HELP!!

[TaskTool]

Oh my god! This **** is ****ing me off.

You guys remember when I was complaining about my HD 4870 losing signal with my monitor when I played games? It shut off, and displayed a white screen and I could still hear in-game sounds, etc, but I had to reboot.

So I RMA'd the card right? I sent it to XFX, and they confirmed that the card was faulty.

Ok so the card is faulty, cool. They replace my card with a whole other card. Same model, just different card. Obviously used because it had finger prints all over it when I got it today. It's been about 2 weeks since I sent the card.

Plug it in play some gta 4 on (Not highest settings) but average settings. And begin to play the game. Before I played I checked the cards temps. 67C Idle.

The first time I played the game, it did not freeze, or shut off, or anything. It was perfect.

The second time I ran gta 4. I pushed the settings higher, and set the resolution higher, and set the refresh rate for my screen to match my monitor. And the same exact **** happened that happened before. Monitor lost signal, I heard audio for a few seconds until it started skipping. Had to turn off the computer. Now this is a whole other graphics card. This isnt the one I had before, and I am having the same exact problems with the card.

Now what the **** is going on? 67C Idle, does that seem right? Is this card overheating? Or is my power supply ****ing it up somehow?

I'm on a Power Up! 550 W power supply. The PSU has only 1 PCI express cable, so I use that, and a Molex to PCI express cable that I bought from Compusa since XFX did not ship me back my parts, only the card.

I RMA'd my first card, and got another card in return, only to have the same problems. I would like to know what is causing this, and why, and how I can fix it, so I can finally enjoy my ******n games!

I also tried to login to the XFX website and update my support ticket with what just happened, and I can't login. Almost like I got banned from the website or something. I'm so freakin mad.

 

[Ste]

PLease tell me that you have tried manually turning the fan speed to 100%?

And you have tried installing higher CFM in your case?

Decreases room temperature?

 

[memory]

67 degrees seems high for an idle temp. Can you check what your temps are at while gaming? You may want to try and increase the fan speed, that will make a big difference.

 

[patonb]

67C idle is too high. I fold on my gtx260s and that maxes them at 65C. Thats your first issue.

The second is the 4870 recommends atleast 30Amps. You've got 32Amps.

Your crashes are most likely the barely adaquate psu. The Temp thing is secondary.

 

[TaskTool]

@ both of you, last time this happened everyone told me to set the fan speed to 100%, and it did last a bit longer, but eventually the monitor shut off.

I set the fan speed to 100% and so far it has been going further without overheating, but here is my problem. I can picture in my mind, every second I am playing the game the temperature slowly increases by 1 degrees, even with the fan at 100%, so all the fan does is slow the process. According to some people I talked to, something could have been wrong with the ram in the card causing it to overheat easier than it should, which is why i sent it to XFX, and when they found it defective, that just sealed it right there.

I can probably play this game with the fan at 100% but I am basically just waiting for it to eventually shut off. I will play the game and tell you guys what happens.

 

[TaskTool]

67C idle is too high. I fold on my gtx260s and that maxes them at 65C. Thats your first issue.

The second is the 4870 recommends atleast 30Amps. You've got 32Amps.

Your crashes are most likely the barely adaquate psu. The Temp thing is secondary.

Will these occurences actually cause damage to the card? By the time I replace my PSU, had the damage already been done? This seems like a lose, lose situation.

And also, how am I supposed to fix the heat issue? Can I replace the fan on the card without voiding my XFX warranty? Do I even need to replace the fan? How else would I get the temps down? Underclocking+fan speed ?

And my power supply. Are you sure the card itself would crash as a result of my power supply? I read somewhere that the whole computer would actually shut off, but who knows?

 

[Ste]

Didn't I tell to replace the PSU first in the other thread?

Power up are really crapy...

I would do it asap, refer to the guide linked in my signature for suggestions.

 

[TaskTool]

Didn't I tell to replace the PSU first in the other thread?

Power up are really crapy...

I would do it asap, refer to the guide linked in my signature for suggestions.

Will do. I'm just wondering if the card will already been damaged by then.

 

[Ste]

If I were you, I would just not game, or even use the computer until your place the new psu in.

Noone can say for sure if any parts are damaged.

We will know once you try to play games with a new power supply.

Make sure it has at least 2 native 6 pin PCIE connectors, at least 550 watts.

Such as these:

Newegg.com - CORSAIR CMPSU-550VX 550W ATX12V V2.2 SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Compatible with Core i7 Power Supply - Power Supplies

Newegg.com - OCZ Fatal1ty OCZ550FTY 550W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Ready CrossFire Ready Modular Active PFC Power Supply - Power Supplies

 

[TaskTool]

Like I said before though, after getting a new power supply, should I also address the heat issue as well?

And if so how would I do that.