MSI 680 - only 1 fan spinning

[hurrakan]

My 680 seems to be operating at a higher temperature than it should be and I just noticed that only one of its fans is spinning!

The card is well out of warranty. It's a GTX 680 Twin Frozr OC 2GB

Is there any way I can fix this?

 

[Majcric]

MSI doesn't offer a 3 year warranty on those?

 

[stahlhart]

You may be able to locate a drop-in OEM replacement fan assembly on eBay, complete with wiring, though they can get somewhat pricey.

You should be able to read the fan model number off of one of the labels underneath (it may look something like PLD08010B12HH) by removing the screws holding it to the heat sink and lifting it up. You'll need to remove the heat sink completely and remount it with new TIM to replace the full fan assembly.

Edit -- agree with Majcric, shouldn't you still be under MSI warranty? This is a 2012 card at the oldest.

 

[hurrakan]

I bought the card in September 2012 from scan.co.uk.

I think warranty is usually only 1 year

I just registered on the MSI site and registered the card - it says it's not eligible for extended warranty. And the repair service request form on the MSI site says:

Do not use this form to apply for component-RMAs, such as for mainboards, VGA cards and multimedia peripheral devices. For these type of rma requests you should return it to the place of purchase.

So that sucks. I really can't afford a new graphics card right now

I've contacted Scan and MSI to see what they say anyway.

 

[nurturedhate]

Warranty should be 2yrs on labor and 3yrs on parts.

 

[nurturedhate]

If you bought it in Sept 2012 it should still be under full warranty

 

[hurrakan]

If you bought it in Sept 2012 it should still be under full warranty

In the UK? I truly hope so.

Hopefully Scan will offer to repair/replace/refund, so will have to wait and see what they say.

 

[KaRLiToS]

If you can't get it replaced. here is a link of what you would need as stahlhart mentionned.

http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_trk...nkw=GTX+680+twin+frozr+fan&_sacat=0&_from=R40

Example: (It is around 30$ shipped)

 

[hurrakan]

If you can't get it replaced. here is a link of what you would need as stahlhart mentionned.

Thanks, that's defnitely more appealing than a whole new card

 

[stahlhart]

You just need to make sure that you match the fan part number exactly, as the mounting hole dimensions vary on these fans, despite looking very similar otherwise.

 

[24601]

You could always go ghetto, take off the shroud from the heatsink and zip-tie a 3000+ rpm 80-92mm fan where the broken fan would usually go.

 

[Attic]

I had a similar issue happen, lost 1 of 2 fans on a card. I jimmy'd a 120mm case fan over the area and it works ok. Temps still higher than with better solutions like replacement, but it was a quick/cheap/easy fix.

 

[24601]

I had a similar issue happen, lost 1 of 2 fans on a card. I jimmy'd a 120mm case fan over the area and it works ok. Temps still higher than with better solutions like replacement, but it was a quick/cheap/easy fix.

Yeah don't use a low RPM fan for replacement for a video card fan.

The fan on the Twin Frozr III design's max RPM is ~4400 RPM.

You're going to need to get a fan that's at least 3000+ RPM if you want to go this route with no issues.

 

[Attic]

Yeah don't use a low RPM fan for replacement for a video card fan.

The fan on the Twin Frozr III design's max RPM is ~4400 RPM.

You're going to need to get a fan that's at least 3000+ RPM if you want to go this route with no issues.

From my experience I don't think 3k is needed, 2k should be plenty. If you don't mind noise 3k is safest.

 

[Jacky60]

All consumer electronics in EU have two year warranty. The one year warranty is the minimum they can get away with in some places. RMA it to MSI.

 

[hurrakan]

Does anyone know, logically, what would stop only 1 fan from working?

I just booted up with the case open and the "broken" fan does actually spin when the power first comes on - but then stops for no apparent reason.

The card uses two 6-pin power connections. But one of those 6-pins is actually an 8-pin where I just hacked off two of the pins (before I knew of the existance of the relevant adaptor). If that is not working properly, would the card "half" work? Or would it just not work at all?

 

[Pinstripe]

Does anyone know, logically, what would stop only 1 fan from working?

I just booted up with the case open and the "broken" fan does actually spin when the power first comes on - but then stops for no apparent reason.

The card uses two 6-pin power connections. But one of those 6-pins is actually an 8-pin where I just hacked off two of the pins (before I knew of the existance of the relevant adaptor). If that is not working properly, would the card "half" work? Or would it just not work at all?

That's by design. The second fan only kicks in when a temperature of 65-70°C is reached.

 

[hurrakan]

That's by design. The second fan only kicks in when a temperature of 65-70°C is reached.

Ah. But only one fan was spinning when the temperature was 79-89°C.
I've got a replacement card now anyway (RMA).