[mythtv-users] Do GeForce GT220s run hot? Was rebooting my system on anything above VDAPUA slim.

Gabe Rubin gaberubin at gmail.com
Mon Sep 6 03:24:49 UTC 2010


On Sun, Sep 5, 2010 at 8:17 PM, Andrew C. Stadt <acstadt at stadt.ca> wrote:
>  On 05/09/2010 6:19 PM, Gabe Rubin wrote:
>>
>> Hi,
>>
>> I put in a GeForce GT220 with 1 GB of memory (Asus ENGT220, which has
>> a fan) in my new combined FE/BE.  I had one of the case fans connected
>> to my motherboard, but because I could only connect one chassis fan to
>> the motherboard (I also have the cpu fan plugged in and the PSU has a
>> fan) and in an effort to keep the system quiet, I decided not to plug
>> the other two fans to the PSU using an adapter that came with my case.
>>  This would have the motherboard running at around 50C during playback
>> (sensors reports that 45 is high and 75 is critical).
>>
>> When I tried playing back HD (but not SD video), it would reboot the
>> system using VDPAU High or Normal (although it takes longer to reboot
>> with Normal), but I could playback fine with VDPAU Slim.  I figured
>> that the GPU is probably running hot so I opened the case and
>> connected the other two fans.  The motherboard temp now seems to never
>> get above 42C and averages 40C.  I can't find the temperature of the
>> GPU because NVClock does not support this card.
>
> If its causing your system to reboot, I'd suspect the power supply
> personally.
>>
>> My preference would be to not run 3 case fans, a PSU fan, and a CPU
>> fan.  It seems like a lot of unneeded noise and power consumption.  I
>> specifically got a sempron chip for this computer to make it run
>> cooler and quieter.  At the same time, I wanted to use all the bells
>> and whistles of the highest quality VDPAU playback, otherwise, I would
>> have just gotten a board with a 9XXX series onborad graphics.  Can
>> anyone recommend a different card that may run cooler and is the 1GB
>> of memory overkill and going to run hotter than a 512MB board?  I
>> realize I can replace the case fans with quieter fans, but that is not
>> ideal.
>>
>> Another question, is there a way to slow down the fans connected
>> directly to the PSU when the computer is at a lower temperature?  I
>> know that there are ways to do this with fans connected to the
>> motherboard, but not sure these ones.  I don't mind the fans spinning
>> during playback because I can only hear them when the room is quiet.
>
> I've taken three different approaches here in the past, of course they all
> require openning the PSU, which, at the very least voids any warranty, at
> worst kills you -  IOW follow these instructions at your own risk.
>
> 1. Replace the PSU fan with a Vantec stealth, almost silent.
> 2. Replace the PSU fan (or depending on how it was installed, cut into the
> power wires for the fan) and install a fan speed controller (there are some
> auto-temperature adjusting units out there if you don't want to make your
> own).
> 3. Replace the PSU with something like the
> http://www.xoxide.com/zalman-500hp-power-supply.html

I am open to replacing the fan.  I got a 550W 80+ (bronze -- not sure
what that means) Antec PSU that I figured would be solid.  I am open
to getting something else, even a fanless if it would not run hot.  I
doubt I need a high wattage PSU.  I am running with a sempron 45W, the
220GT (which may need more power than I would like), 2 HD, a
DVD-burner, a PVR-350 and a firewire PCI card.  I would like to run
with as minimal power as possible to silence it.  Maybe the PSU was
not good?


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