Prolink FX5900 128MB heat issues

Prolink FX5900 128MB card MVGA-NVG35BA runs at 80C while in 2D mode
and the GPU is set at 300Mhz. In 3D mode at default speeds it gets up
( and likely beyond) 111C. The ambient temp reading is at 36C. I no
longer get Sentinel warning messages after I updated the system to
nvidia's latest drivers, and adding a PCI dual fan card to blow
directly on the FX5900 card, but should it be this hot? I have two
exhaust fans, a Volcano11+ on the CPU, and one intake not counting the
PCI dual fan card.

Can you speed up the fan on the card???? What can I do?

Asus A7N8X Deluxe v 2.0
Windows XP Pro SP1
AMD 2500+ Barton ( 11@ 333Mhz)
Antec TruePower 430W
Coolermaster ATC 210 case
512MB Kingston HyperX DDR (dual channel)

In article , greg_
says...
Prolink FX5900 128MB card MVGA-NVG35BA runs at 80C while in 2D mode
and the GPU is set at 300Mhz. In 3D mode at default speeds it gets up
( and likely beyond) 111C. The ambient temp reading is at 36C. I no
longer get Sentinel warning messages after I updated the system to
nvidia's latest drivers, and adding a PCI dual fan card to blow
directly on the FX5900 card, but should it be this hot? I have two
exhaust fans, a Volcano11+ on the CPU, and one intake not counting the
PCI dual fan card.

Can you speed up the fan on the card???? What can I do?

Your temps are way too high! Make sure the fan on the card is actually
connected to the GPU. Also, be sure the fan is turning.

My Leadtek FX5900XT (same GPU, slightly slower memory) stays at 40C or
less in 2D mode and reaches about 55C during a UT2004 session. Similar
ambient temperature.

My Prolink FX5900 128mb runs at 49c with the 53.03 drivers..!

"wgd" wrote in message
ganews.com...
In article , greg_
says...
Prolink FX5900 128MB card MVGA-NVG35BA runs at 80C while in 2D mode
and the GPU is set at 300Mhz. In 3D mode at default speeds it gets up
( and likely beyond) 111C. The ambient temp reading is at 36C. I no
longer get Sentinel warning messages after I updated the system to
nvidia's latest drivers, and adding a PCI dual fan card to blow
directly on the FX5900 card, but should it be this hot? I have two
exhaust fans, a Volcano11+ on the CPU, and one intake not counting the
PCI dual fan card.

Can you speed up the fan on the card???? What can I do?

Your temps are way too high! Make sure the fan on the card is actually
connected to the GPU. Also, be sure the fan is turning.

My Leadtek FX5900XT (same GPU, slightly slower memory) stays at 40C or
less in 2D mode and reaches about 55C during a UT2004 session. Similar
ambient temperature.

First, download a Leadtek or other company's bios for your card.


You can try the 5950 mod (just get a 5950 bios and update it with
that). The 5950's increase the voltage on the graphics processor and
the fan, so you can overclock at a higher stability.

Increasing the fan voltage lowers the life of the fan slightly, but
also makes it spin at a higher RPM, thus cooling at better performance.




If you don't want to experiment, go with the 5900 bios. (Make sure you
check the bios numbers, we don't want to get an older revision)



If this doesn't solve your issue, remove the card.


Then get some tweezers or finepoint needlenose pliers and pinch the
plastic standoffs holding the heatsink of the card on.

They should come out after working with them for a while, mine were
stuck on there pretty snug.


After you've removed the standoffs, remove the heatsink, but NOT BY
PULLING UPWARDS! If you pull upwards away from the card, you risk
damaging the GPU or the fan cord you probably forgot to unplug from the
card.

So, first remove the fan cord and tuck it in the heatsink.

Twist the heatsink slightly, until it starts to loosen. From there you
should be able to pull the heatsink away from the GPU at a 45? angle
(opposed to a 90? angle, directly up from the GPU).

If you have any trouble, you can put a little rubbing alcohol between
the gpu and heatsink, it'll loosen the bond.


After you get it off clean up the heatsink and GPU with rubbing
alcohol. You should remove every last bit of thermal grease.


The thermal grease manufacturers and electricians use is terrible for
processors, memory, etc. So go out and buy some XTC or ArcticSilver,
just make sure you don't get Arctic Alumina, as that is a ceramic
adhesive... you won't be able to get the heatsink off ever again.

If you notice that your heatsink is not smooth(as I noticed on mine),
you could opt to get a package of 80-200 grit sandpaper and stand it to
a nice smooth shine.

This will improve the conductivity between the heatsink and the GPU.


This isn't necessary if you apply the Arctic Silver correctly though.


Stick a pea sized drop on the GPU, using a credit card to sort of
plaster it on smoothly and thinly. Stick a slightly larger drop on the
center of the heatsink, making sure to fill in any abraisions or
crevices that are in approximation to where the heatsink will meet the
GPU.

Any touchups should be done with a foam brush, soft sponge, or similar
non-filamental item, but never use your fingers unless they're behind
gloves or plastic bags.


If you notice any residue from the Arctic Silver (ie you got some on
your finger and touched the card) clean it immediately!

Arctic Silver uses multiple types of silver particles, which conduct
electricity.


Reapply the heatsink, making sure not to move it around much.


I'd recommend not turning on your computer for about an hour, so that
the thermal grease can cure.
It would be more beneficial if you left the card out overnight so the
curing process can work successfully.
If you run your system right after applying the thermal grease, the
heat causes some instability with the grease and it won't conduct heat
well.




This should get your temps down to a stable 35? at idle.






Apoo wrote:

My Prolink FX5900 128mb runs at 49c with the 53.03 drivers..!

"wgd" wrote in message
ganews.com...
In article , greg_
says...
Prolink FX5900 128MB card MVGA-NVG35BA runs at 80C while in 2D
mode and the GPU is set at 300Mhz. In 3D mode at default speeds
it gets up ( and likely beyond) 111C. The ambient temp reading
is at 36C. I no longer get Sentinel warning messages after I
updated the system to nvidia's latest drivers, and adding a PCI
dual fan card to blow directly on the FX5900 card, but should it
be this hot? I have two exhaust fans, a Volcano11+ on the CPU,
and one intake not counting the PCI dual fan card.

Can you speed up the fan on the card???? What can I do?

Your temps are way too high! Make sure the fan on the card is
actually connected to the GPU. Also, be sure the fan is turning.

My Leadtek FX5900XT (same GPU, slightly slower memory) stays at 40C
or less in 2D mode and reaches about 55C during a UT2004 session.
Similar ambient temperature.

(G-imme) wrote:
Prolink FX5900 128MB card MVGA-NVG35BA runs at 80C while in 2D mode
and the GPU is set at 300Mhz. In 3D mode at default speeds it gets up
( and likely beyond) 111C. The ambient temp reading is at 36C. I no
longer get Sentinel warning messages after I updated the system to
nvidia's latest drivers, and adding a PCI dual fan card to blow
directly on the FX5900 card, but should it be this hot? I have two
exhaust fans, a Volcano11+ on the CPU, and one intake not counting the
PCI dual fan card.

80 celsius is quite hot, but might be normal; however, since it's
during Windows environment -- something might be wrong. Check this
article's temperature measurements out:

http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.html?i=1955&p=18

Can you speed up the fan on the card???? What can I do?

Asus A7N8X Deluxe v 2.0
Windows XP Pro SP1
AMD 2500+ Barton ( 11@ 333Mhz)
Antec TruePower 430W
Coolermaster ATC 210 case
512MB Kingston HyperX DDR (dual channel)

Pray and stop eating for 40 days. It's Easter!

Well, the Vantec PCI fan doesn't seem to be helping very much.
Although when I touch the heatsink after about 60 secs after pwoering
off everything. It is NOT very warm at all. Ambient temps of 35C
should be sufficient. (Asus Probe also has the case interior's temp
around 35C. Over the weekend, I took off the heatsink and fan to try
Artic Silver Ceramique. I am doubtful that it will drop the temps
greatly. This is considering that I have temps at 78- 80C when in 2D
mode with the GPU set @ 300Mhz. May be Prolink should have used
seperate heat sinks for the ram.

I would try the flahsing the bios, but I can't obtain a Prolink BIOS.

G-imme wrote:

Well, the Vantec PCI fan doesn't seem to be helping very much.
Although when I touch the heatsink after about 60 secs after pwoering
off everything. It is NOT very warm at all. Ambient temps of 35C
should be sufficient. (Asus Probe also has the case interior's temp
around 35C. Over the weekend, I took off the heatsink and fan to try
Artic Silver Ceramique. I am doubtful that it will drop the temps
greatly. This is considering that I have temps at 78- 80C when in 2D
mode with the GPU set @ 300Mhz. May be Prolink should have used
seperate heat sinks for the ram.

I would try the flahsing the bios, but I can't obtain a Prolink BIOS.




I told you not to use the Ceramic! This stuff is PERMANENT, you can't
remove the heatsink after it cures....



Use a Leadtek bios, it will work.

(G-imme) wrote:
Well, the Vantec PCI fan doesn't seem to be helping very much.
Although when I touch the heatsink after about 60 secs after pwoering
off everything. It is NOT very warm at all. Ambient temps of 35C
should be sufficient. (Asus Probe also has the case interior's temp
around 35C. Over the weekend, I took off the heatsink and fan to try
Artic Silver Ceramique. I am doubtful that it will drop the temps
greatly. This is considering that I have temps at 78- 80C when in 2D
mode with the GPU set @ 300Mhz. May be Prolink should have used
seperate heat sinks for the ram.

The Forceware drivers' temperature measurement usually shows an okay
52-55 Celsius after heavy benchmarks and games on my Leadtek 5900XT.
Do you have Prolink's own temperature software installed or do you get
the temperature with the Forceware drivers? It's bizarre if it truly
is that hot, but if your card wasn't _that_ hot when touching the fan,
I believe it's very likely the temperature readings are not correct --
and it's lower than what it says. If your games and benchmarks work
fine without lockups, then everything should be okay.

I would try the flahsing the bios, but I can't obtain a Prolink BIOS.

Flashing BIOS is always risky, so I wouldn't recommend doing that
unless your warranty covers it.

"teqguy" wrote in message ...
G-imme wrote:

Well, the Vantec PCI fan doesn't seem to be helping very much.
Although when I touch the heatsink after about 60 secs after pwoering
off everything. It is NOT very warm at all. Ambient temps of 35C
should be sufficient. (Asus Probe also has the case interior's temp
around 35C. Over the weekend, I took off the heatsink and fan to try
Artic Silver Ceramique. I am doubtful that it will drop the temps
greatly. This is considering that I have temps at 78- 80C when in 2D
mode with the GPU set @ 300Mhz. May be Prolink should have used
seperate heat sinks for the ram.

I would try the flahsing the bios, but I can't obtain a Prolink BIOS.




I told you not to use the Ceramic! This stuff is PERMANENT, you can't
remove the heatsink after it cures....



Use a Leadtek bios, it will work.

Ceramic is NOT permanent..it can be removed ... but yes..its capable
to "glue" together the heatsink and the gpu.

Artic Silver 5 though is the best option for GPU's and CPU's!

I told you not to use the Ceramic! This stuff is PERMANENT, you can't
remove the heatsink after it cures....



Use a Leadtek bios, it will work.

Hahaa. Thanks, but I never have any problem removing the fan/sinks
from Athlon cpus. I think I'll be okay as long as I remove it when it
is warm.

My temps have NOT dropped from baseline. Still at 75 - 80C in 2D Mode
with GPU set @ 300Mhz. I am able to play most of my games without any
hiccups or problems. Just not sure if I SHOULD be playing any games
for extended periods of time. I may go back to earlier drivers for
the chipset.

How much do you think the Leadtek bios will help???