[Tetsuya]

I've had this GeForce 8800 since just after Apple released the kit. Previously, the fan never really ran at all.

Just recently (within the last 2-3 weeks) the fan has started to crank up every time i play any 3D games; during WoW, for instance, the card fan never ramped up, now it ramps up the moment i start the app.

This behaviour is more noticable under Windows, where i've been playing Dragon Age, and the card fan spins up immediately and stays spun up for a bit after i quit playing.

I'm not super concerned about the fan running, merely concerned about the fact that its behaviour has changed so drastically lately.

Is this a sign of impending card death or something?

[the Battle Cat]

Tetsuya, on November 20th 2009, 06:29 AM, said:

I'm not super concerned about the fan running, merely concerned about the fact that its behaviour has changed so drastically lately.

Is this a sign of impending card death or something?

Have you visually inspected the fan? There might be a bit of debris caught in the fan blade that catches the air just right to make a lot of noise when it spins up normally.

[Tetsuya]

the Battle Cat, on November 20th 2009, 07:50 AM, said:

Have you visually inspected the fan? There might be a bit of debris caught in the fan blade that catches the air just right to make a lot of noise when it spins up normally.

its definitely not that - i clean it regularly. And when im just toodling around in the OS or doing non-3D things, it doesnt spin up. Only when im playing games. As i said, im not really concerned about the fan itself - merely the sudden change in behaviour.

[Greg Gant]

Have you monitored the card tempature for abnormal heat?

Notable there's always the option of using a fanless cooler. I've been using one for over a year now with my 8800 GT, it sure quiets things down a lot and due to Apple's smart PCI chamber it doesn't exactly infringe on space for other cards which is great as I have all four slots filled in my Mac Pro.

[Tetsuya]

can you recommend an app to do that?

[Tetsuya]

bump. And/or can you recommend a cooler for the 8800GT?

if i can figure out what temp it is running at.. what SHOULD it be running at?

[PeopleLikeFrank]

I had something like this or this, which worked quite well, though check the manufacturer's page for compatibility. I seem to remember that that card could hit around 90º C on the stock cooler, which is OK, but if it's getting up to 100º or higher, that's a concern. (Under windows drivers, that was around the point the card would start throttling down.) Cooler than 90º would also increase the longevity of the hardware, which a decent 3rd party cooler should achieve.

I also had this cooler on a 4870, and it was quite good, but, it has separate heatsinks for the VRAM and voltage regulators, and they stick on with thermal adhesive tape. The tape they used was pretty crap, and some of the VRAM sinks fell off and my card died as a result (so I quietly stuck the original heatsink back on and got it replaced. ) Mind you, the 8800GT won't run nearly as hot as the 4870, and you can buy better tape.

[Tetsuya]

ive had two serious issues today in the last 3 hours. Both times, i was playing WoW; the fan on the card had not spun up (back to its previous behaviour). Both times, the majority of my screen went totally black, and the top 1/6th of it or so flashes yellow, white, and then shows a flash of the scene it was rendering before it does this.

The second time, it eventually redrew the entire screen, but WoW wasnt moving, and there were little blue lines shot through everything. I could move the cursor but could not force-quit WoW or click on anything.

I've run Hardware Test but it doesnt find anything (and, uh, It also only shows me having 2GB of RAM and the other 4 RAM DIMMs as "0 MB" - is that normal?) and Temperature Monitor (which wo nt show the video card) shows my other sensors WELL below their listed maximums (including the expansion card bay)

Is the Video Card going teats up?

edit: also, is there a working version of Tech Tool for 10.6 yet? I hadnt purchased a new version in quite a while and didn't get the new one recently because it doesnt support 10.6. If it does now, i'd upgrade and give her a go.

If so, i believe Rob from Barefeats posted once that the HD 4870 will actually work in a 1st-Gen Mac Pro (but isnt "officially" supported) - is that true? If im going to have to replace the damn thing i may as well drop the extra 80 bucks and just go top of the line-ish.

[Tetsuya]

Also: is there any App, PC or Mac, that i can stress test the card with to see if i can reproduce the failure (and maybe check the card temp) without having to wait for it to randomly take a dump on me?

If it is the card, i need to know now, as i have a chance to score a Radeon 3870 for about 120 bucks. Yes, it wont be as top of the linish as a 4870 but itll be as good as the GeForce 8800 and the price is right.

[Tetsuya]

Now the whole machine hard locks when i even open WoW. Haven't tried any other 3D games moving to that next.

[Tetsuya]

moral of the story is: dead video card.

the thermal paste/compound they used utterly failed. it had turned brittle and was flaking away (this is a post-death autopsy, i thought maybe the cooling unit was off, or something, and when i took the screws off it just popped right off, it wasnt even adhering anymore). Odd thing is the card was still reporting only 60c in Windows (which supposedly was the right temp).

I just ordered a Radeon 4870 (which DOES work in the older Pro's if you have the drivers, which are in SL) to replace it, from someone who just upgraded to the GTX 260.

[jgwdoc]

Tetsuya, on December 3rd 2009, 12:01 AM, said:

Now the whole machine hard locks when i even open WoW. Haven't tried any other 3D games moving to that next.

Tetsuya, that's what happened to me just before my 8800 died. All the Hardware tests game up ok (including TechTool Pro), but whenever you actually stressed the card with a modern game it crashed the machine. I went for a flashed 4870 on Ebay, which has been totally great.

[PeopleLikeFrank]

Tetsuya, on December 3rd 2009, 10:49 AM, said:

moral of the story is: dead video card.

the thermal paste/compound they used utterly failed. it had turned brittle and was flaking away (this is a post-death autopsy, i thought maybe the cooling unit was off, or something, and when i took the screws off it just popped right off, it wasnt even adhering anymore). Odd thing is the card was still reporting only 60c in Windows (which supposedly was the right temp).

I just ordered a Radeon 4870 (which DOES work in the older Pro's if you have the drivers, which are in SL) to replace it, from someone who just upgraded to the GTX 260.

That's not entirely abnormal, and as long as the heatsink was securely attached, shouldn't have been a big issue - the paste is only there to fill small gaps between the surfaces of the heatsink and chip, and does tend to set after a while. It's not meant to adhere the heatsink. Given that the temps being reported weren't super high, the death of the card likely wasn't heat related.

Too bad about the card, but the 4870 will make a nice upgrade!

[Sneaky Snake]

Tetsuya, on December 2nd 2009, 09:53 PM, said:

Also: is there any App, PC or Mac, that i can stress test the card with to see if i can reproduce the failure (and maybe check the card temp) without having to wait for it to randomly take a dump on me?

Too bad about your GPU dying

But if you still want a GPU stress app then Furmark is the one to use.

[Tetsuya]

the 4870 is indeed very impressive. It's too bad i had to buy a flashed card, but Apple charges 175$ more than i picked this one up for...

and im glad this one works in my 1st Gen Pro. WHen i hand this down to my girlfriend, itll last her pretty much forever.