Graphic Cards Weird overheating issue with sapphire 4850.

D

Daedelus

Disciple
I just recently purchased (1 week back) the Sapphire 4850HD 512mb from itwares and there was a strange problem with it just after using it for 3-4hrs of using it on a strech (from the 1st day itself).:mad:

There are 2 LED's on the card 1 indicating Overheating and the other indicating 12v EXT overvolt.:hap5:

After 3-4hrs of using it for the 1st time the screen went blank, the computer froze and the LED1 (indicating overheating) was RED.:mad:

I normally restarted it and everything returned to normal ONLY for the next 4-5hrs.

So i re-fitted it and installed the latest catalyst drivers and still the problem persisted.

:huh:

So i googled and found out that many faced the same issue and the resolution was to manually make a new profile and set the fan speed to some high value which i did. ( to 70% speed in Catalyst control center):cool2:

Things worked fine and there was no shutdown/freeze issues. But the sound made by the fan was just too much. So i decreased the fan speed to 50% and once again the problem started. I then set it to 60 % and 65% but still after a couple of hours the pc used to freeze up with the RED led of the card lit up. So i set it back to 70%.:huh:

During all this time i checked the temps on the GPU ... which was around 40-45 deg celcius (using the logs created by GPU-Z). The Strange thing is that before the pc freezes the temps are still NOT more than 45deg Celcius.:cool2:

Is this a hardware problem ? so that i can send it to the service center. Or is it just faulty catalyst drivers ?:huh:

For testing the card for all the above time i played Resident Evil 5 (1920x1080 High settings) and Prototype (same reso and details as RE5):rofl: And NONE OF THE TIMES the system Froze.....

PS- as of now ive set the fan speed at 70 % for the past 4 days ...... and its working perfectly for even 28-30 hrs on a stretch. Should i leave it at this speed or what ? suggestions/comments are welcome..... :p
 
It is well known heating issue with Reference Design HD4850 and your PSU seems to be quite older one..

Catalyst drivers aren't culprit, at 45oC, your PC shouldn't get freezed. i think improper ventillation or PSU is a culprit..:)
 
^^ GPU freezing at 45C..? Mine run till 83C and all is fine..?

@OP:

What is your overall system configurations.
 
Your PSU (a.k.a SMPS) might be the problem. Gaming requires a good quality PSU and if it can't render to your card's needs accordingly, this could happen even with a low temperature, speaking of which...

During all this time i checked the temps on the GPU ... which was around 40-45 deg celcius (using the logs created by GPU-Z). The Strange thing is that before the pc freezes the temps are still NOT more than 45deg Celcius.
Click to expand...

I don't mean to pry, but are you absolutely sure? I mean, even the LED on the card is lit up, so unless there's some problem with hardware detection, it won't light up.

Try running Furmark. The GPU gets heated quite quickly, so you don't have to wait long. Use the extreme burning mode (or something like that, I don't have it installed right now), it's a small checkbox on the main window. Just make sure about the card's temperature.

Finally, try cleaning your CPU and PSU and try to improve airflow. It might not solve this problem, but it's good in the long run anyway, especially when gaming.
 
<quote>@OP: Which cabinet do you have? </quote>

Ive kept my cabinet open.....

I dont OVERCLOCK !!!!!!!

CPU: AMD X2 4200+ Sapphire HD 4850 512mb

Asus A8N-e (Nforce 4 Ultra) Twinmos 2x512 mb DDR 400mhz Hard Disk: Seagate 400GB+160GB SATA 2 (300Mbps) LG 20x DVD Writer Powersafe 480W PSU

I got my PSU checked 3 times..... ALL IS WELL :p

The OVERHEATING LED is RED ON !!!!!!!

THE OVERVOLTAGE LED is OFF !!!!!!

The led light(of the overheating led) lit up only after that the pc freeze's.

Gpu-z has a logger (temp fans gpu-clock mem-clock) which it stores to a file every sec. through that log file i come to know when my pc shut down and what were the temps then......

The GPU takes only 1 power chord so i dont think the power is an issue. Plus the PSU was checked......it had no issues.

PS- as of now ive set the fan speed at 70 % for the past 4 days ...... and its working perfectly for even 28-30 hrs on a stretch. Should i leave it at this speed or what ? suggestions/comments are welcome.....
 
Gautham said:
Try running Furmark. The GPU gets heated quite quickly, so you don't have to wait long. Use the extreme burning mode (or something like that, I don't have it installed right now), it's a small checkbox on the main window. Just make sure about the card's temperature.
Click to expand...

Not a good idea to run furmark with that PSU.

Daedelus said:
Ive kept my cabinet open.....

I dont OVERCLOCK !!!!!!!

CPU: AMD X2 4200+ Sapphire HD 4850 512mb

Asus A8N-e (Nforce 4 Ultra) Twinmos 2x512 mb DDR 400mhz Hard Disk: Seagate 400GB+160GB SATA 2 (300Mbps) LG 20x DVD Writer Powersafe 480W PSU

I got my PSU checked 3 times..... ALL IS WELL :p

The OVERHEATING LED is RED ON !!!!!!!

THE OVERVOLTAGE LED is OFF !!!!!!
Click to expand...

How did you check the PSU? How do you say all is well?
 
it might be 'Tested OK' but that does not mean 'Capable'

you are left with 2 options..

upgrade PSU (if you plan to upgrade your cpu later)

OR

Downgrade gpu to HD4670 if you do not plan to upgrade cpu (it is highly bottlenecked by that cpu)

also do memtest if you haven't done it already...
 
Apart from the PSU that is not 100 % guaranteed to run a HD 4850 you do have some bottleneck issues like madnav said.

Your PSU must not be 100% fit considering the situation 'freezing at 45 * c itself' the PSU is the culprit. I talk from experience , cause I had a generic 450 W PSU and it did run my PC well until I stay in desktop when I play games it freezes or shutsdown the whole PC.

Simple explanation is when your HD4850 activity to High levels the PSU isn't able to supply power & even if it does ,not consistently.
 
I keep my pc for downloads at night since i have a night unlimited plan from mtnl...(10pm to 8am)
So at around 1am-2am..... the gpu-z log shows the last entry,....and at 7am when i getup i see my screen blank and the LED1 (TEMP) of gpu RED LIT.

The weird thing is that.....only utorrent is working..... at nights.... nothing else...
monitor off.....
 
PSU could be the possible culprit here as others have pointed out. Powersafe PSUs are known to have conked out especially after a period of usage. You should invest in a better power supply.

Does your power supply have a 6 pin PCI-E power connector? Or are you using a converter?

Btw do you have the reference AMD 4850 heatsink or a custom one?

If someone's staying close-by, you can have your GPU checked at his/her place assuming they have a decent PSU!
 
heat is not the issue, mine went up till 106C while gaming and it was still fine...

If it were a PSU issue, the PC should restart right ?
 
Here's the culprit :
Daedelus said:
Powersafe 480W PSU
Click to expand...

Replace it with a Corsair CX400 or a Corsair VX450. Will set you back by 3k - 4k but will be totally worth it.

If you stick to your current PSU, you are HIGHLY endangering your GPU, HDD, Motherboard.
 
@OP:
Could you download RivaTuner and cross reference the temperatures. Also see on 'low-load' is the memory clock auto tuning down.
 
-- using the 4-pin to 6-pin converter that came bundled with the card.

-- card has a dual slot cooler (black fan-blades/silver-head)

-- some1 pls explain me the diff b/w the 450w PSU that i have and the corsair 450W one. Advantage and Dis-Adv

-- my nv 6600Gt died .. so i purchased this card. W8ing till the cpu market settles with the new i5 entries. wondering what comeback AMD will respond with....

-- if it were my PSU issue my pc wont start OR one of my 2-hdd's/dvd writer wont get detected

Even i thgt it was the psu issue... so i ran RE5 benchmark (full high settings). Kept the fan speed as 70% and monitored the GPU-load,temp,core and mem clocks.....(which were all at 100% load) for 2-3 hrs and STILL the PC DIDNT FREEZE. So i cancelled "PSU issue" from my list.

The weird this is that I HAVE TO KEEP THE FAN SPEED TO 70% !

sato1986 said:
Here's the culprit :
Replace it with a Corsair CX400 or a Corsair VX450. Will set you back by 3k - 4k but will be totally worth it.
If you stick to your current PSU, you are HIGHLY endangering your GPU, HDD, Motherboard.
Click to expand...

Endangering ..... how so ?
isn't 450W enough ? :huh::(

buying that would seriously burn a hole.....
rather buy a 1tb hdd :)
 
Ohh for gods sake is everyone here blind, illiterate, or is this forum sponsored by Corsair PSU's??

Every post says PSU, even when the guy says it works fine at 70% fan-speed. Shouldn't that take more electricity than 50% for f*cks sake.

I would recommend

1) RMA the card

2) Clean HS and reapply thermal paste

3) Monitor temps with an external solution

It could be that either your temp sensor is somehow busted or that some other component in your GFX card has become extremely sensitive to heat.

Ohh and dont listen to PPL advocating PSU upgrades. A Powersafe 400W is quite good. I have 4870 running on a Seasonic 380W.
 
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