Video card fan not moving

**alman9898** · April 16, 2007, 01:48 PM

I honestly do not know how long this problem has persisted, but it's possible that it just arose today. So I was playing a game and noticed some weird noise coming from my PC, particularly my vid card. So I took it out after shutting down and saw nothing wrong. Put it back in and fan does not move. I dont know if it wasn't moving before, but it isn't moving now. I've checked the wire that connects to the fan and it seems firmly in place, and the wire to the PSU is also firmly in place. I haven't gotten any error messages about this, so I don't know what to do, but apparently my GPU was hitting over 200 degrees F!

I've got a Sapphire X850XT running on Windows XP and I've had it for more than a year with no problems. Is the card fried? There really didn't seem to be too many results on google regarding this.

**Kanaric** · April 16, 2007, 03:56 PM

You can buy new fans for video cards if you want to fix it.

**mrmouth** · April 17, 2007, 11:52 AM

It simply sounds like your fan died. I doubt the GPU is fried but if you continue to use the card it will be in short order.

Just contact the manufacturer and take it from there.

**alman9898** · April 17, 2007, 06:32 PM

Turns out the motor was screwy but just needed a little nudge to put things back in order.

**mrmouth** · April 18, 2007, 06:26 PM

Nice man, just keep an eye an eye on it and listen for grinding.

**Incinerate_IV** · April 20, 2007, 10:54 AM

200F is a little too warm. If the fan failed once then it's probably reaching the end of its life span. I suggest you get a new heatsink for the video card ASAP.

Try the VF700, it's cheap and works really well.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16835118117

**Spartan_Shame** · April 21, 2007, 12:26 AM

Off Topic: Does the amount of memory a video card have make a huge amount of difference? Or should I just be a cheapskate a vy for the 256 mb?

**Aristocrat** · April 21, 2007, 12:51 AM

You should give us more information like. oh I don't know....the card you are talking about.

*and the short answer to your question is yes, it does make a big difference you are talking about a jump from 256 to higher.

**Spartan_Shame** · April 21, 2007, 01:12 AM

Well I was thinking of a nvidea 7600GT or 7300GT. I was wondering whether I should get 256 7600GT, or 512 7300GT. Which one would be cheaper, and more effective?

**Aristocrat** · April 21, 2007, 01:54 AM

Well, personally, I wouldn't get either, I would get a 8600GT, like this one:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814150229

Of course, it comes down to budget though.

If you are looking to play this year's games and next years games you need a card from the 8xxx series (or an Ati equivelant), as the cards support DirectX10, which no older cards do.

If you are only buying it for say Medieval 2 then I would say the 7600GT if you were on a budget, reason being it is faster and more powerful than the 7300GT.

In video cards, higher memory is only important if the two cards are equivelant (like the two 8800GTS versions), elsewhere the memory doesn't go any way to bridging the gap.

**Spartan_Shame** · April 21, 2007, 01:59 AM

Thanks!

**OTZ** · April 21, 2007, 06:11 AM

n terms of memory, 256 is good for lower resolutions, ie 1280x1024, whereas the higher amounts of mem are better for (surprise) higher resolutions.

**alman9898** · May 04, 2007, 08:44 PM

looks like the fan died for good this time...

**Incinerate_IV** · May 04, 2007, 09:01 PM

You should have got a new heatsink when you first noticed the fan is failing...

Here's the link of the heatsink I posted earlier:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16835118117

I highly suggest you don't run any 3D programs at this time, or even better just leave that computer off. A X850XT is still a very good card, try not to fry it.

**Erik** · May 05, 2007, 04:32 AM

Check if you still have warranty on your card.
A failing fan is obviously not your fault, so if you still have warranty they should replace your fan for free.

off topic:
Are there also 3rd party VGA coolers for nVidia 8800 series cards?
My 8800GTS is running mighty hot (no temperature sensors, but the back of the card is almost too hot to touch and obviously heating up the rest of my case).

**Incinerate_IV** · May 05, 2007, 11:25 AM

Originally Posted by Erik

Are there also 3rd party VGA coolers for nVidia 8800 series cards?
My 8800GTS is running mighty hot (no temperature sensors, but the back of the card is almost too hot to touch and obviously heating up the rest of my case).

I haven't seen any yet. That huge GPU is probably too big for 99% of all the heatsinks out now.

I think the best you can do is probably replace the thermal compound and polish the base.

By the way don't the 8800's heatsink vent the hot air outside?

**Erik** · May 05, 2007, 02:26 PM

Originally Posted by Incinerate_IV

I think the best you can do is probably replace the thermal compound and polish the base.

I could try that, but I don't think the connection between the heatsink and the chips is the problem.

By the way don't the 8800's heatsink vent the hot air outside?

They do.
I think the problem is: it's not venting fast enough.

To clarify: the entire card and heat sink gets very hot, not just the chips.
The fan is working and there is hot air flowing from the vent, but I think there should be a lot more hot air flowing because it's not enough to get rid of all the heat.

Maybe the fan isn't turning fast enough.
nVidia MonitorView gives crazy fan speeds that just can't be right:
System: 31889 RPM
nForce: 675 RPM
Aux2: 18 RPM
Maybe the messed up fan speeds make the driver slow the graphics card fan down?

UPDATE: I just tried RivaTuner, and it has a fan-speed tab.
Apparently my fan was only operating at 60%, which is the minimum fan speed and the higher speeds only kick in above 72 degrees C (72C??? isn't that way to high?).
This explains why my card was so hot: the driver kept it at 72C on purpose.

I've forced it at 100% now and it makes a huge difference....especially in noise levels, lol.
But 80% seems to be a sweet-spot.
I'd like to change the minimum speed from 60% to 80%, and have the higher speed kick in at a lower temperature (about 50C should be fine I think), but I don't know how.
Anyone have experience with RivaTuner/setting your fan speed manually?

**Aristocrat** · May 06, 2007, 03:15 AM

Who made the GTS you have? Mine is from Sparkle and the fan is always at 100% and it is not even audible ( I have a fan controller for my case fans so I turn those down low and I can still only hear them).

On Riva Tuner, I just set fan speeds based on 2d, and the 2 3d power levels. So I can't help with the temperature controlled settings.

**Erik** · May 06, 2007, 06:58 AM

Originally Posted by Aristocrat

Who made the GTS you have?

ASUS, I think it has a stock cooler.

Mine is from Sparkle and the fan is always at 100% and it is not even audible

Really?
Mine sounds is very loud at 100%, not acceptable when I'm watching TV.

In real life I never hear it though, I don't think it spins up above 80% even when I play Oblivion.
Either that or I don't notice it above the game sounds.

On Riva Tuner, I just set fan speeds based on 2d, and the 2 3d power levels. So I can't help with the temperature controlled settings.

How do you do that?
In the power user tab?

I've found the settings I want to change in the power user tab, but I don't know how to apply the changes I make.

I also tried nTune, but the fan setting are grayed out.

**Aristocrat** · May 06, 2007, 07:27 AM

From the tab "Main" in RivaTuner, In the "Driver Settings" Groupbox (At least thats what they are called in Visual Studio...anyhow, not important) there is what looks like a dropdown menu with "Forceware Detected Customize" in it, click on the arrow at the right edge of that box. Click on the little button that has the graphic card icon, called System Settings.
Then go to the fan tab and go nuts.

I could of just said go to the "overclocking section" but RivaTuner has different ways of overclocking so there you go.