Graphic Cards Sparkle GTS 250 unstable

viki said:
@Julian, why do you think he needs 2 PSUs when a vx450 can handle his config even with medium overclocking?
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That was the point. Then he wouldn't need the vx450. A cheaper 2nd psu plus his existing one would do the job.

Before people criticize this method, i've actually run this kind of config with a local but decent quality 400w plus a 300w vip for quite a while. Very cost effective way, back then quality branded psus were 5-6k+. But now it's different i guess. I just bought a cx400 for a buddy for 2.5k. Seems much better than the cx430 which it has been replaced by. More connectors and higher current rating on the 12v.
 
Hi All,

I have attached a pic of my cabinet, so you'll have an idea as to why my GPU isn't getting cool air...

I'm running the system at stock speed now, yet on running FurMark/OCCT for GPU, these programs crash once they reach 98 degrees.

On another note, my UPS doesn't beep anymore when i run such test, so probably more power was being pulled when i had overclocked the system.

I know one suggestion has been done regarding the placements of the fans, but as you can see from the pic, no matter how many fans i put, they won't reach the GPU :( I maybe wrong, please correct me if i am.

And i will go ahead and buy the Corsair Vx 450, but i am very concerned about the heat :(

Regards
 

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As ALPHA17 said, you need to route your cables properly. But that's not the reason, at least not the main one, your gpu is overheating. You're just not getting enough air into your case.

The 80mm fan at the front is grossly inadequate. Replace with a 120mm one.

Next, i'm not sure what kind of side panel your case has, from what i've seen, the elite 330/1 has an air tunnel for the cpu and a little mesh below it, however without fan mount holes. Visually i think this can take a 80 or 92mm fan, probably not a 120. Measure this mesh and see. You can either use zip ties to rig the fan to the mesh or superglue it to the panel. This would provide cool air to the gfx card. I'm not a big fan of active side panel cooling, i rather prefer passive side intakes, because side fans would disrupt the front to rear air flow pattern, but for your cramped case, a side fan seems to be the only way to supply cool air to the gfx.

I'll give you some quick tips on cable management.

First, the space between the motherboard tray/panel and the right side panel is meant for routing cables. Whatever cables can go through there should be routed there.

For your rear fan, unscrew and rotate it so that the corner where the wire is coming out is towards the psu and mobo. Then route the wire along the top of the mobo towards the front of the case and plug it in there. It shouldn't be running over the cpu fan/mobo/whatnot. Ideally, since most mobos have two chassis fan connectors in addition to the primary cpu fan header, you should plug in your front and rear case fans into these headers if possible. That's if the fan wires end in the 3-pin TX3 connectors. If not you will need to crimp connectors on the wires, probably not a good idea if you don't know what you're doing.

edit: the xfx 650i seems to have a whopping 4 (FOUR) 3-pin fan headers in addition to the 4-pin cpu fan one. So try to use fans with the 3-pin connectors and run them off the board directly.

Next, from what i can see, the only cables that should be coming to the bottom of your case are 2xsata cables for the HDDs, 2xpower cables for the same, and power to the gfx card if required. All the remaining cables should be neatly tucked away in the top 5.25" bays.

There isn't much else that can be done, your case isn't ideal for a full ATX board. A mid-tower case should only be used for uAtx boards, full ATX need full towers especially if running a discrete gfx card.

Check this out maybe, i can't find a better link right now ... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer_cooling

If i remember anything else, i'll add it later...
 
Go ahead and get the PSU. Your old PSU is anyway 3+ years old (assumption from the age of your machine). Your components will get clean power.

Coming to the heat problem a new PSU won't solve it. I feel that the GPU over-heating is because of inadequate GPU cooling from the GPU heatsink (because you said the GPU reaches 105 degrees even with side panel open). Most probably TIM problem. How old is the GPU? It may be stable in the sellers rig, but the point is it reaches high temps now. Check with the seller about max. temps he used to get with the card, and the rough ambient temp. What would be your rough ambient temp? As you are from Bangalore I assume your ambient temp is not a problem. Inadequate PSU can make the machine unstable, but High temp is because of inadequate cooling.

Another reason why I believe your GPU cooling is the culprit is because I used a GTX 260 in a worse case (zebronics case) than yours without any problem. I ran my latest config (with a core i5 stock, 4GB RAM, XFX GTX 260 xxx edition, 500GB WD Black, vx550) in a Zebronics ATX case with a single basic Rs.250 CM fan. It had some holes near the GPU location just like your case. I ran this config for 3 months in this case without any problems. The max temp I got under furmark was 87 degrees at around 80% fan speed (The max time I ran furmark was around an hour). Later I bought a lian-li PC-K62 and moved the config into it. In the new case the max temp is still the same, 87 degrees, but the max fan speed came down to 70% ( this is because of automatic fan control). Even the CPU temps were normal in the old case. A GTS 250 is a cooler running card and consumes less power. Your case being similar, you should not have any problem running a GTS250.

Like others suggested improve airflow in the case with good cable management and better fans at front and back. Like Julian I also don't like the idea of side panel fans. A good set of fans (120 mm) for front to back airflow is sufficient. If that does not help the next option is to reapply GPU TIM and see if that solves the problem.
 
The more i think about it, it seems more like a cooling issue than power. The CM600 should be enough for the config. Just because it's old doesn't warrant upgradation. The sparkle seems to have cooling issues elsewhere too. Not sure if it's poor heatsink design or crapped out TIM but i think that's the main issue. Just to be sure, before running out and buying a new psu, try to borrow one from somewhere and test with that. And make sure to run it directly on AC mains. Eliminating problems one by one is the only way to be sure. Otherwise you don't know whether its cooling/psu/ups/act of god...
 
Hi All,

I am really thankful for your suggestions, I knew my wiring was messy, but had no idea it was THAT bad... About the GPU, i did ask the seller, he told me it used to be max 70-80 on load, so i donno what happened now... the card was hardly 20-30 days old...

I will be buying a 120 mm FAN for the front, and i'll put the 80 mm one on the side. Can you suggest a decent 120 mm fan?

Also i decided to go for an upgrade, I'll be selling the proccy, ram and PSU and will buy 4 GB RAM(Any suggestions?), Vx450 and an E7500 proccy. The dealer told he'll buy my 2 GB RAM+the proccy+PSU for 3800... i donno if its a good deal...

I guess i'll take the GPU to Abacus peripherals and ask them to check the temperatures, and probably try RMAing it if possible....

@Julian

I know the cause is because of cooling and the PSU, reason being is i had tested the config when i had overclocked my proccy, and i noticed the power wasn't stable, like the UPS got overloaded when i ran some stress test for the GPU, but the same didn't happen when i reset the proccy to stock speeds... i guess i ain't getting enough clean power. and i wanna run the system with an overclocked proccy. Please correct me if i am wrong.

Regards
 
nj_gamer said:
I will be buying a 120 mm FAN for the front, and i'll put the 80 mm one on the side. Can you suggest a decent 120 mm fan?
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Doesn't really matter, no point buying an expensive one unless you're technically inclined to open and clean it after about a year because they all crap out. But still try to get a low noise, low rpm high cfm one. And one with a 3-pin connector so u can run it off the mobo ;-)
nj_gamer said:
@Julian
I know the cause is because of cooling and the PSU, reason being is i had tested the config when i had overclocked my proccy, and i noticed the power wasn't stable, like the UPS got overloaded when i ran some stress test for the GPU, but the same didn't happen when i reset the proccy to stock speeds... i guess i ain't getting enough clean power. and i wanna run the system with an overclocked proccy. Please correct me if i am wrong.
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As i said before, to make sure the UPS isn't a problem, run the system on mains directly and try your overclocking etc. If you're convinced the psu isn't enough then go ahead and upgrade.
 
Thanks again for the suggestions :)

I will take care of the cabling and the cooling this weekend as i really don't have time during the weekdays due to office, but i will check the PC part by part ...

I guess there is no other option than to RMA the card as it still heats up when the side panel is open. i even placed the Cabby near the window so that the cool air comes in, yet it still overheats... Guess sparkle doesn't 'sparkle' after all...
 
nj_gamer said:
i noticed using speed fan that the GPU fan runs at 100% on load, anyhow i'll run GPU-Z too... thing is Furmark gives a black screen after few seconds, on touching 10 degrees.... I'll check it out once home, and update this thread...
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I would ask you to setp it down to about 2.6GHz you wont be losing on performance in games. And dont OC your GTS 250.

Get a corsair CX400W @ 2.8k
 
@Comp@ddict

I'm running the CPU at stock speeds i.e., 1.8GHz... Yet the card is overheating...

Also i'm getting a lot of errors on running the OCCT GPU test, but i didn't get any errors while running the OCCT GPU mem test...
 
comp@ddict said:
Get a corsair CX400W @ 2.8k
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the cx400 is discontinued, bought a remaining piece for 2.5. It's been replaced by the CX430 which is quite a crappy psu, not 80+ rated and lower amps on the 12v rails. costs 2.75k
 
not sure if they'll do anything, but you can try. it may be overheating, but technically it's still working and that's all that's required in india ... :-/
 
Hi All,

I finally got some time, and i went ahead and bought the SeasonicS12 II 520 W PSU, And i did notice some stability, i did run Furmark and OCCT GPU test, but sadly they too started to freeze after 2 minutes, after the card reached 105 degrees. Ran HW Monitor Pro too by the side to monitor the temperature changes, and the GPU did touch 105 degrees. I even kept the side panel open. yet it froze. I really donno if i have time to RMA it, but thing is i don't have an onboard gfx and if i give the GPU for RMA, then i won't be able to use the PC for a while. But i guess thats a compromise.

The changes i've done after introducing the GTS 250.

1x120mm CM Fan on the front - intake

1x120mm CM FAN on the rear - exhaust

1x80mm FAN on the side panel - exhaust

Changed the PSU to Seasonic S12 II 520

Improved the cable management, will post the pics once home.

Running the E4300 @2.8GHz(350 FSB x 8 multiplier) I reduced the multiplier to reduce the voltage consumed, hence lesser heat.

So i guess i narrowed the problem to the card right?

Regards,

Nj
 
Buy a cheap PCIE card from the market section and then RMA it. You can get a 8400 for less than 1000 usually.

nj_gamer said:
Hi All,

I finally got some time, and i went ahead and bought the SeasonicS12 II 520 W PSU, And i did notice some stability, i did run Furmark and OCCT GPU test, but sadly they too started to freeze after 2 minutes, after the card reached 105 degrees. Ran HW Monitor Pro too by the side to monitor the temperature changes, and the GPU did touch 105 degrees. I even kept the side panel open. yet it froze. I really donno if i have time to RMA it, but thing is i don't have an onboard gfx and if i give the GPU for RMA, then i won't be able to use the PC for a while. But i guess thats a compromise.

Regards
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