Tech Support

    Time for some tech support!


    My computer is behaving very oddly for the past months.

    Basically, when I'm doing anything video related my screen will display graphics in a weird way. But it's not like this every day. Sometimes I can use my computer as if there was no tomorrow, but on others I can't watch a single video without encountering problems.


    • Sometimes random red and/ or green and/ or blue dots will pop up on my screen and stay there. If they feel the need, those morons dots will disappear and reappear in a different place on my screen.
    • Sometimes the videos I'm playing (on Youtube, Steam store etc) will break the image and display very square-like blocks of that, like this:[Blocked Image: http://img838.imageshack.us/img838/1631/zoh.png]


    The average temperature of my video board is 74ºC without anything open. I know it's high as hell, but it used to be 85ºC~ averagely and rise up to 101ºC~ when I played games. Then I decided to clean the shit out of it, and the temperature dropped significantly a little. AFAIK, it has never been lower than 65ºC.


    Things you might want to know:

    • I bought my whole computer in 2010. My video board is an ATI Radeon HD 4870 1GB.
    • Randomly my screen will turn off and will enable me to turn it back on after a few seconds. Samsung T190. It's been like this for over an year, though this might be related to my issue.
    • I already updated my computer with Windows Update.
    • I already loaded that ATI Catalyst dozens of times, so my video driver should be fine as well.
    • My computer case is always open.


    Is it an issue with the video card? Or with the computer screen? Is it a temperature issue? I don't know how I could make it lower.


    Please, help!

    sounds like either a melted gfx card or cooling problems. this is no science but ive had alot of ati cards die on me because of the crappy coolers i got with 'em. might try another cooler if you have one lying around.. of course, after all the mandatory shit like wiping and reinstalling gfx drivers etc..

    Go safe, go nvidia. Also, 74ºC is pretty high, most likely you have a faulty GPU or your cooler is really shit.


    Also, long shot but you might wanna update your codecs pack since you said it's primary a video playback problem.

    Ah, forgot to say: my computer case is always open, so I don't know if that's a cooling problem... Or could it still be?


    Thank you, killertomato and HP!

    I'll reinstall those codecs to see if at least solve my video playback issue.

    It's good to know that I'm not the only one with probs with ATI cards.

    pfft. this is nothing.


    when you start to see BSOD every time you log into windows you will get shocked


    no seriously.


    its because you use (WINDOWS)... go mac pro hahahahaah

    Quote from Al Anselmo~Intelect0

    The average temperature of my video board is 74ºC without anything open. I know it's high as hell, but it used to be 85ºC~ averagely and rise up to 101ºC~ when I played games. Then I decided to clean the shit out of it, and the temperature dropped significantly a little. AFAIK, it has never been lower than 65ºC.

    Is it an issue with the video card? Or with the computer screen? Is it a temperature issue? I don't know how I could make it lower.


    Yes. That's called overheating. The 4870's were knownfor getting pretty hot on their stock coolers but the temperatures you have posted are rather absurd even for an ATI card - NOTHING gets that hot unless there is real problem. My card for example (nvidia 560Ti 1gb), on full load hits 65 and idles happily at 35. But ATI do awesome cards, my last one was a 5870 and it was a fucking BEAST.

    My suggestion to you is dismantle the GPU, take off the heatsink and fan and clean all the dust and dirt out of it (I'd do this to my old 5870 and nvidia 6800 ultra cards) and examine it to see if anything has melted or is loose or faulty in someway. It's pretty straightforward all you need is a screwdriver. And if your case is always open then that's just a case with poor airflow and circulation. What kind of temperature is your CPU running at? Is that a stock cooler too? If it is then that'll be pumping out a lot of hot air too.

    I'd also suggest cleaning the shit out of your case and CPU and everything else inside it as well. After all that and you still get high temps, then it's time to invest in a new card.

    Edit: And just to add, if it was at 101c (what the fuck) then I'd be amazed if something hasn't melted on it yet. That's the biggest sign something is up. Take it apart and find out.

    Quote from dux

    Yes. That's called overheating. The 4870's were knownfor getting pretty hot on their stock coolers but the temperatures you have posted are rather absurd even for an ATI card - NOTHING gets that hot unless there is real problem. My card for example (nvidia 560Ti 1gb), on full load hits 65 and idles happily at 35. But ATI do awesome cards, my last one was a 5870 and it was a fucking BEAST.

    My suggestion to you is dismantle the GPU, take off the heatsink and fan and clean all the dust and dirt out of it (I'd do this to my old 5870 and nvidia 6800 ultra cards) and examine it to see if anything has melted or is loose or faulty in someway. It's pretty straightforward all you need is a screwdriver. And if your case is always open then that's just a case with poor airflow and circulation. What kind of temperature is your CPU running at? Is that a stock cooler too? If it is then that'll be pumping out a lot of hot air too.

    I'd also suggest cleaning the shit out of your case and CPU and everything else inside it as well. After all that and you still get high temps, then it's time to invest in a new card.

    Edit: And just to add, if it was at 101c (what the fuck) then I'd be amazed if something hasn't melted on it yet. That's the biggest sign something is up. Take it apart and find out.


    Thank you, dux! I check the temps via the Windows gadgets All CPU Meter (with Coretemp) and GPU Meter. I believe they are accurate. Does anyone know/ use them? It's common to have temperatures higher than 100ºC when I play games, in both CPU and GPU. Can you believe it? I know this because it's possible to set alarms on those gadgets that will play if the temp gets higher than that... Pretty freaky! I'm pretty sure that I only have stock coolers... After turning on my computer, without anything open (even Steam and Spotify), my CPU temp stays at 42ºC~. As soon as I open something, that goes to at least 60ºC~. Here's a test I just did where you can see both gadgets. On the first seconds, I have nothing open. Then, I open Steam and Chrome (with 14 tabs) at the same time:[Blocked Image: http://i.imgur.com/leRiHiP.gif] Wow! I think I never saw my GPU with less than 50ºC, let alone 35ºC! I'll do as you suggested and dismantle the GPU. I never did that! Wish me luck About the video codecs, they seem to have made no effect unfortunately :/

    Quote from Nz-Nexus

    next time you buy a pc save yourself money and save yourself the need to come here and post your computer issues > buy water cooling

    Is it a thing nowadays? 100% safe and etc?

    Quote from Al Anselmo~Intelect0

    Ah, forgot to say: my computer case is always open, so I don't know if that's a cooling problem... Or could it still be?

    I'm not an overclocker, but having the case open doesn't guarantee for good temperature, what matter is air flow; depending on how components are arranged, you could have pockets of hot air in there, so you should get a case with fans to do the work. Quick test: put a fan pointing at it and see if there's change.

    Then I dunno, it also depends on the temperatures and humidity you get were you live; i mean, I sometimes get 32°C and +80% in my room in the summer :-/

    But, given the kind of problems you are encountering, the first thing I'd do would be cleaning both the connectors AND the socket, you maybe have some dust in there. By having the case open i think you get more dirt in it than not... it's just easier to clean it regularly

    I dunno with current models, but ATI were always on the hotter side, so not sure if that alone is the problem. I'd give the cleaning treatment to the RAM modules and sockets too. While you are at it, you could also clean the CPU socket.

    Check temperature for the RAM modules and run a memtest also.

    And about the alarms: as far as I know, computer/components go in protection mode when temperature is at danger levels and they shut themselves down. Btw I think to remember there was some kind of alarm/trigger for this in old ATI drivers or some third party temperature monitor. Maybe even in the BIOS.

    Afterthought: you sure your power pack is not under-supplying?

    Yeah I can say from personal experience that an open case is actually a very bad idea. The point of fans is to suck the hot air constantly coming off the hardware away as quickly as possible; the only way that can work is if you have a closed case. If the case is open the air just kind of sits there not really going anywhere, thus the hardware drowns in its own hot-ass air.


    I'd imagine that in certain climates water cooling is pretty much vital if you don't have efficient components. At least make sure you've got a closed case with an efficient airflow though. Here's a good guide:


    http://www.extremetech.com/computing/1283…cooling-your-pc

    Temperatures way too high, I got cheap crappy coolers and my mobo idles at 50~55 and peaks at 65-70.


    Make sure to have at least 3 case fans, two blowing fresh air into the CPU (one on top of the cpu and another on the front side) and a third one on the back blowing the hot air out (make sure they are spinning in the correct direction otherwise you will get the opposite effect ).

    Quote from KoKo5oVaR

    Cheap aesthetic solution : open the case and put a regular fan (for cooling real people) beside it


    I .. i think i'm doing this since 2 years


    Yep, and as I remember you're the guy who lost all the data from HDD and there will be on Tekkonkinkreet-ish scene, right?

    Thanks everyone for the help so far I didn't have the time today to dismantle the GPU, but I'll do a massive clean up tomorrow. According to SIW, these are the temperatures and voltages:[Blocked Image: http://i.imgur.com/eIpMXwC.png] Minos, the mobo (motherboard?) seems fine then, right? 42~44ºC According to my test with a small piece of paper placed very close the the coolers:

    • The CPU's cooler: blows air INTO the CPU.
    • The GPU's fan: blows air INTO the GPU.
    • The back cooler: blows air INTO the case.
    • The power supply's fan: blows air OUT of the case (it's placed right above the back cooler).

    (I don't know the difference between cooler and fan, hence the confusion above. Sorry about that). It seems that my coolers are retarded. I'll see if I can place the back cooler on the opposite side, because it should be blowing air to the outside, correct? (well, at least according to that image on the link Thrik posted - thanks for that, I'll read that). My power supply is a Seventeam ST-650z-AF (80 Plus Bronze certified, 650Watts Continuous, Build in STNC fan control etc). So I believe that it isn't under-supplying... Hmm that's good to know that open cases are bad (and I should feel bad!). I'll let it closed then :/I'll see if I can find a small fan to place it near my case, KoKo5oVaR! Thanks for the suggestion

    Hot air goes up, so my friends who had some sweet machines built, they all had:

    1 fan in the lower-front of the case, sucking in air

    2 fans on the lower of the side you normally open, sucking in air

    1 fan on the top, sucking out air

    Yeah, power supply definitely seems a good piece

    Btw it could all be that the heat paste ("thermal compound") wasn't applied correctly when the graphic card was assembled and you really need to disassemble the heat sink and apply some new one.


    Quote from KoKo5oVaR

    Cheap aesthetic solution : open the case and put a regular fan (for cooling real people) beside it

    Yeah, that's what I meant before as to "run a quick test". If you do just that and everything is fine, you know what it is. I was doing the same during the hottest weeks when I still had a PC.

    But I recommend the slot cleaning because I had something like that happening to me in the past with a PC i borrowed.

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