Did my 7 months old XFX NVIDIA GeForce 6800 (128 MB; AGP) overheat and died?

Hello. On Sunday late evening, I was playing a single player FarCry mod (with all graphic options maximum,
anisotropic to maximum, 1152x864 resolution, HDR enabled, etc.) for about 15 minutes. Then, my CRT monitor's
display goes black and I see a video signal loss light blinking.

Then, my computer/Windows seem have crashed(?) -- could still hear the game music but it was like choppy (on and
off). However, pings to the computer from another box were not consistent (no pings, normal pings, or delayed ping
responses). I tried to SSH into my Windows box, but it failed. I had to reboot (reset button). My computer failed
to reboot! I pressed power button, but it shut down fast (should take me 5 seconds not like 1-2 seconds). Now, I
couldn't power on anymore! I turned off the PSU in the back, and turned it back on and heard a single beep (no
fans came on, computer still off, etc.) from my motherboard(?). When the beeps occurs, I see my computer case
lights (drive and power) come on for one second. Fans never spin though. I wasn't sure what that beep meant and
couldn't get my motherboard to tell me anything else (beeps weren't mentioned in the hardcopy manual and heard no
POST voices). I did see the green light on my motherboard to show it was getting power.

The next night, I had one of my hardware friend come over to check out my dead box. Originally, he thought it was
a dead motherboard from what I told him. He checked the PSU with a little device, and it was fine (from lights and
voltages I guess). He removed all the cards and disconnected everything. Then, he noticed the CPU's fan was
spinning unlike before. He powers off, and then puts back the video card. Powered on, and white flash/spark from
the video card area and smoke odor! It looked like the video card had problems. We tried my old ATI Radeon 9800
Pro AIW card (I knew I should had kept this for a reason, hehe), and computer booted up just fine. No damages.
Also, added other cards, and no problems!

I also do remember my temperatures before I started playing Far Cry: Athlon 64 3200+ CPU (754) = 152F, Motherboard
= 117F, and 90F in my small room. It appears that NVIDIA card died from overheating and probably this spark and
smoke caused by this, but we didn't see any burn marks or anything odd on the card. Does this mean the NVIDIA card
got fried during FarCry? I always keep the fan spinning at maximum eve when not gaming in NVIDIA's control panel
(latest non-beta driver). I also do not overclock anything. You can see my detailed system specifications at
http://alpha.zimage.com/~ant/antfarm.../computers.txt (primary/gaming computer -- no XFX card since it is
being RMA'ed so using my old ATI Radeon 9800 Pro AIW for now).

I am planning to get a new full tower ATX case since this one is old (1998) and doesn't seem to have good air
flow. I am not sure how much this will help if my room is so hot (90F) since my AC sucks (central unit), I am
upstair (heat rises), and in Southern California, USA. Also, maybe a cooler fan for the video card after I get it
RMA'ed. I am not sure if that will help either.

Thank you in advance.
--
"You're kissing an ant hill." --Mike Nelson
/\___/\
/ /\ /\ \ Phillip (Ant) @ http://antfarm.ma.cx (Personal Web Site)
| |o o| | Ant's Quality Foraged Links (AQFL): http://aqfl.net
\ _ / Please remove ANT if replying by e-mail.
( )

Most likely your PSU bucked under the summer heat and high loads while you
were playing Far Cry. In fact, PSUs are far more susceptible to overheating
than video cards.

The card was mostly destroyed the next night, when you noiced the spark. It
only takes a little juice to fry components on the card, so you'd never see
any burn marks. Did your friend by chance plug in the video card without
turning off the PSU at the hard switch? If the system was just "soft off",
there would still be voltage in the PCI and AGP slots when he inserted the
cards, not good.

--
"War is the continuation of politics by other means.
It can therefore be said that politics is war without
bloodshed while war is politics with bloodshed."

<> wrote in message
news:caqdnS-...
> He checked the PSU with a little device, and it was fine (from lights and
> voltages I guess). He removed all the cards and disconnected everything.
> Then, he noticed the CPU's fan was
> spinning unlike before. He powers off, and then puts back the video card.
> Powered on, and white flash/spark from
> the video card area and smoke odor! It looked like the video card had
> problems. We tried my old ATI Radeon 9800
> Pro AIW card (I knew I should had kept this for a reason, hehe), and
> computer booted up just fine. No damages.
> Also, added other cards, and no problems!
>

First of One <> wrote:
> Most likely your PSU bucked under the summer heat and high loads while you
> were playing Far Cry. In fact, PSUs are far more susceptible to overheating
> than video cards.

> The card was mostly destroyed the next night, when you noiced the spark. It
> only takes a little juice to fry components on the card, so you'd never see
> any burn marks. Did your friend by chance plug in the video card without
> turning off the PSU at the hard switch? If the system was just "soft off",
> there would still be voltage in the PCI and AGP slots when he inserted the
> cards, not good.

Before that spark, we couldn't get the computer to boot up at all. But after that and using
an old ATI Radeon 9800 Pro AIW card (128 MB; AGP), it worked. I will have to ask him if he
had the PSU on or off that time. I don't remember either. I think he did have it off and
then powered on, and then sparks and smoke (didn't see any visible smoke).
--
"You're kissing an ant hill." --Mike Nelson
/\___/\
/ /\ /\ \ Phillip (Ant) @ http://antfarm.ma.cx (Personal Web Site)
| |o o| | Ant's Quality Foraged Links (AQFL): http://aqfl.net
\ _ / Please remove ANT if replying by e-mail.
( )

The PSU was probably "off" when he plugged in the card. There's soft-off
(rear switch turned on, but front power button not pressed). Then there's
hard-off (rear switch turned off). Under soft-off conditions, there is
always voltage in the expansion slots.

--
"War is the continuation of politics by other means.
It can therefore be said that politics is war without
bloodshed while war is politics with bloodshed."

<> wrote in message
news: et...
> I will have to ask him if he
> had the PSU on or off that time. I don't remember either. I think he did
> have it off and
> then powered on, and then sparks and smoke (didn't see any visible smoke).

wrote:
> First of One <> wrote:
> > Most likely your PSU bucked under the summer heat and high loads while you
> > were playing Far Cry. In fact, PSUs are far more susceptible to overheating
> > than video cards.

> > The card was mostly destroyed the next night, when you noiced the spark. It
> > only takes a little juice to fry components on the card, so you'd never see
> > any burn marks. Did your friend by chance plug in the video card without
> > turning off the PSU at the hard switch? If the system was just "soft off",
> > there would still be voltage in the PCI and AGP slots when he inserted the
> > cards, not good.

> Before that spark, we couldn't get the computer to boot up at all. But after that and using
> an old ATI Radeon 9800 Pro AIW card (128 MB; AGP), it worked. I will have to ask him if he
> had the PSU on or off that time. I don't remember either. I think he did have it off and
> then powered on, and then sparks and smoke (didn't see any visible smoke).

I talked to my friend. He confirms that PSU was off before the removal, reinstallation,
and sparks. He also said he never leaves the PSU on while fiddling with hardwares.
--
"You're kissing an ant hill." --Mike Nelson
/\___/\
/ /\ /\ \ Phillip (Ant) @ http://antfarm.ma.cx (Personal Web Site)
| |o o| | Ant's Quality Foraged Links (AQFL): http://aqfl.net
\ _ / Please remove ANT if replying by e-mail.
( )

First of One <> wrote:
> The PSU was probably "off" when he plugged in the card. There's soft-off
> (rear switch turned on, but front power button not pressed). Then there's
> hard-off (rear switch turned off). Under soft-off conditions, there is
> always voltage in the expansion slots.

Well, both case and PSU were off. Although the AC plug was still connected
though.
--
"You're kissing an ant hill." --Mike Nelson
/\___/\
/ /\ /\ \ Phillip (Ant) @ http://antfarm.ma.cx (Personal Web Site)
| |o o| | Ant's Quality Foraged Links (AQFL): http://aqfl.net
\ _ / Please remove ANT if replying by e-mail.
( )