Dead in the water

[Plucky_Duck]

I just sent my video card into ATI with a bad fan. Now I may have to wait 1 month to get back on my feet again.

[MASH]

Those damn Canadians ruin the fun for everyone...

[DrGreen]

I had to service my Video card fan for the first time a week ago.
The fan on my ABIT Ti4600 was getting slower and slower.
http://img.hexus.net/abitgf4/gf4-sml.jpg
Eventually, I started getting locks and major hangs during air battles
Even teamspeak would lock and loop for about 15 seconds at the same time.
Geri_Atric was kind enough to assist me in conducting some network diagnostics.
They were helpful and I'll use them again in the future I'm sure.
Thanxor
I wanted it to be my connection.
I didn't want to have to buy a new vid card quite yet and really didn't want to swap into my spare.
Looking at the VID fan crawling along I could almost read the text on the center of the fan.
& when I touched the vid fan heat sink it burned me.
I figured with this much heat even it it didn't fix the locks it was worth improving
I didn't have a fan with the proper pin config or size.
So after removing it from the PC,
I cleared any and all dust bunnies from the GPU heat sink ,
(Which helped alot in itself I think,)
Then I took this stuff called " KROIL" http://www.kanolabs.com/ and placed 2 tiny drops in the vid card's fan bearing.
Works great on your guns too, Is GOOD, JA!
I don't really like the way the fan plate afixes to the heatsink.
It seems like it would cause metal shavings the way it threads into the heatsink like a self tapping screw.
Metal shavings in your computer are BAD.
I replaced it in my PC and fired it up.
The fan spun and is spinning much much faster now keeping the GPU cooler.
I can touch it during gameplay without getting a blister.
Most importantly, I haven't had any lag or locks since.
It's a temporary fix at best.
But then again it always is when your repair or replace a device that spins.
Hardware failure is inevitable. :(
But if you do it yourself it's alot cheaper and the turn around time can't be beat.

[SpongeBob]

Doc, Plucky, sounds like both of your manufacturers cheaped out and used "sleeve bearing" fans. I had one of these go on my chipset myself. first it made a nasty noise for a while, then stopped alltogether. I remember Krispy the Klown making a nice long post about the bad bearing that is the sleeve bearing.
Plucky's already gone to the Canucks for a fixing, Doc, buy something like this. For 12 bucks, it's well worth it and should fit in. Best of all, it's ball bearing, not sleeve bearing and won't wear out any day soon.



http://images10.newegg.com/productimage/35-110-106-03.JPG (http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=35-110-106&catalog=62&depa=1)

[Plucky_Duck]

I had to service my Video card fan for the first time a week ago.
The fan on my ABIT Ti4600 was getting slower and slower.
http://img.hexus.net/abitgf4/gf4-sml.jpg
Eventually, I started getting locks and major hangs during air battles
Even teamspeak would lock and loop for about 15 seconds at the same time.
Geri_Atric was kind enough to assist me in conducting some network diagnostics.
They were helpful and I'll use them again in the future I'm sure.
Thanxor
I wanted it to be my connection.
I didn't want to have to buy a new vid card quite yet and really didn't want to swap into my spare.
Looking at the VID fan crawling along I could almost read the text on the center of the fan.
& when I touched the vid fan heat sink it burned me.
I figured with this much heat even it it didn't fix the locks it was worth improving
I didn't have a fan with the proper pin config or size.
So after removing it from the PC,
I cleared any and all dust bunnies from the GPU heat sink ,
(Which helped alot in itself I think,)
Then I took this stuff called " KROIL" http://www.kanolabs.com/ and placed 2 tiny drops in the vid card's fan bearing.
Works great on your guns too, Is GOOD, JA!
I don't really like the way the fan plate afixes to the heatsink.
It seems like it would cause metal shavings the way it threads into the heatsink like a self tapping screw.
Metal shavings in your computer are BAD.
I replaced it in my PC and fired it up.
The fan spun and is spinning much much faster now keeping the GPU cooler.
I can touch it during gameplay without getting a blister.
Most importantly, I haven't had any lag or locks since.
It's a temporary fix at best.
But then again it always is when your repair or replace a device that spins.
Hardware failure is inevitable. :(
But if you do it yourself it's alot cheaper and the turn around time can't be beat.

After the card got so hot, was there any damage done?