My GPU has recently started reving like a car and reaching 100 degrees in ANY game.

It doesnt happen over time, it snaps right to 100degrees and 100% GPU usage. I've checked with a couple of temp programs and i cant even put my finger ontop of the GPU.

Im not sure if this happened after a Catalyst driver update.

I was playing Skyrim at the time when i heard it start reving and the perfomance got a little ''choppy'', i just thought it was a temporary overheating for a longer period of gaming, Till i noticed it actually hit 100 Degrees and now it does it all the time, Even in CS:source.

Please help!

This happened in less than a minute when i started Tera Online for example.

note: i have not overcloaked or changed anything with the card.

http://i46.tinypic.com/21n4f1x.png

here are my PC specs

http://h20000.www2.hp.com/bizsupport/TechSupport/Document.jsp?objectID=c02863035&lang=en&cc=us&taskId=135&contentType=SupportFAQ&prodSeriesId=5035344&prodTypeId=12454&prodTypeId=12454&prodSeriesId=5035344

If that's the only thing you've changed recently, then yeah, looks like that driver update isn't playing nice at all.

Although... considering the min temperature on that graph is 79C... there wasn't a whole lot of room to spare anyway.  It wouldn't hurt to get out your canned air and kill any dustbunnies which might be living in there.

Do not meddle in the affairs of archers, for they are subtle and quick to anger.
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Troll Hunter

The opinions expressed above do not represent those of Advanced Micro Devices or any of their affiliates.

usually runs at 60-70 idle WITH this problem. it just stays around 80-85 before it cools down from hitting 100 degrees.

That's still a little toasty for an idle temperature... might as well bump your max fan speed up to 100%.  After the temperature spiked, it looks like fan speed dropped back down to that from 100%, for some reason.

Just a wild-assed-guess, but maybe the old drivers didn't respect the max setting when it's set to "auto", and the new drivers do.

Do not meddle in the affairs of archers, for they are subtle and quick to anger.
Post Count: +8510
Troll Hunter

The opinions expressed above do not represent those of Advanced Micro Devices or any of their affiliates.

I just removed all of the amd/ati related drivers and rebooted my PC, my gpu was stable at 55 degrees idle.  turned on a game , had it on low settings even tho i can play on max. and the temp started climbing slow till it hit 100 degrees, I'll try to install an older driver (sudgested on another forum) . if that doesnt work, i seriously need help.

If going back to older drivers doesn't work you might be looking at a teardown to figure out exactly what's up with your cooling.  Clean out any dust bunnies... remove the heatsink and make sure you've got good contact to the chip... make sure the thermal goo on the chip hasn't shriveled up and died... that sort of thing.

Do not meddle in the affairs of archers, for they are subtle and quick to anger.
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Troll Hunter

The opinions expressed above do not represent those of Advanced Micro Devices or any of their affiliates.

Tried the older driver and there was no difference, tryed everything.

I have one of those 6850 where you cant remove the plastic cover, but i wouldnt be suprised if a thermal paste change would solve it. I'll try to wreck that cover off in some way, Tomorrow. thx for the help so far

I actually would be surprised if only bad thermal goo could cause this, but if it's not a software issue, then something about the cooling setup for your video card has got to be borked somehow.

Most GPU coolers these days are held on with tiny screws, or those little spring loaded pegs, or both, through mounting holes in the PCB.  Just take it out of the slot, flip it over, and see what you can see.  It can take some work getting them off sometimes, but chances are it won't be glued on or anything, and you will be able to get it off.

Do not meddle in the affairs of archers, for they are subtle and quick to anger.
Post Count: +8510
Troll Hunter

The opinions expressed above do not represent those of Advanced Micro Devices or any of their affiliates.

Looks to me like the software change is just coincidental, and that you have a problem with the card's cooler.  Since the fan is clearly working, the heatsink being clogged with dust sounds likely.  You can try blowing it out with compressed air, but in your place I would disassemble the entire thing.  You will need a quality thermal paste to replace what you remove (never re-use old paste), and take care to keep the thermal pads over the memory and MOFSETs intact.