My video card caught fire

[ronnn]

Sorry that made me laugh. But not funny and very scary. I would have thought that there would be safety features that stop that.

 

[Leper Messiah]

happened to a PSU of mine once. Normally the bad smell just comes out, but this one had a 2 foot flame shoot out the back. :Q

 

[obeseotron]

I replaced a hard drive once for somone and upon removing it found bad burn marks all over the circuit board of the dead drive...

 

[TanisHalfElven]

wow. now i am actually scanred of leaving my computer on for a long time.
esp aty night.
i hope you get covered by the warranty and chaintech goes bankrput if you don't

seroifly now i am glad i bought a x800gt instead of burning 6600gt

 

[jeffa66]

LOL
i had that happen except with my ps last month except i got a light show from the sparks and a nice puff of smoke fried my mobo too lol fun fun

 

[RobsTV]

Had similar happen with two systems, and could probably duplicate again.
Asus A7n266-VM NF2 using onboard GF2mx, with the Asus AGP add on adaptor for DVI/Svideo/Composite (still uses onboard).
While PC is running, switch from composite to svideo.
It will flame up within seconds, and burn up card as well as runs on the motherboard.
Repeat with replacement motherboard and card........ Then stop.

 

[L00PY]

So what causes flames to shoot out of a computer? Is there an inflammable compound in caps that ignites when burst? I know insulation / wiring can singe and eventually burn, but that can't be the explanation. . .

 

[jdkick]

This scares me. I don't mean to hijack, but I came close to the same experience...

I'm running an X1600XT at the moment. The first card ran for ~10 minutes before the fan died. The damn thing got so hot that I almost burned my thumb on the heatsink. Because of this, i'm somewhat uncomfortable leaving my PC on when i'm not home or are otherwise incapable of putting out a fire (ie: sleeping).

I've since exchanged the card for another and it's running fine, but i'm keeping my eye on it. I may look into a passive cooling solution.

 

[Vinnybcfc]

Originally posted by: jdkick
This scares me. I don't mean to hijack, but I came close to the same experience...

I'm running an X1600XT at the moment. The first card ran for ~10 minutes before the fan died. The damn thing got so hot that I almost burned my thumb on the heatsink. Because of this, i'm somewhat uncomfortable leaving my PC on when i'm not home or are otherwise incapable of putting out a fire (ie: sleeping).

I've since exchanged the card for another and it's running fine, but i'm keeping my eye on it. I may look into a passive cooling solution.

Temperature sensors should detect when the card reachs crazy temperatures there shoudlnt be any need for passive cooling unless you want to reduce noise

 

[jdkick]

Detecting crazy temps is one thing, reacting to them is another.

Some of my systems have had thermal protection controls in the BIOS that either trigger and alarm or shutdown the PC if temperatures exceed a certain value. I've always had the impression that this only related to CPU temps, not a flaming video card.

 

[BassBomb]

cooling is important, think good case fans getting air movin around

my computer has been on doing a 3d rendering right now for 38 hours elapsed ... 3dsmax
that means cpu 100% for 38 hours
nothing fried or dead, no heat out back either

i turned fans off for 4 mins and i got prescott like heat

 

[SpeedZealot369]

duuuude, nicce.
My freind had the same problem, but he wasn't home and the 6600gt chaintech fryed his motherboard along with his sound card. OUCH!

Have you ever chevked your gpu temps while it was working? over 90 degrees=trouble.

anyway, sorry for your loss dude, whens the funural?

 

[dl5175]

Well I tma the card to Newegg and the card has been discontinued. So I have a $125 credit. My wife is letting me add $165 to it (my birthday tomorrow) here is my question. I am not a heavy gamer not with graphics anyway (text based sports games) should I use the $290 for a 7800gt or use the refurb 6600td from Leadtek and upgrade my old 21 inch Viewsonic P810 monitor that I have had since 1997? And if the monitor, would a 17 inch lcd be better than the 21 inch old crt or do I need at least a 19 inch? Would the refresh rate be very important to me with Madden football being my most graphically intense game? Is there anything important for watching dvds? All your help is appreciated.

 

[Painman]

That's a nice big CRT, I wouldn't downsize... you will miss the visual real estate

 

[thescreensavers]

would the card just shut off becuse the temp exceeded the maximum?

 

[Avalon]

Originally posted by: dl5175
Well I tma the card to Newegg and the card has been discontinued. So I have a $125 credit. My wife is letting me add $165 to it (my birthday tomorrow) here is my question. I am not a heavy gamer not with graphics anyway (text based sports games) should I use the $290 for a 7800gt or use the refurb 6600td from Leadtek and upgrade my old 21 inch Viewsonic P810 monitor that I have had since 1997? And if the monitor, would a 17 inch lcd be better than the 21 inch old crt or do I need at least a 19 inch? Would the refresh rate be very important to me with Madden football being my most graphically intense game? Is there anything important for watching dvds? All your help is appreciated.

If all you play is text based sports games, I'd suggest finding something else you'd like to do with that $165, because your $125 credit will be more than enough. In fact, just use the refurb Leadtek. Now you've got $290 . I wouldn't bother upgrading your monitor either, as a 21" CRT is nice.

 

[dl5175]

Thanks for the advice but I decided to go with a Evga 6800gs for a game called Maximum Football. It has 3d graphics not Madden like but being able to make plays and use them in a league is nice.

 

[JPB]

Originally posted by: dl5175
My Chaintech 6600gt I bought in december had flames coming from it. I am so lucky my mb did not fry. Will newegg replace it? Should I get another Chaintech? I am not a hardcore gamer, nor do I overclock anything I was beta testing a football game and the thing caught fire.

^lmao^

 

[Sonikku]

Originally posted by: dl5175
My video card caught fire

As for overclocking, if that doesn't raise a red flag I don't know what does.

 

[themusgrat]

Yes sir, fire would not look kindly on most PCs.

 

[Regs]

I heard about this before. The heat melts the sticker glue, then the melted sticker gets caught up in the fan.

 

[Washoe]

Moral of the story is. Stay away from Chaintech?