replace video card

i just replaced my old 7800gt evga nvidia card with a new ati 4850 card i was just wondering if i need to do any special tricks with this card and i thought i got a good deal on it for 161 dollars

Congrats on your upgrade, the ATI HD 4850 is a great card.

It does tend to run hot on stock fan settings though, and ATI Catalyst Control Center won't let you directly change the fan's speed. If you've checked, your card is probably idling around 60-70 degrees Celsius, and you'll definitely want to stay lower than that, even during load. Here's how to change the fan speed: http://forums.guru3d.com/showpost.ph...69&postcount=8

I found that the fan speed of 65% can be quite audible, but 50% does it for me. At 50%, it can't be heard over my Antec 900's case fans but it cools my card down to 45 degrees Celsius during idle and 58 degrees while playing Guild Wars.

yeah i heard it can thanks and i am having a glitch were it flashes then locks up i dont know if its the computer or the card so i will try this

When does it lock up? Did it start locking after the installation of the 4850's drivers?

yeah i had to do a complete reinstall of vista as the nvidia drivers even thou they were removed would not let the ati control center install or even the ati drivers to install right and i did the fan fix at 65 and it went to 59 and its staying there i have read were people just go with 50 and it goes 48 deg c so i am wondering if my card is defictive if it still does it in the morning i am going to take it back and exchange it for another

fixed most of the problem its the newest drivers for the card that were the problem with the glitching but i have lost the ability to setup the fan to run more which driver enabled this as idont want the issues i ahd to come bak

The drivers that come with the 4850 are the Catalyst 8.6 drivers are they not? 8.6 uses the same method to change the fan speed as the newest (8.9) drivers so I don't see why you wouldn't be able to change the fan speed. Did you forget to choose your profile again and re-enable ATI Overdrive? CCC goes back to default settings whenever it is installed.

dont know but the vid driver for the 8.9 was causing my vid to crash so i tried 8.8 and it has been working perfectly and the fan fix is working again so i dont know i will wait and see if the drivers get fixed or something but i am happy with the card so one other ? mine is set for 65 in fan control but it only cools down to about 56 c most of what i read others get theres to 48 c but i think they have more cooling in the case to help i been thinking of adding an extra fan i have any to the case would that help

Idling at 56 degrees Celsius is really hot for a fan speed of 65%. Mine is 43-45 at 50% and that's with only two mediocre 120mm fans going off.

You don't have to worry much about video card temperature unless they're over 90-100C. 58C is fine, 60-70C is about average under full load.

You are right.

His problem, though, is that he is getting temperatures that are much higher than people with comparable hardware and even lower settings. I have the same card as him but its fan speed is set to lower than that of his. Even so, my overclocked card is much cooler than his. My computer isn't tweaked out with fancy cooling either, it's all stock.

Is your case getting decent airflow, ljonesj?

i think thats the problem it has one 120mm fan at the back exhausting out the psu fan and the cpu fan and thats it. and i found out that my antec basic 500watt power supply may not be able to support the card for long if i dont upgrade it again to the recomend 650watt earthwatt antec psu. i helped it with a small fan ziptied close to the card and exhausting out the big open side vent of my machine i think i am going to get a expansion port fan that exhausts out the back and put that one i have at the side in the front of my stock acer case i have one of the acers that has alot of room to grow in.
ps i have now got it 53 degrees wiht the side fan and using riva tunner to auto adjust the fan speeds it still sits about 55-65 on that fan cycle

A decent quality 500watt PSU ought to handle that just fine. I have the 4850 with a 125watt Quad Core and it runs great on a 500 watt PSU. I suspect that your case has poor airflow, since I set it at 40% and I maintain 52 degrees whilst doing general Office type applications, surfing the web and listening to music... this in a room that is over 80 (fahreneit) :d

well like i said i only have the 1 120mm fan that sits right below the psu and the cpu, and of course the psu fan and there right together i can add a fan to the front of my case as it has the option for it. which i thought about doing anyway. plus would the expansion card exhaust fan sitting right below my video card help also

ok got a front fan for my case they were sold out of the exhuast fans for the expansions card slot but at a 40-50 setting it cools to about 52 to 54 setting which now i can say i think it is my computers cooling was the problem

The HD 4850, being the single-slot cooled card that it is, will dump heat into your computer so it builds up real good if you don't have decent airflow.

yeah thats why i was thinking about buying the expansion slot fan that exhausts the heat out of it so that would help even more because my therory is the faster it makes the faster out it can be got out should help it run cooler too

well it is a case of not enough airflow i added a big 110 volt fan that runs on its own powere source to the side of my case it came out of a switch board my dad took apart and it lets me run the gpu low and it still cools it down to 53c

110 Volts?! 110mm rather?

You can always take a picture of your comp' and post it here so we can see it. We'll tell you if it's a good case and/or brand with decent airflow.

no its a fan out of a computer type switch board that runs off of 110volts and i think the fan is about 180mm i got ziped tied at the moment to the side vent of my case i am using a stock acer m5100 u can look it up on acers site the front fan makes it were i have to take out 2 of my expansion bays to work which i do not like do they make a small profile but still 80mm fan for the front of cases i need one half the thickness of a stock 80mm

i'm pretty sure nothing runs on 110 volts in a computer.