video card overheating issues

[HoRRoR]

Just a forewarning I am extremely horrible with hardware issues. I never really got into how the computer works, so if I say something completely stupid, feel free to laugh at me, just don't be a dick .

[1.] The title(s) of the game(s) you are dealing with. If it's all games you try, please give some examples.

If I play with all low settings on demanding games like HL2 etc. it gets hot, but not to peak temperatures of around 100 - 110 cels.

[2.] The platform (PC, MAC, PS2, XBox360 etc)

PC

[3.] Internet Connection method

Cable / DSL

[4.] How long the problem has been going on - and whether you have previously been able to play without the current problem

I've had my computer for a year or two now and within the last 2 months or so I have suddenly been having issues with the video card getting to very dangerous temperatures.

[5.] For PC -

1. [a] Operating System - Windows XP Home Edition
   [b] Microsoft DirectX Version - 9.0c
   [c] Hardware Summary - Particularly:
   1. Motherboard Make & Model - Dell Inc. & Dimension XPS
   2. Video Card/Chip Make and Model And DRIVER version Number - ATI Radeon X800 XT, Driver version number... 6.14.0010.6606
   3. CPU Type and Speed - Intel Pentium 4 3.40ghz
   4. RAM details - 1022mb ram
   5. Soundcard/Chip Type - SB Audigy 2 ZS Audio

I suppose you would want to know what I have tried to do to fix it... I cleaned the whole computer with an air duster, no help... I also opened the side panel and stuck a mini fan (all I could really find) next to it and doesn't really affect it at all, neither lowering or raising the temperature. I haven't done really anything involved like swapping video cards, heatsinks, thermal paste, anything like that has not been done. However I have downloaded ATT and looked at my fan speeds, which hasn't helped in the least seeing as I had it set to decent speeds.

Thanks in advance.

[Pi rules]

Hello!

The problem is way too familiar for me, and I still think my graphics card is going for an early death even though it is not very good (ATI Radeon X1300 PRO). The first thing I did (and the first thing I'd recommend) is updating your drivers, which you can download here.

The next thing would be to look at your fan placement and see if you can improve airflow at all, and check to see if you can add any more fans or maybe add a larger fan somewhere. Also make sure that once air leaves your computer it has somewhere to go.

[HoRRoR]

Well I did update the drivers.. however I haven't really been checking the temperature while playing games, I usually let the beeping from my computer tell me when it is overheating. Now that I have updated my drivers I am experiencing ping jumps and fps drops in games... Any ideas why this would begin to happen?

Back to the main issue, i've talked to some friends and they have told me that the type of dell I have doesn't have a heatsink with a fan on it... but i'm not sure if the processor is overheating aswell. Would the computer start to beep for anything overheating, or just processor/video card?

Could this possibly be a hardware issue.. i've heard that ati cards get up to high temps, but never this high, or to the point of the computer beeping. I'd also like to point out that whenever it starts to beep my room is hot, but i'm not sure if that is because my video card is heating up my room or if my room is heating up my video card.

Fan placement seems to be okay, besides the fact that I have a huge green monster inside my computer covering up the processor and heatsink which has wires attached to it for some reason. Also when the air leaves my computer it has a reasonable amount of space to flow out nicely (is there an issue with my computer being on the ground.. carpet? Silly of me to think this? Lol I am sooo tired). Would it me necessary to move my computer down to the coolest part of my house? Or would there be a fix for the computer itself, not just the environment.. like lets say a new heatsink or reapplying of thermal paste?

P.S. if I seem to be rambling on it may be because i've been up all night .
I feel like i'm asking waaaaaaaaay too many questions that would require you guys to actually look at my computer in reality rather than through a forum . Anyways I hope I may have asked the right questions, atleast 1 of the 100 that I spoke of.

Thanks

[Pi rules]

Would the computer start to beep for anything overheating, or just processor/video card?

If your PC is getting hot to the point that it is beeping, that isn't so good. I think that may be for the CPU; my motherboard has that feature. You may want to enter your CMOS Setup (BIOS) to see what it monitors and when it beeps.

That's odd that you are losing some fps after updating drivers. If the temperature didn't drop you could roll back the driver through the Device Manager (Start | Run and type devmgmt.msc).

Would it me necessary to move my computer down to the coolest part of my house? Or would there be a fix for the computer itself, not just the environment.. like lets say a new heatsink or reapplying of thermal paste?

You could try moving it to see if that helps at all. What you probably want to do is download something like SpeedFan or Hmonitor and see what temps they are listing.

You said that you downloaded ATI Tray Tools, so did you set the fan speed to maximum?

[HoRRoR]

I looked in the BIOS and I couldn't find anything relative to the beep.

I did rollback the drivers and the fps drops are gone.

Haven't moved the computer, but I have downloaded the ATT and I set the fan speed to maximum when above 50 degrees or something.

Do you have any other ideas of what could be causing the overheating? I'm not sure if I know how to rule out the airflow issue.. don't really want to get another fan if it isn't going to fix this problem.. I suppose I may just need to take the computer to a professional and have them deal with it

[Pi rules]

It could be a faulty sensor on the graphics card, but the beeping again is probably the CPU. Did you try anything like Hmonitor or SpeedFan? They might show the CPU temperature.