Need help with graphics card, please.

[Shirohebi]

Hello. Sometime ago i bought a graphics card, ATI Radeon HD 4870 512 mb version, it's an old one but i love its performance. Then, out of the blue the desktop starts flickering (i think people call it artif***s) freezes the image and reboots. If you're playing you can do it for 10, maybe 15 minutes before it does it again. Some friends say it's a temp problem, others that i need to throw it away and buy another...but it was really expensive. Any advice? Homemade reballing, perhaps?

 

[cyco22]

try booting another operating system otherwise contract coustumer care of your laptop/P.C

 

[NArutouzzi]

i had the same exact 1 dude nd had the same problem, my fan on the card was caked with dust nd stopped moving ND it over heated.
If you Know what your doing shut down your PC open it up ND check it out for yourself or also buy a new one, i eventually got a new laptop

 

[Shirohebi]

thatks for that, both of you, but here where i live things are a lil' bit trickier, laptops or new pc are off the table, extremely expensive. Also checked the fan and it was ok, i use afterburner and set fan option at 100 %, noisy but cooler, and still does the same thing. I'm almost sure its a welding issue, but i just wanted to check if any of you have any idea or advice on reballing. is it safe? can it be done at home? do you know how?

 

[Zombie]

You're getting 10-15 minutes of uptime before the GPU overheats? Are you absolutely positive the fan on it is running?

If not, you may want to check the voltage in the BIOS. The voltage may have been inadvertently stepped up (you can check the proper voltage settings online, probably from the vendor website even). Another issue with the voltage may be region, some regions use 110AC, others 120AC, and so on. Of course, naturally, the PSU is supposed to regulate these things.

Finally, heat rises. Do you have any cabling hanging loosely above your GPU? If so, try and bind it. Always try to run cables behind the motherboard tray if at all possible. Always bind cables as much as possible. Maximum airflow is essential to proper cooling.

Inevitably, if the cooling issues persist, then I suggest you venture into the world of case modding. My current workstation rig runs a refrigerator compressor to provide more than adequate cooling. Of course, it would probably be much easier for you to install a liquid cooling system.

 

[Shirohebi]

thanks for that advise, Zombie. I don't have any loose cabling and I also checked on the voltage issue: all correct. I'll try some case modding and if not I'll put the damn card into the oven at 10000000000 C's degs. thanks anyway.