[TechNewbie]

My father bought his gaming computer not quite a year ago, hadn't updated anything visually-related (no internet connection to it), and he has never had any problems with any games at their max settings - video card temp ran around high 30's/low 40's at idle, not sure about in-game. He now has a wireless router and recently downloaded and installed the latest drivers and version of Catalyst control panel (v5.9, but not with the Control Center). From then on, he has been getting warnings during gaming (for example, Silent Hunter 3) about his video card. I checked it out, and his video card temperature at idle is now 63 degrees C, and during the game climbs up into the 90's. I loaded up Halo with middle-of-the-road settings and it's the same story. I also noticed that once the game is shut down, the temperature drops very slowly (about one degree every few minutes), much slower than I assume it should. I tried placing a fan by the computer, and the only effect it had was that it cooled the card down faster after the game had closed, but didn't lower the idle temp or temp during gaming. I'm not experienced with computer technical issues at all, but I know those are ridiculous, dangerous temperatures to be running - being able to boil water on your card is not cool. The ATI Overdrive isn't on, it's not overclocked, the dust has been blown out, nothing is blocking the vents, and none of the video settings have been altered, so I'm at the limit of my abilities. I have no idea what to do - find an old version of Catalyst, buy a new cooling system, get on my hands and knees and blow on the card myself - I'm a noob and I'm being made to feel like it, and that sucks. Any and all help would be appreciated.

Windows XP Home w/SP2 pre-installed
Gateway 3.4GHz Pentium 4
1024MB DDR SDRAM, 250GB hard drive
256MB ATI Radeon X800 XT

 

[Tumbleweed36]

Hi,

That temp you listed is pretty hot for this card. A couple of things you might want to do:

Take the side of the computer off, put a fan that is heading toward the direction of the ATI card and monitor the temperatures.

Check to see if your motherboard has any new BIOS fixes that might be related to improper reading of the temperatures on the video card. I have seen a ocuple of those through the years.

Last, but probably not related........I would use the Omega drivers for this card if ithey are now available. Since this card is pretty recent, not sure if they are now availabe yet.

 

[please]

@ TechNewbie
You might also want to check the heatsink/fan connection to the VGA. It may have gotten bumped or something and is no longer making good contact.

 

[jbloggs]

TechNewbie:

I have the Asus AX800XT (X800XT PE), and there are a couple of things you can do!

You can adjust the fan speed on this card, ie make it go faster or slower at certain temps, download ATITool from here:

http://www.techpowerup.com/atitool/

You get too the fan speed settings by opening it up, Settings->Fan Control, experiement a bit and find out what suits your system.

Another thing you can do is make sure the setting for your card are correct, here is a guide for setting up the ATI drivers:

http://www.tweakguides.com/ATICAT_1.html

Hope that both or one of these suggestions sorts your problem. :sayyes:

 

[TechNewbie]

Where would I go to get new BIOS settings?

 

[jbloggs]

TechNewbie:

New BIOS settings for what? In "general" or for graphics?

If it is for "general" you need to refer your motherboard's manual, and if it is for graphics, start off with the "default" settings that are given in your motherboard manual first. The default graphics settings should enable this card to run ok.

 

[Andrew0987]

A better heatsink and a dab of artic silver5 will probably solve your prob.