Replaced GPU Fan; Windows No Longer Boots!

[tahayassen]

Well, my 12-year-old brother's computer's video card's fan stopped functioning about a week ago. After his computer randomly rebooted, he noticed that the fan for the GPU was not spinning. Apparently, a wire got caught in the fan. He let the computer run fanless (idled around 50 degrees Celsius), and he refrained from doing anything video-intensive until he replaced the fan.

The rig is quite old, but it suits the needs of a 12 year old fine. He refuses to use the built-in Intel IGP, but I don't blame him, because it can't even run YouTube without lagging (lol!). It's an ATI 4650 AGP, and we figured we'd spend $20 to fix the fan. We bought the Accelero L2 Pro, and after installing it and running it, Windows seems to go through the entire loading process, but right after the loading logo disappears, the colours totally mess up for less than a split second, and either the computer turns off, or the screen goes black. I thought it was a corrupt Windows installation, so I tried to re-install XP, but the same exact error happened right after the CD finishes loading the drivers & setup files.

Maybe we installed it incorrectly? This is how we did it:

Screw --> Adhesive Circle Sticker --> Video Card Board --> Red Circle --> Spacer

If you're wondering what I mean by "Red Circle" and "Spacer", refer to http://www.arctic.ac/en/p/cooling/spare-parts/160/screw-set-accelero-series.html

Also, see this: http://www.arctic.ac/en/p/detail?sArticle=23.%3F

 

[tahayassen]

Also, while I'm at it, my other rig has a single 5770, and the motherboard has two PCI-E slots. If I want to upgrade the graphics performance, should I run 2 5770's in crossfire, or should I just upgrade the card?

 

[Archean]

About the second rig, it depends on your budget and what sort of PSU you have in the second rig.

As for the first one, I am suspecting that the heatstick may not have been properly seated/attached to GPU, so once it hit critical temperature level it simply quits/shutsdown to prevent any hardware damage to the system.

 

[Rizlla]

Question 1: Does the system boot when using the onboard Graphics? Check to make sure that the Heat sink is properly attached. Just to confirm, is the "Adhesive Circle Sticker" the thermal paste?

Question 2: It depends on your budget. What is your resolution? 5770's are getting old, but they are great cards. If you put 2 together it will work great depending on your resolution and graphic details. I would personally go for a new card, but it will then also depend on if your PSU is strong enough.

 

[Unolocogringo]

Without the manual it is hard to say.
But it appears you installed it wrong.
The red washers should be on the screws on the back of the card. Screw goes through hole in card. then the white spacer arround screw. then the heatsink.
If you have the red and white between the board and H/S the H/S in not touching the die.
Take it off and look at the thermal paste or TIM. It should be compressed and very thin on the die area.

 

[tahayassen]

About the second rig, it depends on your budget and what sort of PSU you have in the second rig.

As for the first one, I am suspecting that the heatstick may not have been properly seated/attached to GPU, so once it hit critical temperature level it simply quits/shutsdown to prevent any hardware damage to the system.

I have a 550W PSU for my second rig.

Question 1: Does the system boot when using the onboard Graphics? Check to make sure that the Heat sink is properly attached. Just to confirm, is the "Adhesive Circle Sticker" the thermal paste?

Question 2: It depends on your budget. What is your resolution? 5770's are getting old, but they are great cards. If you put 2 together it will work great depending on your resolution and graphic details. I would personally go for a new card, but it will then also depend on if your PSU is strong enough.

Question 1: Yes, the system does boot completely fine, when I use the IGP. I don't think I know how to check if the heatsink is properly attached. No, the adhesive circler sticker is not the thermal paste. The adhesive circle sticker is identical to the red washers shown here: http://www.arctic.ac/p/images/articles/7a9025d783106e8b64bfb80ca121db0e_5.png but they are white, and they are sticky on one side.

Question 2: My resolution is 1440x900. My PSU is 550W.

Without the manual it is hard to say.
But it appears you installed it wrong.
The red washers should be on the screws on the back of the card. Screw goes through hole in card. then the white spacer arround screw. then the heatsink.
If you have the red and white between the board and H/S the H/S in not touching the die.
Take it off and look at the thermal paste or TIM. It should be compressed and very thin on the die area.

Ah, I see.

---

By some miracle, the computer started working today. But then I checked the temperature of the GPU using GPU-Z, and the card was idling at about 80 degrees Celsius. Surprisingly, even at 80 degrees Celsius, the fan was only at 68% usage. I tried to change the fan speed to 100% in MSI Afterburner, but it wouldn't let me manually change it.

From what I've read from your posts, here are several possible mistakes I have made:

1) I installed it incorrectly. The order is supposed to be: screw --> red washer --> board --> spacer --> heatsink. But where does the adhesive circle sticker go? The adhesive circle sticker is a sticker (sticky only on one side) that has a shape identical to the red washer.

2) I read somewhere that the someone had the same issue as me. He said he removed the spacer, and the card worked fine after that. What purpose does the spacer serve in the first place?

3) http://www.xbitlabs.com/images/video/ati-radeon-hd4650/pc4650_front-s.jpg That's how the card looks like when the cooler is removed. The Accelero L2 Pro came with VR heatsinks, and RAM heatsinks. I can't even find the VR on the card, so I didn't install those heatsinks. I believe the RAM are the four black chips surrounding the GPU on top of it, and to the right of it. When I removed the stock cooler, they did not have any heatsinks. Do you think this card is designed to not have heatsinks on the RAM?

4) The power for this fan is really weird. It doesn't directly connection to the GPU like the stock cooler did. Instead, it appears to directly connect to the PSU. How do I change the fan speed from the computer if it doesn't ever connect to the computer itself? From the fan, there is a 4 small-pin connector (power input), and from the 4 small-pin connector, a 3 small pin-connector (power input) extends from it. In addition, the cooler came with a wire (click here to see a picture) that had a 4 large-pin connector (power input) on one end, and two 3 small-pin connectors (power output) on the other end. Can anyone help me? Here's the manual: http://www.arctic.ac/index.php?eID=tx_mm_bccmsbase_zip&id=2248325524e5ef9dfbe94d Fyi, the card has a 2 small-pin port (power out).

 

[Rizlla]

Maybe try adding some thermal paste. Put the cooler in place and remove it again. you will then also be able to see if the cooler connects properly.

 

[Rizlla]

Maybe try adding some thermal paste. Put the cooler in place and remove it again. you will then also be able to see if the cooler connects properly.

 

[tahayassen]

Okay, I've fixed the problem by putting the red washer on the other side of the board. I still can't seem to manually control the speed of the fan. Any help?

 

[Rizlla]

Okay, I've fixed the problem by putting the red washer on the other side of the board. I still can't seem to manually control the speed of the fan. Any help?

Don't you have any OC software that came with the card? Then you usually have the option to control the fan speed manually.