Graphics card fan doesnt spin

**raiyanb** · August 29th, 2005, 08:31 PM

Hey people

Ive noticed when i opened up my case that my ATI Radeon 9800 Pro graphics card fan doesnt spin when my computers in use. Im pretty sure that when i first bought it it did spin. Ive tried using a different power connector but it still doesnt work. I am currently writing this message using the same computer so i cant see that its affecting my PC use, but ive recently had problems where my PC froze randomly. Ive reformatted my PC and it seems to work fine but is this a cause for concern??

Thanks

**DanU** · August 29th, 2005, 08:39 PM

The 9800 runs pretty hot even with the fan, so I would be very concerned if the fan stopped spinning. Are you getting a lot of rendering errors in your games?

It could just be that the bearing dried up and it's stuck. Adding a drop of oil in the bearing should be enough to lubricate it and get it going again. If you peel back the sticker from the back of the motor, you should be able to access the bearing. Just put a tiny drop of oil in there. Too oil much can be just as bad as not enough.

**joker12578** · August 29th, 2005, 08:57 PM

I have had this problem on two MX mercury cards and twice on my MOBO chipset. If you have the power connected to the fan and it's not moving the fan becomes a heater. If you have any computer stores near you house you can hit a few of them, one should have a chipset fan. So far the cards that I have had all the fans that could be removed, just remove and replace. You will have to find something that will fix the lock-pin holes on the card.

**thelonegunman** · August 30th, 2005, 09:14 AM

I have had the same problem on exatly the same card, and now its fryed chips.

I first noticed it and very quickly did a quick DIY fix job which lasted a while. I broke the old fan out, then glued with heat resistant glue a new fan on, (get a small 40mm fan or something break the edges out then jst glue the middle of the fan chassis to the old fan plastic) sounds like an very bad repair and to be honest yes it was, but it lasted longer than the original. Then I figured that fans on these cards don't last because they get soo hot, the heat then transfers though to the fans internals and then fans just sieze up.

So I then got one of those old PCI type fans and mounted it directly below the VGA card, and it happened that the heatsink was right above it. So that worked buy drawing air past it.

It worked for a while like that, now the system just crashes after about 15minutes of desktop graphics or 2minutes of gaming. so its a gonner!

It is the card overheating that is crashing your PC, FIX IT QUICK before its to late and damages the card anymore!

**redrum_** · July 9th, 2008, 09:23 PM

Hi

I am having a similar issue with with my video card (9600 from memory).

So, it isn't necessary for the fan to spin? ie- it kicks in automatically when the card heats up? My fan is a bit dirty...might need to get a bit of windex in there or something.

I'll try to get rid of some of the dust with a cotton bud/compressed air and see how it goes.

Any help is appreciated.

Thanks

**KarmaKiller** · July 9th, 2008, 10:13 PM

Canned air is your best bet. If the fan isn't spinning, that will lead to your graphics card overheating.
You can pick up another fan for it from most PC shops, or some etailers.
Or you can get creative with a normal case fan, and that may do the job also.

But in all reality, that's a outdated graphics card, and your best bet ($ allowing of course) is to get a new(ish) graphics card.

PS.
Almost forgot, welcome to TIMO.

**redrum_** · July 9th, 2008, 11:46 PM

Cheers....I dont use the computer for any graphics intensive purposes. Does this make a difference?

I'll see if I can get it fixed & how much it costs and see if it is worth it or not....I think I am due for PC upgrade soon so might try to hold out if possible. The only thing even remotely close to a decent spec for me is 1.7TB of space. lol

Thanks again.

**#43 fan** · July 10th, 2008, 01:16 AM

Originally Posted by redrum_

Cheers....I dont use the computer for any graphics intensive purposes. Does this make a difference?

I'll see if I can get it fixed & how much it costs and see if it is worth it or not....I think I am due for PC upgrade soon so might try to hold out if possible. The only thing even remotely close to a decent spec for me is 1.7TB of space. lol

Thanks again.

If you're going to get it fixed, just get a cheap graphics card. Even one less than $100 will be more than enough (about as much as you would spend having someone else fix it).

**redrum_** · July 10th, 2008, 03:24 AM

hahah is my graphics card is a real piece of sh*t or what!?

maybe i havent got the right model...but thank you all.

**Rootstonian** · July 10th, 2008, 08:11 AM

<kinda thread crapping here>

Would be nice to have a case with LED that posted current CPU and GPU temps so one can track temps in real time.

Don't know about others, but 2 hours into fraggn' aliens, I just don't dump out of it and fire up Catalyst to check my GPU temp!

LOL

**KarmaKiller** · July 10th, 2008, 05:32 PM

Originally Posted by Rootstonian

<kinda thread crapping here>

Would be nice to have a case with LED that posted current CPU and GPU temps so one can track temps in real time.

Don't know about others, but 2 hours into fraggn' aliens, I just don't dump out of it and fire up Catalyst to check my GPU temp!

LOL

OFF TOPIC ALSO:
If you had a Nvidia card, you wouldn't ever have to leave your game. EVGA's OC utility has a on screen display that shows Clock values, and temps for the GPU in the corner of the screen, kind of like fraps in a way.

I'm not sure if Rivatuner works with ATI cards, I think I remember it doesn't, but if you can get Rivatuner to recongnize your card, then Rivatuner also has a option like that also. It involves a little more setup, but you can display CPU/GPU temps, FPS, Clock values, all kinds of info.

**Cajunheat** · July 13th, 2008, 10:35 AM

If I remember right the 9800 Pro doesn't have the fan speed controlled by temps like newer cards (the fan is always at 100% if not controlled by something else). You should either replace the fan or the entire heatsink before you have heat damage. If you can find a fan, I don't think it would cost much. A new heatsink can run from dirt cheap to "empty your bank account." I have a 9800 Pro in my backup rig that had the fan die, so I replaced the stock sink with a Zalman vf-900. Haven't had a bit of trouble since (one of the best cards I ever had).

**Mdiddy7** · June 4th, 2012, 08:11 PM

I'm running a NVidea GeForce 9500 GT gpu. A good.. 6 + months back, I was gaming, as I always do, when my screen went black saying "no signal" and my speakers made a horrible noise like my cpu froze. I had to hold the power button for a hard reset.

A few times later, I did some research, finding out maybe my graphics card was overheating. So I took the side of my cpu to get more air in there. It worked well, for some time. Less crashes like previously mentioned. Now, it does it more often, and I notice that my gpu fan doesn't spin AT ALL.

I downloaded the EVGA Precision Tool, and my gpu is 85 degrees Celsius. I'm not sure if that's too hot or not, to be honest. I also read somewhere to turn fan speed from auto 40% to about 85%. I did, but.. the fan doesn't spin, so no help there. Any ideas?

**ShyguyXPC** · June 4th, 2012, 11:19 PM

replace the card.

you could replace the fan, but for what the card costs these days, you might as well just replace the card itself.

newer Geforce GT 220 or GT 430 would be as good if not better than it, the latter is about 3 times more powerful. Or Radeon HD 5500 series, or 6500 Series, which would be about as powerful as the GT 430, maybe a tad better with the 6500's.

now days a 9500GT is not even worth $40. about $25-30 is all I would be willing to pay for one.

when you factor in the cost of a Heatsink/Fan replacement if the fan on your card is dead, you might as well invest in a newer more powerful, yet lower powered and cooler running card.