Sapphire 5850 Fan Dead

[fpgaminer]

One of my Sapphire 5850s now has a stiff fan. It only gets about 500 RPM, where it should be getting 5000. 

I took the card out, and manually turning the fan is stiff. It still turns, but not smooth and nice like the other cards. No idea what happened; it's a month old. Sapphire support will RMA it, but I have to pay shipping to their facility and I'm without a card for who knows how long.

All tech support could suggest is to "air dust" it and put WD40 on the fan. I doubt dust is to blame for a stiff fan, but I'll dust it regardless. As for the WD40 suggestion ... I'm not even sure how I would get WD40 onto the fan's internals. I guess I have to some how get the plastic casing on the card off, and carefully drip oil to the base of the fan. God knows what will happen if I accidentally get WD40 on the heat sinks 

Anyone have some ideas?

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[makomk]

Ouch. The usual recommendation is to use light oil/sewing machine oil rather than WD40 for sticking fans, but yours really shouldn't have failed this early on. Besides, I've generally found that it only helps for a few months before you have to re-oil.

I've never oiled the fan bearings on anything as high end as a 5850, but you'll almost certainly have to remove the fan and heatsink from the card completely, because the hole for oiling is pretty much always hidden under a sticker on the underside of the fan.

Warranty replacement is probably your best option?

[fascistmuffin]

Do not put WD40 on the fan. That's is the worst lubricant to use in a very dust heavy area. WD40 is sticky, and dust likes to find its way into every nook and cranny. The result: A fan that moves even slower.

[computerparts]

The bearings are gone. That card is useless unless you get another heatsink/fan. Chalk it up as a loss and learn a lesson. NEVER run a fan over 50% 24/7

[kr105]

The bearings are gone. That card is useless unless you get another heatsink/fan. Chalk it up as a loss and learn a lesson. NEVER run a fan over 50% 24/7

Fuck, i run it at 60%, i'll need another fan soon.

* kr105 is changing his fan speed to 49%

[ItsASpork]

One of my 5830 fans just crapped out today. I ran it at 100% 24/7 though due to retarded PCI-e slot placement on my motherboard. I'm thinking about just RMAing it though, mining is getting difficult to the point where it's worth $5 a day not to have that damn noise. That or I could get it repaired and sell it.

[Jack of Diamonds]

Guess it's luck as well.

I've run a 5850 for over a year now at 90% fan speed 24/7 and nothing has happened (famous last words)..

[computerparts]

Guess it's luck as well.

I've run a 5850 for over a year now at 90% fan speed 24/7 and nothing has happened (famous last words)..

Yet

[Nilarium]

its just luck

[fpgaminer]

Thanks for the advice guys.

I think I'll try to disassemble it and unstick the fan. RMA would take too bloody long. Worst case I can use it as-is but won't be able to overclock it anymore, which is fine.

[ItsASpork]

Thanks for the advice guys.

I think I'll try to disassemble it and unstick the fan. RMA would take too bloody long. Worst case I can use it as-is but won't be able to overclock it anymore, which is fine.

You could always buy a aftermarket heatsink.

[phelix]

Aftermarket cooling is too expensive.

Officially you will loose your warranty if you unscrew the fan.


I had exactly the same problem: http://forum.bitcoin.org/index.php?topic=10341


The engine oil I tried to get in did not really help.

With a really really thin mirror I managed to take this picture:



So this Sapphire HD 5850 has a FD8015H12S fan from FirstD

I could only find it on this polish website http://www.bujnowicz.com/product_info.php?products_id=5063 but they did not respond to my english eMail. It's less than $7 so I would like to buy two just in case another one dies.

Anyway, my solution was to cut a hole into the case and put an additional fan right below the card. Mostly this is my coolest card now.

Another option might be to get a fan that fits in there (80x80x15) though it might be a hassle to fixate it.

[Grinder]

The fans just aren't very durable. I've had 2 fans out of 8 have the same problem now, one 5850 and one 5970. The 5850 never ran higher than in the low 30% and the 5970 was usually well below 50%, so although it will probably make it last longer it's no guarantee against failure. Both cards have stock ATI coolers.

[um0rion]

I was away for the weekend and was monitoring my mhash/s on BTCGuild.com, and I noticed one card (normally my hottest card) running unusually slow... 75 mhash/s down from close to 300 mhash/s. When I got home, the fan was making this grumbling noise intermittently, then would stop. There was also vibration  going on. Turns out Ive got the same problem, my fan has crapped out. Ive got a spare 5850 Xtreme cooler that Im not using, but I might be better off RMAing the card and just getting a new one. The card was still running, but at 95C, and Ive lost the ability to control the fan... CCC will try to make it run, but it just makes a low vibrating noise when it does.

I did take the cooler off and replace the TIM when I first got it, would Sapphire have a problem with that? I know some manufacturers let you do things like that, and some void the warranty when you take the cooler off. I can always give it a shot anyways.

[fpgaminer]

phelix: Great information, thank you!

I'm wondering if I can take the plastic casing off, and set some regular ole computer cases fans on it. Not sure if that will pump enough air to keep it cool.

[phelix]

phelix: Great information, thank you!

I'm wondering if I can take the plastic casing off, and set some regular ole computer cases fans on it. Not sure if that will pump enough air to keep it cool.

my second best solution would have been to buy a 80x80x15 fan (e.g. Titan) cut off the cladding so that it will fit in and somehow try to fix it with the original mounting holes.

[supermine]

get an accelero twin turbo already!!!!! 

[ElectroGeek007]

get an accelero twin turbo already!!!!! 

do that fit on sapphire PCB ?

This question, but for the centrally-mounted XFX 5850...mine is almost dead as well (1200 rpm all the time, with no control).

[chungenhung]

wow, all we miners just found another defective product made by sapphire.
no wonder their 5850/5830 are so much cheaper than other brands.
lesson learned: you get what you paid for.
From now on, I will only buy cards with LIFETIME warranty.

[malevolent]

You guys ran these 5850s fans at 100% speed?       

I'm currently running at 72% (24/7 ofc), how much time till it breaks? :]