X1950XT w/ Zalman very hot

[Mandinga]

I have a Sapphire X1950XT equipped with a Zalman VF-900 cooler. I was
playing Lost Planet and about 10 minutes later CCC kicked me out of the game
because of GPU's high temp (It showed a warning). I checked the temp with
ATI tools and the GPU temp was about 95C.

I've had the XT for about a year and this is the 1st time I got kicked out
of a game due to overheating. I always thought the Zalman cooler would keep
it reasonably cool and never checked the temp before today. My XT isn't
overclocked and the idle temp is 55C-60C.

My case is an Antec 180P w/ 3 120mm case coolers and case air flow is not an
issue. The Zalman cooler's heatsink is hot, meaning that it makes good
contact with the GPU.

So, do I have a worse-quality XT?

 

[Frank McCoy]

I have a Sapphire X1950XT equipped with a Zalman VF-900 cooler. I was
playing Lost Planet and about 10 minutes later CCC kicked me out of the game
because of GPU's high temp (It showed a warning). I checked the temp with
ATI tools and the GPU temp was about 95C.

I've had the XT for about a year and this is the 1st time I got kicked out
of a game due to overheating. I always thought the Zalman cooler would keep
it reasonably cool and never checked the temp before today. My XT isn't
overclocked and the idle temp is 55C-60C.

My case is an Antec 180P w/ 3 120mm case coolers and case air flow is not an
issue. The Zalman cooler's heatsink is hot, meaning that it makes good
contact with the GPU.

So, do I have a worse-quality XT?

Is the CPU fan running at full speed; and are the fins clean?
The cooler shouldn't be hot if it's dissipating heat properly.

 

[Mandinga]

Is the CPU fan running at full speed; and are the fins clean?
The cooler shouldn't be hot if it's dissipating heat properly.

Shouldn't the heatsink be hot (but not too hot) if it's working properly?
Anyways, I took out the graphic card, cleaned the cooler w/ compressed air,
detached the cooler, applied thermal compound, attached it, and reinstalled
the card. Haven't played 3D games yet but the idle temp is now 47C.

 

[Frank McCoy]

Shouldn't the heatsink be hot (but not too hot) if it's working properly?

It shouldn't be "burn your fingers" hot.

 

[isaac4all]

I have a Sapphire X1950XT equipped with a Zalman VF-900 cooler. I was
playing Lost Planet and about 10 minutes later CCC kicked me out of the game
because of GPU's high temp (It showed a warning). I checked the temp with
ATI tools and the GPU temp was about 95C.

I've had the XT for about a year and this is the 1st time I got kicked out
of a game due to overheating. I always thought the Zalman cooler would keep
it reasonably cool and never checked the temp before today. My XT isn't
overclocked and the idle temp is 55C-60C.

My case is an Antec 180P w/ 3 120mm case coolers and case air flow is not an
issue. The Zalman cooler's heatsink is hot, meaning that it makes good
contact with the GPU.

So, do I have a worse-quality XT?

Hi the problem is simply your cooling fan you need to change it as
soon as possible to prevent your cpu from getting damaged. i have
fixed my various customers how complians that their system temperature
is high.
here are reliable stores to get a quality cooling fan
(1) amazon
url www.amazon.com/finditall10fr-20
(2) Tiger direct
url http://click.linksynergy.com/fs-bin/click?
id=x1ijFJ9Dvfc&offerid=102327.10000056&type=4&subid=0

i have given an information you should have paid for. Act now before
your cpu gets damaged
isaac okoye
information rules the world
www.finditall100free.ds4a.com

 

[Paul]

I have a Sapphire X1950XT equipped with a Zalman VF-900 cooler. I was
playing Lost Planet and about 10 minutes later CCC kicked me out of the game
because of GPU's high temp (It showed a warning). I checked the temp with
ATI tools and the GPU temp was about 95C.

I've had the XT for about a year and this is the 1st time I got kicked out
of a game due to overheating. I always thought the Zalman cooler would keep
it reasonably cool and never checked the temp before today. My XT isn't
overclocked and the idle temp is 55C-60C.

My case is an Antec 180P w/ 3 120mm case coolers and case air flow is not an
issue. The Zalman cooler's heatsink is hot, meaning that it makes good
contact with the GPU.

So, do I have a worse-quality XT?

The X1950 XT and XTX seem to have the same vital statistics. Measured
power is here, and is 124W while gaming.

http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/video/display/ati-x1950xtx_7.html

The means you have 124W of heat to remove from around the area of the video
card. Ideally, you don't want the air to recirculate, but just be ejected
from the computer case as soon as possible. Measuring the computer case
or motherboard air temperature, will tell you whether the air is just
swirling around inside the case or not.

There is an air intake vent, above the plugin card area. The problem
with that, is the air could be pulled through the vent, and then immediately
exit via the rear fan. In terms of shaping the airflow, so the cool incoming
air does more work, I don't know how I'd redirect it, with that case layout.
Building ducting only makes sense, if the duct assembly is easy to remove
later.

http://images10.newegg.com/NeweggImage/productimage/11-129-017-09.jpg

I suppose one way to do it, would be to build a box around the video card and
VF-900, connecting the video card to that vent above it. Then place a fan such
that case air is drawn into the duct, from the rest of the computer case, and
the air exiting from around the video card, leaving via that rear vent above the
card.

One thing I like about the following approach, is it is putting the hot air in the
right place - outside the computer case. Even if the cooler itself is
not a spectacular performer, having the hot air leave instead of recirculating,
helps.

http://images10.newegg.com/NeweggImage/productimage/14-161-048-02.jpg

Paul

 

[SteveH]

Hi the problem is simply your cooling fan you need to change it as
soon as possible to prevent your cpu from getting damaged. i have
fixed my various customers how complians that their system temperature
is high.
here are reliable stores to get a quality cooling fan
(1) amazon
url www.amazon.com/finditall10fr-20
(2) Tiger direct
url http://click.linksynergy.com/fs-bin/click?
id=x1ijFJ9Dvfc&offerid=102327.10000056&type=4&subid=0

i have given an information you should have paid for. Act now before
your cpu gets damaged
isaac okoye
information rules the world
www.finditall100free.ds4a.com

When you have quite finished talking out of your backside, can we get on
please?

SteveH

 

[SteveH]

Shouldn't the heatsink be hot (but not too hot) if it's working
properly? Anyways, I took out the graphic card, cleaned the cooler w/
compressed air, detached the cooler, applied thermal compound,
attached it, and reinstalled the card. Haven't played 3D games yet
but the idle temp is now 47C.

The idle temp seems to have improved some. Although as someone else said, I
would look at the airflow through the case. I've got the same card (with the
stock Sapphire cooler) and the same P180. My GPU never gets to 80c, let
alone 90, and the 120mm fans are all set to 'low'. Are the filters in the
front of the case clean?

SteveH

 

[Mandinga]

The idle temp seems to have improved some. Although as someone else said,
I would look at the airflow through the case. I've got the same card (with
the stock Sapphire cooler) and the same P180. My GPU never gets to 80c,
let alone 90, and the 120mm fans are all set to 'low'. Are the filters in
the front of the case clean?

SteveH

I think that the problem of the Zalman cooler is, unlike the stock cooler,
it doesn't exhaust hot air out of the case. I chose the Zalman because of
its quietness. I hate PC noise and my 120mm fans are set to low and I have a
Seasonic PSU. When the side panel of my P180 is removed, my GPU gets to
around 80C. So, poor air flow in the expansion slot area is the culprit.

Anyway, I ordered a Koolance liquid cooler after researching. I'll see what
happens.

 

[DevilsPGD]

I think that the problem of the Zalman cooler is, unlike the stock cooler,
it doesn't exhaust hot air out of the case. I chose the Zalman because of
its quietness. I hate PC noise and my 120mm fans are set to low and I have a
Seasonic PSU. When the side panel of my P180 is removed, my GPU gets to
around 80C. So, poor air flow in the expansion slot area is the culprit.

Great case, airflow should not usually be a problem in that one. If you
have your drives in the lower compartment, make sure you have a fan in
the front socket of the upper drive compartment, this fan should pretty
effectively eliminate heat spots near the GPU.

 

[Mandinga]

Great case, airflow should not usually be a problem in that one. If you
have your drives in the lower compartment, make sure you have a fan in
the front socket of the upper drive compartment, this fan should pretty
effectively eliminate heat spots near the GPU.

Great advice! I never thought about that. A fan in the upper compartment
should blow (cool) air right to the GPU. Since my 2 hdd's reside in the
lower compartment, all I have to is install a fan. Luckily, I have 2 spare
Antec tri-cool fans.