It might be worth giving it another shot, because this cooler is an absolute beast. According to one GPU benchmark I saw, it stays under 60°C even under full load—though, obviously, a benchmark isn't quite the same as a sustained stress test, especially if you factor in higher ambient temperatures. As for cleaning it, I’m no chemist, but theoretically, nothing should cause issues since it shouldn't eat through those materials (at least, that's my guess). That said, I wouldn't go overboard experimenting with random chemicals if you don't have to. If you can't find 70% isopropyl alcohol at a drugstore, I've personally used high-proof vodka or even some heavy-duty degreaser 😁
That second error also points toward a hardware issue. Here’s the deal: The Calibration retry count is the number of times it's had to recalibrate itself to aligning the heads with the tracks so it can read data appropriately.
Honestly, there's no way to know if it's just a false positive or if things are actually going south. That said, both programs flagged the same thing (the spin up time). If everything seems to be running smoothly, you might be fine, but it would be smart to back up anything essential—like your tax docs, sensitive files, etc.—to another drive. Don't bother backing up hundreds of gigabytes of games or movies; forget it, you can always redownload them if you have to. How much warranty coverage do you have left? If you've got plenty of time, you could just keep an eye on it for a while, but if the warranty is about to expire, it might be worth filing a claim 🤷
Before you do that, though, maybe try an official diagnostic tool from Seagate (I believe it's called Seatools). You can find some links here
BTW, we have the exact same wallpaper (footpaths)—that image is so fitting right now lol
Fair enough, you're right. It’s definitely not top-tier stuff. If you had gone with $200 (assuming this is the link), you could have picked up a much higher quality power supply
But yeah, there's a good chance it's just a B-tier unit (your standard mid-range power supply). I've got a feeling he bought a pre-built PC from that link—people love showing off those high-end rigs 🤣 . It’ll hold up, though; he should have enough headroom. As long as it isn't one of those budget Elite or Thunder series models from CM, he should be fine .
It isn't necessary. You're looking at about 200W during actual gaming, maybe hitting a theoretical 250W under extreme stress. Those higher numbers they list are just based on certain specs. Depending on which vendor you go with, you can find power supplies for an R9 290 ranging anywhere from 500W up to 750-850W.
It isn’t just about the heavy lifting from textures; you’ve also got to account for filters like MSAA and things like that—you know, all that extra blur. You'll be able to run most games at a decent level, but with those absolute top-tier, demanding titles? You might scrape by with some low settings, but that's about it.
When you installed the GPU—did you plug the monitor directly into it, or did you leave it connected to the integrated graphics on the motherboard?
Eric Brown78 said:I’ve been browsing used R9 290 4GB cards, and I noticed there are so many different manufacturers. I’m wondering which one is actually the best? I just want to make sure the temperatures stay within a normal range so I don't have to worry about it for a few years... I'm running an 8350 x8 4.0 GHz processor.
Honestly, nothing on eBay is worth buying right now. Most of them are just the basic reference models, or they're priced almost as high as brand-new cards. If you look closely, most of these listings come from the same single seller—which usually means they were used for Bitcoin mining. Who knows how long those cards were pinned at 100% load? Since they're mostly reference models, they probably ran hot as hell. Just stay away from them.
Jonathan Mendoza17 said:Thanks, I've put something together, but I'm honestly not sure if I'm happy with how it turned out. I didn't bother picking up any new thermal paste; I just went with this Coolink Chillaramic for now. The card was absolutely caked in dust, so I stripped the whole thing down and gave it a thorough, deep cleaning. Idle temps are sitting around 38-40°C. I ran an OCCT stress test at max settings for about 20 minutes to see how it would hold up. For the first 10 minutes, the temperature climbed steadily until it hit 83°C, where it finally stabilized. I’m a bit torn—it's easily 90 degrees in my room right now, but even so, this feels a little high to me. Is this within the acceptable range, or should I run the test again to be sure? I placed about a pea-sized amount right in the center—since the chip is square rather than rectangular, that felt like the best way to go. Is that overkill on the paste? I used a cotton swab to clear out the old, dried-up thermal paste, and while I managed to get most of it off, there’s still some gray residue stuck in the microscopic grooves of the copper heatsink. Should I have scrubbed that away with some isopropyl alcohol? Is this actually going to be an issue, or should I just focus on applying a higher-quality paste? The card is a Gigabyte R9 280 WF3. The worst part is that I didn't run any temperature benchmarks beforehand, so I have absolutely no way of knowing if I actually improved things or just made them worse.
The temperature is running a bit high, but nothing that should actually damage anything. As for that gray residue left on the copper? Don't sweat it—as long as you aren't feeling any crusty buildup, it shouldn't cause issues, and the grain looks fine. One thing to consider: if your room is sitting at 86°F and your case doesn't have decent airflow, these temps aren't even surprising. What’s your absolute peak while gaming? You can track that easily using MSI Afterburner or PlayClaw.
velvetnomad44 said:Greetings,
So, I just picked up a used graphics card—some Gainward model. $50 It features two fans, which looks like a solid setup to me. 🙂
Look, since I’m a complete novice here, I need some guidance on how to actually load the drivers for this graphics card. I’m assuming that once I physically slot the card into the motherboard, the system will automatically recognize the specific model and handle everything, right? My main concern is the cleanup—how do I properly wipe out any old, lingering drivers before installing the new ones?
Thanks for understanding.
Download Driver Sweeper. Once you’ve done a standard uninstallation through the Control Panel, run the program and check the boxes for both ATI and Nvidia display drivers. Hit analyze, then select remove to wipe out every last trace of the old files. Or... ovo
You can just grab the official drivers directly from the Nvidia website—since Gainward is strictly an Nvidia partner anyway—and use the automatic detection tool to handle the rest. clickIf you want my take on picking the right OS and hardware series, or if you're just trying to figure out exactly which GPU you're working with, you can pull all that info directly from Speccy.
Hey, check if your hard drive happens to have a firmware update available click Is your boot time slower than usual? That spin time error usually suggests the drive is struggling to reach its required RPM
Have you tried running some other tools, like HD Tune, just to double-check the health status and run an error scan?
That cooler is going to let you down big time. Do yourself a favor and check out some YouTube videos 😬—including those parody reviews—as well as the actual hardware tests. If that thing were actually a good value, it would have flown off the shelves ages ago. For that kind of money, you're better off buying something with actual performance credentials.
Honestly, given that Smartic linked it for over $400 gross, you won't find a better option out there. Just a heads-up though: I think it’s going to sell out fast. As usual, deals this good don't stay on the shelves for long.
Hey analogtiger19, take a look at this link to see if it matches the description you gave (B85-G41 PC Mate)
You could also grab an H97 model for about $23 more, though honestly, you won't notice much of a difference in performance. The main perk is just that the H97 supports Broadwell processors too.
Look, just because the power supply is faulty doesn't mean that's the only possible culprit.
60°C while idling? That’s way too high. Which CPU are you running exactly?
You should probably run some stress tests on both your CPU and GPU using OCCT to see how they handle the heat. It might be time for a deep cleaning to get rid of the dust, or maybe a fresh application of thermal paste—honestly, your fans could be totally shot. I'm not sure who you'd even call to fix it, though.
darkowl72 said:Honestly? Get it to a repair shop ASAP. If you actually think your monitor cables are capable of producing sound, then we’re beyond help at this point because anything could happen next... 😬
Since the noise only kicks in when you're pushing the system (like when you're gaming), it means either your CPU fan or—more likely—your GPU fan is acting up. Your rig needs a deep clean, and you might need to swap out one of those fans entirely. Hurry up and get it looked at, because this isn't going to fix itself; it’ll just keep getting worse until something actually snaps...
Exactly.
It could also be the PSU fan. It doesn't matter if Paul Kern3 bought it recently; it could just be a lemon, or perhaps it's simply too weak for your specific build, causing it to struggle and whine whenever you push it.
Ryan Thomas60 said:What about these: 1. ATI Sapphire HD 6850 1GB DDR5 256-bit - $167 2. ATI HD 6870 1GB DDR5 - $167 3. Vapor X Radeon HD 4870 1GB DDR5 256-bit - $133
That HD7770 is definitely the smarter move here. At launch, the HD7770 was roughly on par with the HD6850, but that 7xxx series really saw a massive performance boost thanks to driver updates over the years. Plus, it’s more power-efficient than the 6850 or 6870, offers DX12 support to help reduce bottlenecks, and it's just a much newer architecture overall.
Regardless of the bottleneck issue, you'll get much better value by picking up a stronger used GPU. You can always upgrade your CPU later or move the card into a newer PC down the road. Honestly, dropping $500-$200 on a DDR3 card is just throwing money away—whether it's those weak GT 730s or even an R7 240, even if they have DDR5. The only real perk there is the warranty...
Regarding new cards, I previously sent you a link for the cheapest R7 250 DDR5 (from Centro or Futura), which is actually an MSI model with a 3-year warranty. Shipping is around $30-$13, and you can pay via COD (once it hits your doorstep), which makes returns and claims much more reliable.
I’ve spotted three interesting options here—all of them outperform the R7 250 ddr5.
Make sure to ask about the warranty for those last two listings. Generally speaking, if you go with the first two, you'll need to upgrade your power supply. The third option comes with that list we discussed earlier; while it could technically run on a cheap, off-brand PSU, it wouldn't be worth the risk, so they should really drop the price. Ultimately, the HD7770 offers the best value and the most raw power.
You could probably pick up a decent power supply for around $100$50 locally in Miami.
An R7 360 (which is just a rebranded R7 260 non-X) is going for $383 wtf 🤣)
To be honest, I’d personally skip that single-fan xfx R7 265 altogether. People are constantly complaining about how loud they are, much like the previous xfx single-fan models used on beefier GPUs. If an R9 270 won't fit, I might actually prefer picking up a 750Ti instead—ideally a cheaper version that comes with a 3-year warranty, even if it is a bit weaker...
Take this for example:
The gtx 950 should be out soon; I’m really hoping it can actually go toe-to-toe with the 270 and 265 in terms of performance.