Mt G400 is very warm....

[Saud]

Is that normal??? I read somewhere these cards ran very cool and that the fan on the Max was just a precaution. My G400 heatsink is too hot to the touch. It's kinda like a hot cup of coffee- too hot to handle, but it won't burn you fingers off.

Do I need better cooling (liquid nitro) or is this heat thing normal??? Any feedback would be greatly appreciated. I don't wanna burn this thing up in the first week.

[Kruzin]

The heatsink gets very warm without a fan (surprised me how hot it got). An old 486 fan on the heatsink, and no more worries (barley gets warm now)

[rickfloyd]

Mine ran hot, too - for the three hours that
it worked. Now it's a 2D only card. Sigh. Extra cooling might, indeed, be a good idea on this one.

[Saud]

What!?!?

Did your G400 burn itself up??? I hope you get your money back, or at least a trade in. Maybe Matrox will have a recall and put fans on our cards (yah right).

Mine ran very hot and I finally added a fan and now it's runs very cool. It's amazing what a little fan can do.

But seriously, it seems like a lot of people are reporting very hot cards. Looks like there might be a heat problem flaring up (no pun intended).

[Buuri]

rickfloyd,

You were actually able to damage it by using it normally? No overclocking or anything?


What did the Vorlons say when they got G400?

Kosh.



B

[Steve C]

Well, if you connect it to your kettle, you could boil water for free!

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Yeah, you know the score...
(ICQ: 29468849)

[rickfloyd]

It wasn't overclocked, and the case temp at the time was 85F. Given that, it seems strange that it would fail due to a heat-related problem. Perhaps it was something else, although it was quite warm at the time. Matrox Tech Support agrees that it is bad (they were quite responsive). However, returns are handled by an "RMA" department that doesn't appear return phone calls, answer e-mail, or act on return authorizations forwarded by tech support. It's a byzantine structure that doesn't appear to work.

[Tn]

Will the Card Cooler be sufficient enough for a G400 instead of a actual fan on the card itself?

[rickfloyd]

It looks like the trick to returning a card purchased from the on-line store is to call them directly ((877)-MBUYNOW). Trying to go through normal tech support channels to diagnose the problem and then return the card causes too much confusion. The failed card is finally on its way back. They tell me that it will take 2 weeks for a replacement to appear. Too bad it's so long. It really is a stunning card when it's working...

[Jihad]

Wait, I just ordered a g400 and I was wondering if active cooling like a fan is really needed or what: It seems everyone here thinks is it true?

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Celeron 366->550, 128 MB RAM, 10.1 IBM Deskstar, MX300, G400 vanilla, HP 8100i CD-RW

[Buuri]

It's strongly recommended that you attach a fan on top of it's heatsink. It will save you a lot of headaches. Don't try to remove or replace the existing heatsink though, if you don't know what you're doing.


B

[Jihad]

SO what kind of fan should I get? I mean like a video card cooler or just any fan. Also how do I attach it to the G400? Thermal glue or screws or what?

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Celeron 366->550, 128 MB RAM, 10.1 IBM Deskstar, MX300, G400 vanilla, HP 8100i CD-RW

[rickT]

I used a pentium fan. I attached it with screws. The screws make their own threads into the heatsink fins.

[Kookstick]

I found a pentium fan called a crystal cooler.This thing cools like you can't believe and attaches to the heatsink with clips that had to be slightly modified but it works great and cost about $10 at my local computer store.maybe you can find one of these. later

[rickT]

those crystal coolers can be bought from here I believe

http://www.dynaeon.com/

model DC1204SM



[This message has been edited by rickT (edited 07-17-99).]