Hot video card in server

Question

Not sure if this belongs here or Superuser (I looked at Superuser -- suspect there are more hardware gurus here).

I have a server that sits in a cabinet. It's connected to a small screen that is normally off. However, the video card is running at about 210 F all the time. The rest of the PC is pretty cool (getting temps from SpeedFan).

Any thoughts on a way to quiet/calm/cool the video card since it's never really doing anything anyway? I'm usually logged out on the server, and no screen saver defined. Windows is already set to turn off the screen for power saving at 5 minutes.

EDIT: I normally do remote in, which is why the attached monitor is almost never on. But when there are networking problems, or IP address needs to change, etc, remoting in gets tricky :)

There is no on-board video on this one. I guess you'd call it a PC (not a pizza box), and has 3 fans (not counting the fan on the video card which is spinning).

Does the card have a fan? Is the fan working? Are you sure the temp from that program is reasonable (I've seen cases where devices don't have a temperature sensor and software reports some ficticous number)? — Chris S, Apr 01 '10 at 12:48
Is it a server or a PC? You've referred to it as both in the question. There IS a difference. — John Gardeniers, Apr 01 '10 at 13:24
does this machine really need video? Could you not just remote to this machine? — cop1152, Apr 01 '10 at 15:25
Remove or replace the card? Should be basically free to pick another one up? — Oskar Duveborn, Apr 02 '10 at 20:09

score 2 · Answer 1 · answered Apr 01 '10 at 12:51

Sorry to ask, but why do you even NEED a card?

I have a number of servers of diferent ages (3x tyan amd x2 3800, about 3 years old, 1x supermicro dual opteron, 1 year old, 2x hombeuld amd systems, around 1 year old).

Here is the trick: NONE of them has a video CARD. All of them have video on board. All server boards that I know of (checked only tyan, supermicro last time I purchased something) use a cheap low power on board solution. So, why do you need a CARD?

That said, go for a cheap low end ATI board. The new ones (5450) are passive. If your server (in a cabinet) is properly getting fresh air (as in: plenty of fans in it - mine have between 3 and 6 fans on the case) this should not let the card get hot enough. Do NOT go for an older card - the new ATI 5xxx series uses signficantly less power than older models. Less power = less heat.

Well, sadly many low-cost "server" boards require that you have a graphics card to even POST... And they don't always come with onboard graphics. — pehrs, Apr 01 '10 at 13:25
Well, never seen one. Seriously. May it be because i always use AMD? Basically server boards LOVE putting a low end chip on board ;) — TomTom, Apr 01 '10 at 14:14

cop1152 · Answer 2 · 2010-04-01T15:52:33.443

First, I would get rid of the card, but thats already been discussed. You could uninstall and reinstall it. Make sure you have the latest drivers. Replace it with a cheap card if you have to have a card.

Can you disable it in the BIOS?

Is anything running on the machine that could conflict with the card. Is it possible that other video drivers are also installed?

Good luck.

EDIT - just an idea, but could you insert a bay-fan to add a little extra air circulation? This wouldnt solve the issue.

Hot video card in server

2 Answers2