just for grins, see how your 5v and 12v rails are. It could be that your PSU needs to heat up to a certain operating temperature to deliver maximum power, which still contradicts all logic.

cV said:

You're walking the tightrope; if it artifacts at low temperatures then the silicon is on very shaky ground. I wouldn't trust it.

Click to expand...

pls elaborate that a little more...