X1900xtx freeze/reboot/VPU recovery

[fusk]

My machine is running all day long, and been doing so for the past years.
It consists of.
p4 650 3.4 ghz
Abit ig-80
2x512 mb corsair pc3200
ati x1900xtx 512mb
3x sata drives
chill-innovation cp-450a4 450w psu

I've played red alert 3, car games, asassins creed and more, no problems, this was a few months ago tho.

So the other day i wanted to play red alert 3 again, it ran fine for a few min, then suddenly the screen went black and restarted, and the vpu recovery message had popped up from the catalyst control center, first i just thought it was a glitch in the driver, so i rebooted, but same issue, so maybe it was the game.
I then installed turok, but i get the same problem, it even reboots by it self now and then, but it runs fine for the first 5 min.

so reading the internet, aparently quite a few people are experiencing this issue.

My computer has just been reinstalled a week ago, latest driver everywhere and win xp with sp3, i runs 100% fine doing all other tasks besideds gaming.

so i was thinking, could this be the psu reaching it's limit because it has gotten old and worn out?
i tried the psu calculator. http://www.extreme.outervision.com/PSUEngine

which says my hardware would use around 398w under 100% load, and my psu is 450w.

i tryed out atitool, scan for artifacts, if i do it with the normal clock 500/594 it runs without any problems, just now it's been going for 40min, but if i use the 3D clocks 648/774 then the vpu recovery will kick in after little over 1 min.

I tryed using drivecleaner to remove everything and then reinstall the drivers, but no effect.

I just can't figure what is wrong, any help would be apreciated.

 

[jaguarskx]

If the PC has been on nearly 24/7 for the past couple of years, then it could be just normal "wear and tear".

Perhaps the thermal paste/grease on the GPU has finally dried and cracked. Best thing to do is to remove the heatsink and get rid of the current thermal paste/grease and apply a new layer. I still use good ole' Arctic Silver 5.

 

[fusk]

i havn't tryed doing that before, but is that possible with just regular tools?

I actually have some Arctic Silver céramique, guess i can use that.

 

[fusk]

what i don't understand, is that i've seen office machines which are 5/6 years old doing the job just fine, running 8 hours a day or more.

And i don't game that much, using it mostly for video, which means the gfx card mostly uses the lower clock freq.

 

[fusk]

jaguarskx, thank you.
just applyed new paste, and atitool ran for 1½ min and still going, so it seems like you where absolutely right.

 

[jay2tall]

I've heard of the x1900 cards going bad after several years. They run MUCH hotter than most. Does it still have the stock cooler? you can always try the paste, that stuff is good. Just make sure to remove the card when it is warm. Maybe play a game for a few minutes and then shut down and remove the card. it makes removing the cooler easier. Clean the old goop off and reapply. Make sure to keep the RAM tape in tacked.

If that does not work see if the card is still under warranty.