rian222

Hey guys. My computer has been acting up lately, and I'm trying to figure out why and how to fix it. Unfortunately, I have to keep it stored in a cabinet with very very little airflow. I can't drill holes in the cabinet, and I can't put it anywhere else(long story). What happens is the display sometimes starts to flicker and the whole screen becomes multicolored vertical lines. Sometimes weird glitches(artifacts?) appear as well. Usually all I need to do is tap the side of the case once or twice and it goes back to normal. However, sometimes I have to unplug the computer and restart it. Sometimes when I do this, the display won't register and the monitor will stay blank and go to sleep. A friend told me to put a refrigerator lock in the cabinet, but I can only imagine the amount of moisture that will add. I'm thinking abut buying another fan or two, and I'm also toying with the idea of looking into a really small air conditioning unit. Do you guys have any advice? Maybe this is a good excuse for me to get a new GFX card that runs lower on heat?

Windows 7 x64
ATi Radeon 5870 GFX card
Intel i7 processor
12gb ram

IvanV

Here is a small utility that can help you monitor the temperatures so you can see when the problem occurs whether some of your hardware is indeed unusually hot. Still, at a glance, it does seem that your GPU may be overheating, although fixing it by tapping on the case confuses me a little.

Actually, are you sure that your GPU fan is working right? Because that's the only way this makes sense to me as this is what I think might be happening:
- your GPU fan stops
- your GPU overheats and starts producing artifacts
- your tapping the case causes the GPU fan to get unstuck so it starts cooling the card again.

So I think that you should definitely check if your GPU fan sometimes gets stuck (it could be that it's really badly clogged with dust or that it's simply failing for whatever reason).

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Jac

I agree with Ivan on this issue. Seems strange that tapping would solve a heat problem so more likely a mechanical fault.

Try stripping down your PC and giving it a thorough clean. If you have a GFX card with a shroud on it try taking it off to really clean the fan and the internals before refitting. Your fan might be struggling due to a build up of dust.

Post your temps also.

Takaharu

You really need to consider getting your PC to an environment that has airflow, otheriwise it's just a matter of time before your components start dropping off one by one. Computers need air to live and no amount of fans in an enclosed environment will solve that.

As for the graphics card, it sure sounds like it's not just to do with heat; tapping doesn't cool things down. I would imagine that the ball bearings aren't functioning properly or something along those lines. The questions above will ascertain whether this is the case and also - is your fan making a funny noise?

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kris23

get a slower more efficient computer....

a high performance system locked away in a tight space without proper airflow is a death sentence... a very expensive one...

if you cant reason with whoever is forcing you to keep the system in that cabinet to allow for vents to be cut into it, the only other alternatives are to find a way for the case to siphon cool air from a non-restricted place or decrease the overall heat output of the system to match the low amount of airflow you have.

the card does sound like it has taken some damage though, anymore and its probably going to die.

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Judas

There IS NO EXCUSE for not providing a computer the necessary air flow.

physically jaring the computer resulting in a change can still be related to heat (expansion and contraction of connectors is a physical result....) can momentarily result in an effect being seen or for a short time anyways.

Specially if your baking the crap out of the computer.

The only reason i've ever heard anyone say that they must keep their computer in a confined and terrible place, is due to consmetic appearance playing a higher priority then a several hundred dollar peice of working equipment.

One does not buy a Dodge Challenger then proceed to expect good results by trying to drive it in a confined box.... it's counter productive and damaging in the long run.

The hotter the computer runs.. even if it's within "Engineering spec" the faster and more likely things are going to fail.

I have little tact for some of my customers that insist it must go into a small space but don't want to comprimise computing power.. at which point i suggest that they try breathing in a sealed container for a few hour ... or minutes and see how they fair/feel like.

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steves6403

End computer cruelity now.

But hey if i were you i,d be cutting holes in the back dont torturer your puter it has feelings to
Its probabily going to hurt you back like your back pocket

rian222

I'm in the military, and I live in a barracks room. Either I keep it here in this cabinet where I can lock it up every day, or I have to give it to some friends or family for safe keeping. I can't bring it personally owned furniture
.

steves6403

get a laptop would be your best bet me thinks

BlueMak

Have you checked the temperatures with a program or if the BIOS supports it, through the BIOS? The temperatures might not even be too high. I was having similar issues long time ago with my GeForce 256DDR and it was not a matter of high temperatures, but a matter of a dying graphics card.
You might also want to open the case and check for excessive dust and loosen cables and cards. (make sure the power is off first)

The easiest of course is to first of all check the temperatures, both when you just loaded Windows, and later around the time the problems appear.

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blibbax

Lol.

Anyway, first things first, oughtn't we be sure that this is a GPU heat related issue? How hot is your GPU when this happens? Get that utility that Ivan recommended, and, as others have said, see how hot the GPU is at idle. Then, when this problem occurs, alt-tab out and see what the peak GPU temperature was.

If it's stupidly high, but the rest of your components are coping ok, you could just look at getting a better cooler for your GPU.

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