I'm using an XFX 7600XT (passively cooled). I'm leaving it at the clocks set by XFX, but as you can see something's wrong... The temps were getting high (over 100C), so I threw in a PCI slot fan to cool things down a little - max is around 80C now. I'm thinking it's the RAM - when I tried to overclock it I only got to 461 from 450. Some sites have gotten the RAM over 500 with no problem, so something's sketchy there. Can I reset the heatsink with AS5? (Is the process for that the same as installing it on a CPU?) Would that help, or is my problem just faulty hardware? Tanks a lot.
Are you using the latest drivers? How long has this been happening? If its still within warranty I'd reccomend sending it back.
I would send it back if you can, it's easier than sorting out a cooling problem (as you don't have to mess around with extra cooling) and it will fix it if it turns out to be a knackered memory chip. Remember though, overclocks are not guaranteed. Some sites may get over 500mhz, but they could just be lucky/have some better quality memory.
I'm starting to think it's a heat problem more than anything else, b/c it starts acting up when the temps get over 70C. I'll throw this Zalman cooler on it just to keep it happy for a while. I like to play, but I'm not hardcore. I think I can wait until I have enough cash for a couple of cheap Ati cards for Crossfire, even wait long enough until DX10 comes out. (Crysis, here I come! )
If you think you can, try to just reapply the thermal compound to the GPU and whatever else the Cooler.. cools. Also just wondering when your temp reader is saying that it is at 100C can you feel the metal of the heatsink on the card and tell if it is really hot? 100C should well almost burn your hand... Good way to see a good many things Assuming the card is not fried and malfunctioning it should be GPU Hot, Heatsink cool = bad thermal connection -Solution: reapply thermal compound / reseat heatsink GPU Hot, Heatsink Hot = bad cooling on the heatsink -solution: check for dust or anything restricting the fan or airflow (neither one of those situations are 100%, but ive worked on many graphics cards as a pc tech. and those are generally the issues) If that does not work, the card could have bad clocks, try to use the utility for overclocking to set it back to the reference clocks for the card Hope that helps.
