GPU fans on the ATI radeon series

Sekure · 02-10-10, 10:25 AM

On Sunday my GPU fan stopped functioning. It's an EVGA ATI HD 4800 card with the stock fan.

I have the Catalyst Control Center installed (latest version 10.1) that allows you to overclock. I never bothered with overclocking it but used to use the window to check on the GPU temperature and the fan speed.

First thing I noticed was when playing SHIV (3rd career) and it shut my computer down - no warning - just instant power off.

Booting it back up again I wondered what had caused it. The fan on the card is very loud at anything above 50% speed. Literally you can hear it over and above all the other fans. This was normal since day 1 and before purchasing the card I did read the reviews that mentioned this but it never was overly concerning.

I ran the CCC with nothing else and noticed the temp of the GPU was 65 degrees C. Wow - that's hot.

I started SHIV, loaded a quick mission, paused the game and alt tab'ed back to the CCC to check temps again. Incredibly, it was 103 degrees C. But it immediately started dropping once I was out of SHIV.

Anyways, realizing that it was the GPU fan, I took the entire machine apart and cleaning the innards, the fans, the intakes, etc etc. They were pretty dusty since it's been about 9 months since I last had the chassis open. And then ran the same tests again with the same results.

So, having little money to spare, I ordered a new fan from newegg. A ZeroTherm CoolMaxx 2000 for $54 (free shipping) and a 3-4 pin power adapter.

I just got finished with removing the old fan and housing and installing the new one.

Results - I cannot hear the fan even at 100%. The fans in my case are louder. Super quiet.

The non-load temp is now 28 degrees C and with SHIV running it jumps to 38 degrees C. Impressed.

You can manually control the fan speed with the included dial as well.

The fan came with everything you need (barring the 3-4 pin power adapter because I have no spare 3 pin power on my mobo or cabled) included are:

Screws, heatsinks, insular stickers, fan and radiators. Install took about 30 minutes because one of the wires (the yellow) on the 3 pin power connector came loose. I don't know if it arrived like that but I think I may have tugged it loose somehow. So, I fenagled it back in again and superglued it to ensure it wouldn't work loose again.

The stock fan, IMO, is a terrible design because there's a 10s of wind tunnels that are curved and covered so you cannot check to see if there is any blockage or even if they are dusty. The fan was running (since I could hear it) but it wasn't cooling - actually when I manually put the fan to 100% with no load the temperature on the GPU rose - so it was creating more heat than it was dissipating.

Anyway, I thought I'd share because you may want to clean and check their fans/internals/intake/exhaust ports etc to ensure smooth running and low temps for component longevity.

02-10-10, 10:25 AM	#1
Sekure Watch Join Date: May 2009 Posts: 28 Downloads: 10 Uploads: 0	GPU fans on the ATI radeon series On Sunday my GPU fan stopped functioning. It's an EVGA ATI HD 4800 card with the stock fan. I have the Catalyst Control Center installed (latest version 10.1) that allows you to overclock. I never bothered with overclocking it but used to use the window to check on the GPU temperature and the fan speed. First thing I noticed was when playing SHIV (3rd career) and it shut my computer down - no warning - just instant power off. Booting it back up again I wondered what had caused it. The fan on the card is very loud at anything above 50% speed. Literally you can hear it over and above all the other fans. This was normal since day 1 and before purchasing the card I did read the reviews that mentioned this but it never was overly concerning. I ran the CCC with nothing else and noticed the temp of the GPU was 65 degrees C. Wow - that's hot. I started SHIV, loaded a quick mission, paused the game and alt tab'ed back to the CCC to check temps again. Incredibly, it was 103 degrees C. But it immediately started dropping once I was out of SHIV. Anyways, realizing that it was the GPU fan, I took the entire machine apart and cleaning the innards, the fans, the intakes, etc etc. They were pretty dusty since it's been about 9 months since I last had the chassis open. And then ran the same tests again with the same results. So, having little money to spare, I ordered a new fan from newegg. A ZeroTherm CoolMaxx 2000 for $54 (free shipping) and a 3-4 pin power adapter. I just got finished with removing the old fan and housing and installing the new one. Results - I cannot hear the fan even at 100%. The fans in my case are louder. Super quiet. The non-load temp is now 28 degrees C and with SHIV running it jumps to 38 degrees C. Impressed. You can manually control the fan speed with the included dial as well. The fan came with everything you need (barring the 3-4 pin power adapter because I have no spare 3 pin power on my mobo or cabled) included are: Screws, heatsinks, insular stickers, fan and radiators. Install took about 30 minutes because one of the wires (the yellow) on the 3 pin power connector came loose. I don't know if it arrived like that but I think I may have tugged it loose somehow. So, I fenagled it back in again and superglued it to ensure it wouldn't work loose again. The stock fan, IMO, is a terrible design because there's a 10s of wind tunnels that are curved and covered so you cannot check to see if there is any blockage or even if they are dusty. The fan was running (since I could hear it) but it wasn't cooling - actually when I manually put the fan to 100% with no load the temperature on the GPU rose - so it was creating more heat than it was dissipating. Anyway, I thought I'd share because you may want to clean and check their fans/internals/intake/exhaust ports etc to ensure smooth running and low temps for component longevity.