[mythtv-users] Is my video card toast?

[David Brodbeck]

Gabe Rubin wrote:
> How would I go about checking the case temp?
There isn't always a good way to do it in software.  Some machines have 
a "system temperature" sensor that's a thermistor on the motherboard.  
On test machines I've sometimes used digital readouts with 
thermocouples, and at work I have a sensor that measures the overall 
temperature of the exhaust air coming out  the back of the equipment 
rack.  Probably neither of these is cost-effective at home.

Sometimes you can get an idea from the M/B temp; that will always be 
higher than the air temp inside the case, because it's actually 
measuring the temperature of the Northbridge chip, but because the heat 
put out by the Northbridge is fairly constant, it's a good relative 
indication -- if it's running hotter than usual than the air inside your 
case is probably hotter than usual, too.

It's also a pretty good bet that if your hard disks are running hot, you 
have too little airflow.  Most hard disks have an upper temperature 
specification of 55C or so.  You can read hard disk temperatures with 
smartctl.