Overheating NVIDIA GeForce 6800 AGP8x

[Obnoxious]

Hello,

Thank you for taking your time to read this, I appreciate it. Thank you.

I believe I have a problem with my graphics card. I'm not too sure if it's overheating or not, I've looked around on various forums, but I didn't find much answers; therefore I have decided to create a thread on this forum.

Well, as the title implies, I believe my GPU is overheating. It's a NVIDIA GeForce 6800 with 128MB DDR Video RAM, AGP 8x. It's model is Leadtek Winfast A400TDH. The graphics card also from time to time makes a crackling noise; I've tried reattaching the heatsink and fan, but it still makes the same noise. It doesn't always occur, but at random intervals. Perhaps it's random, but perhaps it's also due to overheating? I'm not too sure.

I figured my GPU must be overheating after I noticed my computer chassis getting warmer around the AGI/AGP slot. Please let me know if it's overheating; here's a screen shot from GPU-Z.

Also, how would I increase my fan speed from 40% to a higher rate? Would I have to do it in BIOS? If so, I believe I don't have that option. Do I need to upgrade my BIOS? If so, currently it's a version from 2004, and my motherboard is an ASRock P4i45GV R5.0.

P.S. The GeForce 6800 GPU is the best my motherboard can take.

Thank you for reading, and all your assistance.

 

[carowden]

if you cant upgrade any, your best option is to download a program like msi afterburner or something similar. They have ways to adjust fan settings

 

[Obnoxious]

Hello, thank you for your response.

I've downloaded Afterburner, and set the GPU Fan Speed at 100%. It makes only a 1 degree difference. Is there anything else to do, to make it cooler?

Thank you for your response.

 

[carowden]

when you took the fan/heatsink off did you remove and then reapply thermal paste?

 

[Deleted member 217926]

Have you ever cleaned the card out with compressed air? A card that old ( I had a 6800 AGP years ago ) would have collected quite a bit of dust over the years.

 

[Obnoxious]

when you took the fan/heatsink off did you remove and then reapply thermal paste?

No, unfortunately I didn't. But the last time I applied thermal paste was around Q2 2011. Would you say it needs to be reapplied? Thank you for your response.

Well, 68C is not a good temp for idle. What about full load temp? (like playing games, etc.)

Thank you for your response. I don't often play games these days, but when I run Burnout Paradise, it gets to around 80 or 90 I believe. I can't recall correctly from memory, but I believe it is round there.

Have you ever cleaned the card out with compressed air? A card that old ( I had a 6800 AGP years ago ) would have collected quite a bit of dust over the years.

Indeed, yes. I cleaned it out approximately a month ago. I don't think that could be a problem, but if necessary I will clean it again. Thank you for your response.

Would anyone recommend a PCI GPU Fan? Something like this? http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Zalman-ZM-SC100-PCI-Slot-System-Cooling-Exhaust-Fan-/160603633082?pt=UK_Computing_Case_Fans&hash=item2564b8f5ba

Thank you.

 

[raph662]

Do you notice any other symptoms besides the crackling noise? It could be your fan. If the card is indeed overheating you will notice FPS drops and lower performance in games and what not.

 

[carowden]

No, unfortunately I didn't. But the last time I applied thermal paste was around Q2 2011. Would you say it needs to be reapplied? Thank you for your response.

as far as i know (and someone correct me if i'm wrong), you're supposed to remove the old and reapply every time you remove the fan and heatsink, so if you didn't last time, i'd say yes you should remove the fan and reapply