[mythtv-users] Is my video card toast?

[f-myth-users at media.mit.edu]

    > Date: Wed, 22 Apr 2009 22:17:48 -0700
    > From: Gabe Rubin <gaberubin at gmail.com>

    > How would I go about checking the case temp?  This is what I get with
    > sensors. Based on some of the readings, I don't think the
    > it8712-isa-0290 is accurate.

One thing you might consider is getting (or borrowing) one of those
cheap indoor/outdoor thermometers---the kind with a temperature probe
on a wire so you mount the thermometer inside but still have the
outside temp by running it through a hole somewhere & mounting the
probe to the side of the house.

They're accurate (enough), dirt cheap, and low-tech, and you can put
the probe anywhere.  I've often used something like this to monitor
case temps when experimenting with airflow; I've also used them in
tons of other machinery (even once taped to the inside of a clothes
dryer door to see if it was malfunctioning and severely overcooking
the clothes).

(In fact, I've got one now monitoring a (non-computer) enclosed space
w/some equipment in it, since I can't easily tell if the fan there is
turning, and I had one stuck to an ancient Mac Quadra power supply for
years because I'd jury-rigged its fan with pulse-start/slow-run
circuit to keep it from sounding like a jet engine & didn't need the
thermometer elsewhere.)

You might even be able to find one with a high-temp alarm, though
that'd be more likely on something designed to cook with (in which
case, it probably doesn't go low enough in its range to help you,
but maybe you'll get lucky).

Once you have one around, you'll find all kinds of uses, and a US$10
investment lasts for many years and can be reused in many situations.