Arctic Cooler Issues...

[Anodizer]

Ok, I bought a Geforce 6800 Ultra PCI/E 512 meg video card that has this cooler------>http://www.nvnews.net/reviews/arctic_cooler_nv5_silencer/index.shtml

It seems as though the fan is blowing more out of itself than out of the exhaust end on the back of the PC(it uses 2 slots on the back of the PC, one for the DVI plugs and one for the exhaust for the heatsink/fan combo)..  It looks like it should do a much better job cooling, but the card is running at 50c or more all the time..  I have 2 80mm exhaust fan (one in front one in back) and they are positioned correctly(front pulling air in, rear pushing air out)..  CPU is running at 32c(Intel E4500).. 
I removed the video card and checked to made sure the fan was plugged in correctly on the video card..  Not sure what's going on...
Would a fan blow the wrong way from the factory on a suped up cooler like this?
I thought these arctic coolers were supposed to be really good...  Any clue??  Why would the fan spin the wrong way from the factory??
It's supposed to suck air in from the fan, blow over the GPU and Memory Heatsinks, and then out the back...  Instead, I feel nothing from the back and all this air being blown out of the fan...

[eagl]

Look at other fan plugs...  Are the red and black wires swapped on the plug?  If they are, you can sometimes get the little wire pins removed from the plug with a small jewelers screwdriver and put them back in where they belong.  Or maybe put the plug in upside down.  Or maybe buy a replacement plug and replace the original plug entirely.

Is the card used?  If so, the original owner might have changed the fan direction.  If you put on the heatsink yourself, are you sure it's not used or a refurb?

As for double-checking airflow direction, you can hold a small piece of paper or a plastic bag near the fan and see if it gets pushed away or sucked in.

[Anodizer]

yeah, it's totally sucking air in from the back (the video card)..  Also, I think I'll take the heatsink/fan off and check for any
heatsink compound..  I bet it's not even there...  Sheesh..
I'll give the verdict in about an hour..  Hopefully that's the issue..

[Anodizer]

Ok, I took off the Arctic-Cooler heatsing and fan..  I scraped off the old heatsink compound and replaced with Arctic Silver..
No changed..  I checked the fan to makes sure it's spinning the right way and it is..  Is it normal for a 6800 Ultra to run at 50c??

[BaldEagl]

Ok, I took off the Arctic-Cooler heatsing and fan..  I scraped off the old heatsink compound and replaced with Arctic Silver..
No changed..  I checked the fan to makes sure it's spinning the right way and it is..  Is it normal for a 6800 Ultra to run at 50c??

Most Nvidia cards run hot... 50C idle and 80C or higher under load.  These are normal operating ranges and they are rated to run somewhere over 100C.

Download and install Riva Tuner and use it to set your fan speed at a constant 65% and your card will idle around 40 and never exceed 50 under load. Default factory fan speeds are set to 32% IIRC.

[Anodizer]

Most Nvidia cards run hot... 50C idle and 80C or higher under load.  These are normal operating ranges and they are rated to run somewhere over 100C.

Download and install Riva Tuner and use it to set your fan speed at a constant 65% and your card will idle around 40 and never exceed 50 under load. Default factory fan speeds are set to 32% IIRC.

That was actually the first thing I did (turned fanspeed to 100%) using Riva turner but the temps aren't really changing much..
I used to have a 6800GS AGP that didn't run this got..  It idled at 39C and never got hotter than 70C under a heavy load for an extended
period of time.. 

I can't find any info regarding what this card is supposed to run at temperature-wise.. 
This thing should be running much cooler with this Arctic Cooler heatsing/fan set up as opposed to what it came with stock..

Something just isn't right...