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I (heart) my 8790

post #1 of 8
4/13/07 at 11:58pm
Thread Starter 
I love my 8790, but it has finally shown its age... I'm a resident of Second Life (see Secondlife.com a virtual 3D world);However, I can't use SL with my 8790. When I start anything with 3D graphics, the textures are all over the screen. A few years ago the 8790 would only do this after three hours while playing a game...

I believe heat is the only real problem with the graphics card. Has someone made a hack to make the 8790 run normally? Is there some kind of goop or themral padding that can be applied to the GPU to reduce the heat?
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post #2 of 8
4/14/07 at 12:12am
If your graphics are that messed up, your mobo could have heat damage. Have you tried using an external cooling fan with max internal fans (Fn + F10) while playing games?
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post #3 of 8
4/23/07 at 1:23am
Thread Starter 
Yes, I tried that with no effect. (Have you ever played a game with the fans at full power? I couldn't stand the noise even if that was a solution.)

I taped some wooden rods (ie chop sticks) together and placed them under my 8790 for more air flow. I also have a 9" desk fan that blows on my 8790; if I get the guts to play a 3D game but it doesn't help with the artifacts anymore. (At least my 8790 lasted longer than most )

*sigh* I going to bite the bullet and upgrade...
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post #4 of 8
4/23/07 at 10:34am
Sonar,
Have you installed the ATI tool and underclocked your video card a little? I've had success with this tool as far as getting rid of the artifacts. See signature below for the ATI tool settings that have worked for me. I've set up the ATI tool to load at start-up with the underclocked settings.
If you've given up & are ready to trash your 8790, I'll pay the shipping to have it shipped to Savannah!! :-)
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post #5 of 8
5/1/07 at 2:20pm

Back to basics

This has all been said before, but: have you removed the keyboard and coverplate and blown out all the dust? I am amazed at how much dust and hair build up in mine. Every 6 months or so, there is significant enough dust to pick out in a little pile, that can't be good for heat or airflow. Then, when screwing down the coverplate, be sure to screw the screws down firmly, I think that this is a big part of the heat disipation.

Then turn the lappy over and blow out the fans from the back, holding the fan blades with a paperclip so they do not spin. Finally, blow out the radiator in the back.

I always use the F10 fans when gaming, I think that it would be ridiculous not to. I also highly reccomend elevating the lappy in the back. I let it sit on the power cord lump, elevating the back slightly.
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post #6 of 8
5/1/07 at 9:18pm
Thread Starter 
rickinsavh- Thanks!
I underclocked the 8790 to your settings and the deltas (artifacts) are gone! Well, not entirely, but I can get a couple hours before artifacts start showing up.

Spider- About every four to six months, I use a few shots of compressed air to blow dust out of the fans and cooling vent. Normally, I open the coverplate when cleaning the 8790 but there's not a lot of dust inside.
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post #7 of 8
5/2/07 at 6:14pm
Sonar,
Glad the ATI tool is helping. My 8794 stays fairly clean inside but I've seen pictures in this forum of a lot of dust collected in areas that are not easily accessible without taking your machine apart to some degree. It's not really that difficult & there are a couple of specific threads that give good instructions. I highly suggest you give your machine a thorough cleaning from time to time.
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post #8 of 8
5/3/07 at 11:41pm
Sonar, like SpiderMAX said, you really need to open up the keyboard side and get into the guts. That's where some surprising amts of dust can collect and blowing from the bottom side or even through the vents doesn't get it all out. Also might want to try pulling out the copper cooling tubes on the bottom side- think it was Boogieman that found a Himalayan Dusti in there hiding.

Like Rickinsavn said, check around some of the other threads. You definitely want to stay on top of this, too, before something gets burnt out (if it's not already).
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