HD 4850 Overheating and turning off computer

[Bastille Day]

I am having overheating and turning off the computer with my Gigabyte HD 4850 (with huge heatsink and zalman fan).

Other possibly relevant factors: four case fans 80mm with good airflow ratings. Corsair PS 750W with 140mm fan. Not overclocked.

Everest Ultimate edition shows GPU diode temps to be 93c, 95c, and 86c with only the internet browser running.

Help!

[profJim]

Re: HD 4850 Overheating and turning off computer

Are you using the drivers from the cdrom that came with your video card or have you downloaded the most recent drivers from ATI.
You might need to use RivaTuner to properly adjust your GFX fan speeds.

Please include the brand and model of your computer case and a link to the full specifications for your case.
Add a detailed hardware list to your forum signature so that we know exactly what we are dealing with.
What are the specs for your case fans and what are the fan speeds?

What is the ambient room temperature where your computer is set up?

[NimrodAUS]

Re: HD 4850 Overheating and turning off computer

Get the latest drivers and See what the temps are in the CCC if they are high I would suggest if the card is not brand new to remove the heatsink and reapply some thermal grease and re fit the heatsink making sure its making good contact with the chip. THose sort of temps can only mean that the heat sink is not making good contact with the chip?

You may get away with not needing additional thermal paste if there is still a good amount on the heatsink/chip. just make sure the base of the heatsink is flush with the chip and it look right.

[wazza300]

Re: HD 4850 Overheating and turning off computer

id only advise doing this if your fairly handy with diy,you can unscrew the heatsink from gpu and remove the thermal paste thats on it and replace with good quality like arctic silver 5 or mx 2 paste, ive done it with my old x1950 and it knocked a good 10c off temps...but it shouldnt be overheating anyway only other option is to buy an akasa aftermarket cooler that vents all the hot air out the rear of your case google akasa ati card cooler n it will come up as i cant remember the name of it

[Chike]

Re: HD 4850 Overheating and turning off computer

Is the video card HS the original one? What are CPU/cores/system temperatures?

[Conners]

Re: HD 4850 Overheating and turning off computer

You can go into CCC and to ATI overdrive and manually set you fan speed. My 4870 only runs about 22%, but you get up around 35-40% and it sounds like a tornado in there.

[Psycho101]

[Bastille Day]

Re: HD 4850 Overheating and turning off computer

ProfJim,

I am using the Catalyst Driver from May 2009 ATI Catalyst 9.6

Have not used Riva tuner to adjust fan speeds.

Computer case is a no name brand, it is midsized with 3 5" slots and 4 smaller slots. 4 80mm case fans - 2 front, 1 side, 1 rear. Not sure of the specs for the case fan, but they are from Thermaltake. Space to add 2 more front fans.

Other specs: AMD dual core 5600, Gigabyte 690G GA-MA69VM-S2 Mobo, HDs: 120GB Western Digital, 200GB Seagate, 1T Western Digital. Corsair 750W PS, Gigabyte HD 4850 Video.

Todays Temps by Everest: 92,92, 86 with browser only

Ambient room temp 65.5 F


Other questions: The cooler with this card seems really good. GIGABYTE - Product - Graphics Accelerator - Overview - GV-R485ZL-512H

I have never reapplied thermal paste, but my son has done that with CPU HSF. I remember on the newegg forum when I bought it, that someone mentioned this Zalman HSF was unreplaceable. Don't know if they were right, but I would prefer not messing with this. The paste should still be good at 10 months, shouldn't it?

CPU core 1 temp is 40c. Core 2 temp is 37c. Motherboard temp is 40c. Hard Dive temps are 33c.

Hope that info is sufficient.

[Psycho101]

Re: HD 4850 Overheating and turning off computer

As stated, your thermal paste is fine. Your GPU cooler is fine. Your fan speed is fine.

It is your VRM's that are completely bare and uncooled, and it is these that are over heating and causing your PC to instantly switch off.

Black screens and driver restarts when gaming, PC shutting down, all VRM issues. An over heating GPU wold usually artifact first (you'll see white/yellow speckles on the screen) before it gets hot enough (over ~115c) to think about powering everything off.

I'm not saying that sinking the VRM's and ventilating them will 100% cure your issue, but I can say that it's not a GPU temp issue, and also I can say that in the strictest sense and IMO, I do not believe the cooling on that card is sufficient. ANY 4830/4850/4870/4890/4870X2/5850/5870 card which has the VRMs bare isn't sufficiently cooled.

Problems related to VRM's:

4850 overheat with Accelero S1? - AVForums.com

Omgili WebToolbar - So my VRM's are overheating on my HD 4870... - Overclock.net - Overclocking.net

Specifically regarding Zalman GPU coolers (this is a 4870/4890 compatible sink) they state "The use of this heatsink is recommended by Zalman, when users opt for their compatible GPU heatsinks that don't cover the card's VRM area. It will arrive at stores very soon".

It could be argued that the 4850 runs at a lower speed and therefore draws less power through the VRM's, which is true. However, the 4850 has HALF the number of power phases as a 4870/4890 and therefore each VRM can get just as hot, if not more so.

EDIT*** The Zalman cooler is completely replaceable. It just unscrews, as does any other heatsink on any GPU. Whom ever told you this, doesn't know as much as they think they do.

[Bastille Day]

Re: HD 4850 Overheating and turning off computer

Psycho,

So if I am not getting enough air over the voltage regulator modules, would increasing the fan speed on the cards Zalman HSF help? On Catalyst, it shows a temp of 79c with fan at 24%. If I altered the fan speed with riva tuner or Ati tray tools, would it always be stuck at that number or could it still be upwardly variable with a 3D game load?

Did Gigabyte put heat sinks on these VRMs?

BTW on the Accelero overheating link you provided, I think the guy was complaining about his card reaching 79c when playing Crysis. Mine is as high or higher when in 2D mode.

When I first got the card, I seem to remember seeing the idle temp at 36-39c (same case). Is there a normal idle temperature for this card touted for its excellent cooling?

Also, would having the side fan blow inward help cool these VRMs?

[wazza300]

Re: HD 4850 Overheating and turning off computer

my card idles at 35c and fan is at 41% at idle i havnt seen it go over 60c at full load i know its not as powerfull as your card but your temps are too high imo,check you gpu fan connections and i would apply some new tmp to the gpu processor,i have a zalman heatsink and fan also and in ati tray i think it still regulates with temps even if you set high fan speed

[Psycho101]

Re: HD 4850 Overheating and turning off computer



Here are the VRM's on the card, left completely bare. Ultimately you would be best to stick some heatsinks to them and then have a fan blow over them somehow. The fan without sinks would be better than nothing, but the heat sinks will increase effective surface area any where between 5 and 10 times that of a bare VRM.

A total overhaul of cooling sounds good. Remove the Zalman, clean with cleaning fluid/alcohol, do the same to the GPU die. Add fresh compound and spread thinly. re-fix the Zalman, stick on some VRM sinks and have the side fan blowing on to the card. The Zalman fan won't provide any real quantity of air to that end of the card.

Normal temps for a 4850:

Stock cooler: 70-75 idle, 85-95+ load.

Brand specific cooler (Asus Glaciator, Gigabyte's Zalman cooler) 40-50 idle (fan @ 40%) 65-75 load.

More expensive after market cooler: 30-38c idle, 48-60 load

All the temps vary by ambient conditions, but the ranges give you an idea.

The Zalman cooler is completely replaceable. It's not a poor cooler, but not exactly exceptional, merely better than the stock one.

[Bastille Day]

Re: HD 4850 Overheating and turning off computer

Would these heatsinks do the trick?

Newegg.com - Computer Hardware,Fans & Heatsinks,Memory & Chipset Cooling,Mosfet

The bar heaksinks look like they screw onto the board. The tall ones with tape look like they might work. Of course they are for mosfets instead of vrms but the principle is the same.

I don't understand why my non-overclocked board would need such tampering just to attain normal operating temperatures of similar HD 4850s. Does the board itself sound defective? Would Gigabyte consider it defective? Wish it was operating as cool as it did 10 months ago.


.

[Bastille Day]

Re: HD 4850 Overheating and turning off computer

Solved the problem two days later by turning some case fans around and blowing out absolutely everything in the case.

Now: idles at 38c, which is generally a sign of a fever. Would you Aussies suggest a Fosters?

[NimrodAUS]

Re: HD 4850 Overheating and turning off computer

Yes Fosters is an Aussie Beer, but dispite popular beliefe the only people that drink it are Poms. lol. I dont even think you can by fosters in my town. We drink XXXX Gold beer here in Queensland. NSW drink Tooheys and Tasmania its Cascade.