Strange fan problem with GTX 470...

[CaptNKILL]

Originally Posted by Maverick123w

I'd RMA the card. I'm running mine at a higher clock with more voltage and don't get anything like this.

Bah, I'm not just going to RMA it. Its running at stock clocks and has been for several days, with no tweaking programs running.

I doubt its a hardware issue.

[CaptNKILL]

After reading a suggestion somewhere online I decided to pop the cover off of my 470 to see if the fan wasn't plugged in properly.

First of all, I was amazed at how easily the cover can be removed. It pops right off with no fuss and it doesn't even have any screws in it, yet its still tight. Very convenient for cleaning.

Second, I was surprised to see that the fan's plug actually wasn't seated properly. It was "in" but I doubt all four pins were making perfect contact all the time. With the card installed and heating up and cooling down all the time its definitely possible that it could lose a connection at times. Maybe the fan control pin was losing connection but the power was still there, which would basically let it run full bore.

I'm really hoping that this fixes the problem. A guy on the eVGA forums said that he had a 470 with a fan that wouldn't slow down and he had to RMA it. I really don't want to do that.

[onmikesline]

thats why its good to have a cheap videocard laying around the house just so you can get by when things like this happens

[CaptNKILL]

Originally Posted by onmikesline

thats why its good to have a cheap videocard laying around the house just so you can get by when things like this happens

Another benefit of having a dedicated Physx card is that you've always got a spare card around that isn't slow as dirt. My GTS 250 should play games pretty well if necessary.

[Madpistol]

It's strange that you mention this. I've had the same thing happen to my 5870. However, it usually only happens during the boot-up phase when the desktop first shows up. I've written it off as a bug in the driver as it doesn't happen at any other time, and it doesn't even happen all that often.

That's really strange. I hope you get the problem figured out.

[Eltigre88]

Captn I'd wait for the 485's to come out and then "Step Up" to a 480 when the prices come down. Just a thought!

[bobmitch]

Over on the EVGA boards, we seem to have come to a consensus. It is either Afterburner or Precision in conjunction with another program like E-Leet or GPU-Z. Example...I have Afterburner 1.6 final running in the background. I opened E-Leet to get some information to share with someone else on the board and after a minute or so...I noticed my fan got loud...so I looked in my system tray and fan speed was at 86% while my GPU temp was 44. I have not had the fan ramp up like that before (was using a hacked version of Rivatuner so it would recognize my GTX 470)....nor have I heard it since. There may be a correlation with all of this, because the programs are all written by Unwinder. Perhaps there is a .dll conflict or the like causing the spikes. I have spent hours last night trying to trip up my 470...by trying to overheat it, etc. The bios will not allow the temp of my card to reach over 85C at any time...because, even without the fan control of AB, Prec, or RT...the card cares for itself...and believe me...it's not cool here in Texas right now...upper 90's outside.

http://www.evga.com/forums/tm.aspx?m=414595

[CaptNKILL]

I saw that thread actually.

I don't think that's related though because I don't use E-Leet or GPU-Z.

Also, I haven't had the issue since I reseated that fan connector, so... I'm hoping that's all it was. It didn't happen too often before though so I'll give it a few days before I call it fixed.

[CaptNKILL]

Still haven't had any fan speed spikes.

*crosses fingers*