Graphics Card Faulty?

The past day I’ve been experiencing annoying artifacts that have been quite aggressive whilst my PC is under load. I opened up my case while my PC was running and flipped it to its side, and found that the left fan on my 270X wasn’t spinning at all, whilst the right fan was running. I shut down my PC and restarted where I noticed that the left fan span for a couple seconds before stopping completely. The right side fan still spun.

Does this mean that my graphics card is faulty? How do I send it in if it is?

Firstly … don’t run your machine without the fan working 100% … you could end up cooking your GPU and permanently damage it.

The quickest fix is to remove the card and try to check the fan for dust and debris … see if you can remove it if it is there. Try to find a blower or a vacuum cleaner that has a blow option or a air compressor and blow the fans clean.

If the fans can be unscrewed … remove them and check the underneath for dust and debris and stuck in the back.

Finally you can try some Silicon Spray (like WD40 or Q20) and spray that between the housing of the fan and the part that spins … this normally does the trick. Spin the fan by hand first to remove excess silicon spray and dry the overflow.

If that doesn’t work chances are the fan has gone … check the fan’s power connections and the card’s power connections that they are seated properly. Sometimes they come loose.

You can also try finding a suitable replacement fan from a computer components shop or similar shop (Radio Shack, A1 Radios) and try to replace the fan.

This very often happened to me with old PSUs. I don’t know the word in English so I skip what was wrong with all of them, but %95 of the time the problem is the fan itself and replacing it is fine.

I am really not comfortable with taking apart my graphics card. I’ve already cleaned it of dust using vacuum cleaner. I don’t think you can get silicon spray in Australia. Again, I don’t think taking apart my graphics card is a good idea (Not to mention I have no experience doing it). My power supply isn’t old. So how do I send it in?

I just take off the fan and put WD-40 in the fan hole. Or even better, Teflon lubricant.

P.S. The % goes on the end of the numbers. :slight_smile:

Hahah I don’t know how to remove the fan! I’ve already got it prepped for RMA so I’m not messing with my graphics card. Maybe when I’ve built up a stash of a dozen or so graphics cards I’ll begin experimenting with them :stuck_out_tongue: Thanks anyways