Ran a 15 minute Furmark burn in test at 1920x1080 shot up to 105-106 in under a minute and stayed at that temp for the remainder of the 15 minute test...  RMA?

I am very new to posting to these forums, this is my very first thread/post... why so many views but no replies?  Did I not post enough information, or am I missing something?  Thanks.

Kinda.
What case are you using?How is the airflow? Ambient temperature of the room you are in? How old is the card, when was the last time you cleaned it? Have you replaced the TIM?
 
Furmark is something you really shouldn't be using. It is unrealistic as to what you can expect in games or even benchmarks. It has even been known to kill perfectly good cards. When it reached 100C you should have terminated the test. It is possible you have just done irreparable damage to the card. Possible though it is still fine. Best if you just uninstall Furmark, download Heaven 3.0 or 3DMark 11. Or if you really want to test the card for issues, download EVGA Overclock Scanner. That will check for artifacts, Furmark just makes a card hot for no reason.

Hey, thank you very much for the reply.  I am using the antec 900, my entire rig is on stock cooling but i have every fan in the case set to 100% even the GPU.  I clean the dust filters regularly to keep the airflow good.  The card is 3 years old, I bought it in May 2009.  I cleaned out the card about 2 months ago and re applied thermal paste but I am not sure how well I applied the paste.  I bought Antec formula 6 and it was almost like putty, and had spotty coverage...  I was afraid of putting too much on, but at the same time it didnt look like enough.
 
The card seems to be stable right now even after running Furmark, however I will take your advice and uninstall it.  The reason why I decided to start testing my GPU is because I had been receiving alot of BSOD's and random crashes playing games and I was worried that my GPU was failing so I wanted to stress test it.  I driver swept all of my drivers and reinstalled the most fresh and current drivers for my system and flashed my BIOS for the EVGA X58 to the most current BIOS and I havent seen a crash, restart, or bsod since.  
 
When I called EVGA the other day and told them what I had been experiencing with BSOD's and the steps I had taken to troubleshoot it, they said the suggested that I RMA the card because it was probably defective.  Any ideas or more advice is much appreciated, thanks!

Furmark is not recommended but if the card is 100C+ you either need to redo the thermal paste or get it replaced if under warranty. You can try a different PCIe slot as well just to rule out airflow.

I have tried a different PCIe slot.  I went from the top one to the bottom one, and the only reason I tried that is because the EVGA support technician recommended that I tried a different PCIe slot as a possibly fix to my BSODs/crashes, I didnt originally move it because of overheating issues. 
 
I will try to get around to pulling the card out again and opening it back up and reapplying more thermal paste.  Anything against Antec Formula 6?  It's really like putty more than paste and harder to spread than any other thermal paste i've had... is it bad to put too much if this Antec formula 6 seems like it is really spotty and doesnt cover well?
 
The card is under warranty so I may just remove any doubts and just RMA it as the tech guy asked me to, I just don't feel like waiting for my card to ship all the way out there and the new one to come back before I can use my computer, I don't have any extra GPU's lying around.

If you want some other TIM look into Arctic Cooling MX-4 or Prolimatech PK-1.
Put on twice as much as you would for a CPU, then let the heatsink do the spreading. So just a dot in the center. You can still spread it if you wish, these two TIM's are nice and thin, and nothing like putty.
 

Can you give me an idea of how big of a dot?  Like the size of a BB or like the size of a pea, or a dime?  How do I remove the remnants of the old putty?  Thanks in advance.

Size of a pea. Just look at the amount, and try to picture it squished extremely thin between two surfaces.
To clean it it http://www.newegg.com/Pro...010&Tpk=ArctiClean
But I have used everything from electronics cleaning wipes, the highest % isopropyl alcohol I can find, even vodka. Whatever gets it clean.

The Blue Spirit


Can you give me an idea of how big of a dot?  Like the size of a BB or like the size of a pea, or a dime?  How do I remove the remnants of the old putty?  Thanks in advance.

 Pea size!
 
About that much:
 

Thanks for the picture, and all the replies guys.  Although I do trust you, that amount doesn't seem like it would cover the entire surface of the GPU, I know you don't want it gushing out, but the outer edges of the GPU don't seem like they would be covered?
 
Is it true that if you put too much thermal paste it can also have a reverse effect and make it hotter than it should be?

The Blue Spirit


Thanks for the picture, and all the replies guys.  Although I do trust you, that amount doesn't seem like it would cover the entire surface of the GPU, I know you don't want it gushing out, but the outer edges of the GPU don't seem like they would be covered?

Is it true that if you put too much thermal paste it can also have a reverse effect and make it hotter than it should be?

The outer edges won't feel the effect. Also, putting too much will give you the opposite of what your trying to achieve.    ;)

Thanks for the quick reply.  Is 50% isopropyl alcohol and a q-tip good enough to remove the old paste or do I need a higher alcohol content.  50% is what i've got, and although it's inexpensive stuff it would be convenient if I didn't have to buy a different bottle just for this lol.

 
         I went to Wal-Greens and bought the 91% bottle. Higher is better. Get the 91% for better cleaning. It's worth it!
 
 
                                                  

But the 50% wont HURT the GPU?

The Blue Spirit


But the 50% wont HURT the GPU?

Neither will the 90% if you do it right. Hint: Don't spill it all over!      =)

Haha, okay thanks for your help, I will check my local Wal-Greens...  I guess we can consider this thread closed for now, even though I'm still not absolutely sure if my card is gonna need an RMA still or not, I guess I will find out... I also uninstalled Furmark fyi... lol

 
                   One more thing! I found a video that might be helpful for you! Good luck with everthing!