I Think My Vid Card Died...

The card is an Abit Siluro Ti4200 128 MB AGP 8X.

http://www.tape.ro/picprod/ti4200-8x.jpg

For a while now I've been seeing odd symbols and characters on the boot screen and in the bios, in the last few weeks had trouble with graphics - ie huge spikes coming off 3d graphics, hard to explain, and in the last couple of days its actually caused my whole computer to reboot.

The fan on the card (see above) doesn't spin when I'm starting the computer - should it, or should it only spin when running games? The card itself gets VERY hot to the touch within a few minutes of turning the computer on - is there anything I can do?

edit: Just had a five minute go on Vice City and the fan didn't spin once - this is obviously my problem. Are these fans in any way user servicable/replacable?

did u overclock your card?

Nope - actually thats a point, would underclocking it help any?

the fan may be ded OR
the fan connector on the board may have shorted out

there are vid card fans which connect thru molex... find 1 and install it

Yeah mate the card is probably ok its just getting to hot.Fiddle the wires a bit or you can buy heatsinks of fans for g/fx cards,but it could be cheaper buying a card if you cant get the fan workin properly.

OK thanks I will have a look for a hs/fan for the vid card (anyone know where to get them in UK?) but I was actually thinking of getting a new card but not for a month or two - I'd like to be able to use the card in that time.

Might be a stupid question but is there anyway I could use the case fan connector on my mobo?

Also should the fan be running all the time or only when using graphic intensive apps?

There used to be a site "quiet pc" or similar,that sold heatsinks,thats al you really need to cool a g/fx unless you oc.And yeah mate if you can extend the red/black wires to reach to another fan socket or the rest set switch of led connectors may power it too.

u could try putting it on, but youll have trouble mounting the fan on that damn heatsink..

OK thanks guys - I think I'm looking at this cooler from www.overclockers.co.uk.

£16 with shipping which isn't bad I suppose but still pretty grim for a cost out of nowhere.

ck-uk thanks for your help mate.

edit: grr, overclockers won't accept my switch card cos it doesn't have an issue number, keep on looking I guess...

try someones else's or use 1 as the issue number.

How long have you had the card?

Maybe you could get a new fan under warranty?

Cool, cheers Livy I think using 1 as the number worked - as long as I don't get the feds showing up at my door before the cooler does! :lol:

edit: VB, I've had the card about a year and a half, if I remember rightly the warranty was only for a year. Unfortunately I stupidly can't remember where I bought it from (some online retailer) and don't have a receipt/invoice - oh well.

the video card fan should be a header like on a motherboard right? try unplugging it from the video card and plug the fan into teh motherboard's case\chasis fan header and see if it spins up, if that works and the wire reaches to the video card then voila problem solved, if it doesnt reach but you are sure it works you could cut teh wires and attach them to a moelx connecter but that would definately void and warranties on the power supply and video card and would also be slightly unsafe, but that is what i would do, beucase thats just the kind of guy that i am.

Yeah I tried earlier connecting it to the fan connector on the mobo - no joy. I think it's the fan rather than the connector.

Quote:

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Originally posted by Skillian@18 February 2004 - 20:02
Yeah I tried earlier connecting it to the fan connector on the mobo - no joy. I think it's the fan rather than the connector.

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alright so its definately the fan causing the problem, i wouldnt run the computer too much, and dont play many games either because you might damage the card, atleast until you get a new heatink and fan.

if u got any spare fans lying around try hooking that up temp.

Yeah I certainly won't be running any games on it til i get the new fan. I'm wary of having the computer on at all but I never actually realised how much I used it until now - It's hard keeping it switched off - no movies, no music, I've got nothing to do! :lol:

Livy, I have got a spare 80mm fan here but I wouldn't know how to get it to cool my video card - nowhere to fix it...

Quote:

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Originally posted by Skillian@18 February 2004 - 20:30
I'm wary of having the computer on at all but I never actually realised how much I used it until now - It's hard keeping it switched off - no movies, no music, I've got nothing to do! :lol:

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lol, same, that happened to me when my power supply busted a few weeks ago. Im trying to fix it and im like i know ill put some music on, crap. then im like i know ill go ask people on klite forum what they think the problem iss, crap again. then i wanted to look up the prices for new power supplys online, once again, crap. eventually i tok my old slow ass computer, hooked it up in my roomm and used that but it was so slow :(

Right, any use of the comp will be minimal now, but when I am using it I will have the comp laying on its side with the side panel off, and I've put an 80 mm fan resting on the PCI slots so it's blowing directly onto the GPU - hopefully this will prevent any permanent damage until I get the proper HS/fan on Friday...

Quote:

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Originally posted by Skillian@18 February 2004 - 21:03
Right, any use of the comp will be minimal now, but when I am using it I will have the comp laying on its side with the side panel off, and I've put an 80 mm fan resting on the PCI slots so it's blowing directly onto the GPU - hopefully this will prevent any permanent damage until I get the proper HS/fan on Friday...

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thats sounds good... just remember too cehck on it once in a while to make sure it isnt too hot.