need some help with replacing graphics card or suggestions

[chaos01123]

hello i'd like to say first that my card i've been using since about 2 years ago has been giving me some issues lately, i'm thinking the issue is the fan (i've got to manually spin the fan by hand to get it spinning, tryed putting oil into it and everything in that regards to try fixing it.) even with the fan running it's sitting at 70-80c while playing ff14arr (standard settings) i'll notice that during cut scenes the card hits 78-85c and if i'm viewing them too long it shuts down my system to prevent the card being too hot.

the card i've got is a xfx radeon HD 6870 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814150561

i was wondering if i should try getting a new afterburner/heatsink for my card to help the temps? or if it'd be best to go for a new card and use the one i have now for something else later on. in terms of graphics card replacement i don't want to spend too much since the build i have now is being given to my brother later this year and he doesn't play too many mmo's but i need something that'll be able to last me till around nov/dec of this year when i get my new build.

a few cards i looked at and wondering if their good or which one is best is below, or if anyone has better suggestions and everything? any help is very great and i'm thankful for it.

[Fluorescent0]

Have you tried cleaning the card from any dust with compressed air? Buying a card for two/three months just doesn't seem worth it as long as you can try and fix the one you have.

[Deleted]

Why not just replace the fan? There are plenty replacement fans available on ebay.

[chaos01123]

i've opened up the card and have cleaned it all out from what i can see, couldn't see any build up of dust or anything blocking the fan. if i can finding some sort of new heatsink/afterburner for my card now would be great, just a little iffy that it won't help the temps and i redid the thermal paste and double checked to be sure it's not too little.

only reason i'd say i want a new card would be to get a upgrade fairly cheaply and just something in mind in case i'd need a new one to replace this one. in the case of a new heatsink/fan any suggestions that seem it'd help the best to cool temps? 70-80c seems a bit high to me it's fine while playing but it's the cut scenes where the temp hits up 85+

[Dasffion]

If you're giving your brother a free comp IMO let him buy a new graphics card.

EDIT: Also, from what I've found, AMD says that their cards are rated up to 120c and I've found several forum posts saying that 85c is high but not damaging high.

[chaos01123]

true..figured i'd be nice and grab something extra for him though so it's not completely older build feel for him. also that's odd..i don't understand why it's shutting my computer off then i mean the 70-80c is fine but like i said during any cut scenes if i don't go through them fast enough it'll kick into 85c and then i'm assuming it builds up high enough temp in order for it to shut my computer off to stop it from getting worse, ect.

also i'm keeping an eye on temps of everything else and their sitting at 30-40c so those are fine, atm my card is at 50-60c sitting here with mmochamp and youtube running. also i'll throw in that my case has 4 fans (2 in front for hard drive docks, 1 on top of case and i removed the one on the back of the case to put it on the side of the case where the graphics card is..to try cooling it down a bit more.)

[Dasffion]

Well if you really want to be nice and get him something new I believe the 7850 is pretty close to the 6870 and about $150. Or if you only want to spend closer to $100 try the 7770

[chaos01123]

alrighty i'll keep those in mind, other then that is there any idea why my temps would be hitting so high to shut down? this is happening even with the fan on the gpu running when i can get it working. again thanks everyone for the help, i mean this issue can be handled for a while with manually getting the fan working spinning it. i just fear that won't work for too much longer though so either i'll look into those cards you told me or go with some sort of new heatsink/fan but i'm assuming that'd be up there in price to a point of almost spending enough to just get a new card that's about the same, ect.

[Bad Ashe]

i can vouch for the 7770s, i just got a pair on sale from tiger about a month ago for only 60$ ea. i havnt even installed the 2nd one because everythings running at max with just 1 in there.

win 7 rates it 7.6 out or 7.9 on the index.

[Dasffion]

You can get a new fan for 15-20 bucks

[chaos01123]

i can vouch for the 7770s, i just got a pair on sale from tiger about a month ago for only 60$ ea. i havnt even installed the 2nd one because everythings running at max with just 1 in there.

that sounds great! which games do you run it with just to do some compare and thought thinking.

also alrighty that's a lot better then what i had in mind lol..was thinking a new fan for gpu would be a bit more costly. anyways thanks everyone for the help and if there's any other suggestions or anything at all i'd love to hear them.

[Bad Ashe]

i havnt been gaming much, except for a little skyrim, D3 and a few older games (really-really older... the homeworlds).

d3 on all max is over 100fps, skyrim caps at 60.

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applicati...u=SYX-603002OH
is the one im using. i went with the 1g with faster memory and bus over the 2g ones since i was going to pair them.

[chaos01123]

i havnt been gaming much, except for a little skyrim, D3 and a few older games (really-really older... the homeworlds).

d3 on all max is over 100fps, skyrim caps at 60.

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applicati...u=SYX-603002OH
is the one im using. i went with the 1g with faster memory and bus over the 2g ones since i was going to pair them.

alrighty sounds good then, i'll look into those 7770's

[Deleted]

The 7770 is a weaker card compared to the 6870 by quite a bit.