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[narskie]

So a few months ago I finally got a new computer since the old one was incapable of handling anything over a GEforce 5500.  Now I have a ibuypower with a geforce 9600 gt.  For the first few months it was great I was finally able to try Oblivion instead of Oldblivion, and got to play Empire:Total war and other games that was unplayable before.  Everything worked fine. 

Then I got bored with the flashy stuff and went back to play DF, LCS, a Dos colonization whatever.  But recently I started to play Empire TW again and I heard the fans running really loud.  Then I noticed the minimap had graphical artifacts.  I exited the game and opened Speedfan to find the card running at 96C! 

I cleaned the inside of dust and still noticing artifacts after 10-20 minutes of play.  I've never had a card this powerful before.  The problem is, the way the computer is designed the card fits in the slot upsidedown!  So the card fan blows the heat down inside of up and out (the card is of course below the main rear fan).  What kind of configuration of fans would help?

Thanks in advance for any advice. 

[Kebooo]

Graphical artifacts can be a sign of a damaged videocard, 96C is very hot and can certainly permanently damage your card which is probably what's happened here.  I lost one (or rather, lost its ability to run at temperatures it used to run at well) when I regularly ran it at 73-74C.  I recommend a program like Rivatuner in the future (maybe Speedfan can do the same thing), you can change the settings of the fan to run based on GPU temperature.  I have my fan run at 100% when the temperature gets to a certain level (usually anything abouve 58C, but it depends on a cards' tolerance to heat).  Fans on a device are there to disperse the heat, especially into a heat sink.  The heat will dissipate into the surrounding area, so a good air current, especially in the area the heat dissipates, is important to get it out of your PC (since a fan doesn't actually do any temperature change itself) as fast as possible.  Anything close to the source of the heat should be directed out of the PC.  But I'm sorry to say that your card may be on the slow march toward its death.  You can extend its life by running it cooler and not playing games that tax it for as long a period of time.  The card of mine that I more or less burnt out still works for low level tasks.  Anytime I let it go above 50-55C it gets massive artifacts everywhere, when that was at one point a normal, good temperature for it to run at.

[narskie]

But if I don't play games that require high-end graphics to extend the life of the card, doesn't that defeat the purpose of the card?  Is it really defective?  They charged me like 80 dollars for this card! 

What if I slit holes in the side and put a fan blowing in near the card?  Or maybe just open the side of the comp box?  I know that puts it at some risk of electrical currents but I'm at a loss.

[Kebooo]

I wouldn't say it's a manufacturer defect.  It's your responsibility to monitor the temperature the card runs at.  If any fans or heat sinks it came with were defective, that's one thing.  Any piece of hardware will burn out if you heat it up enough.

And yes, it defeats the purpose of the videocard except the fact it wouldn't be complete useless junk, since it could still run the video for another PC.

Honestly, the fact your card is already experiencing artifacts like you say means you most likely aren't going to 'recover' it any more.  Now it's just minimization of further damage.  I'm not really into recommendation modifications of your PC case, if your case doesn't have a good natural current I'd suggest getting one that does.  Especially since cases have a lot longer longevity than the hardware we put in them. 

[Calhoun]

Shouldn't it still be under warranty at this point? Just get them to replace it.