480GTX Idle @72C

cocainewhite

Member
Mar 17, 2009
28
0
0
Hi guys,

Just got hold of an MSI 480GTX -

This thing is HOT! It idles at 71C according to Realtemp v3.40 and GPUz v0.4.4!

Do you think its running too hot for my system to handle?

I have a NZXT M59, H50 cooler on the CPU, a 12cm side panel fan blowing air directly onto the GPUs heatpipes and a 12cm top fan exhausting air. Ambient temps are around 21C.

My 600W OCZ ModXStream puts out a fair bit of heat as well.
 

OCGuy

Lifer
Jul 12, 2000
27,224
36
91
Yes that sounds hot....

What is the fan speed? Is it downclocking properly when not in 3D apps?

What load temps are you seeing?
 

bryanW1995

Lifer
May 22, 2007
11,144
32
91
what is it loading at? 71c in and of itself is fine, esp if the fan is at 25%. if it also loads at 71c then you're, um, "cool", esp if that is at moderate fan speed. if it loads at 95c and 70% fan then you're in trouble.
 

Grooveriding

Diamond Member
Dec 25, 2008
9,116
1,266
126
Are you using two monitors ? That is pretty normal if you have 2 monitors plugged in, my main card idles at around 62-66 because of using dual monitors, and that's with using a custom fan profile that runs the fan at 50 percent at idle.

With two monitors the GTX 4XX series does not fully downclock at idle, it remains at full load voltage and full load memory speed. It will only cut the core clock in half at idle as well.

If you're not, then something is up.

p.s. what is up with the forums and spitting out gibberish when you use percent symbols ?
 
Last edited:

Qbah

Diamond Member
Oct 18, 2005
3,754
10
81
Do you have two screens? The card will ramp up clocks at idle to a higher number when you have more screens attached - for stability reasons.
 

cocainewhite

Member
Mar 17, 2009
28
0
0
Ah right! Ok so I have one 24" monitor and my HDTV running at the same res, both 1920x1080.

I've just turned off the HDTV screen, and temps have dropped to 60C which seems much better (though still pretty warm eh!)

You guys are geniuses.

So, ok, is there custom fan profile that I can set/download that will lower the clocks to normal voltage even when I'm using two screens (the only time I ever use both is in desktop - not gaming)
 

Grooveriding

Diamond Member
Dec 25, 2008
9,116
1,266
126
Ah right! Ok so I have one 24" monitor and my HDTV running at the same res, both 1920x1080.

I've just turned off the HDTV screen, and temps have dropped to 60C which seems much better (though still pretty warm eh!)

You guys are geniuses.

So, ok, is there custom fan profile that I can set/download that will lower the clocks to normal voltage even when I'm using two screens (the only time I ever use both is in desktop - not gaming)

http://event.msi.com/vga/afterburner/download.htm

I use this, works perfectly, you can set a graph to run the fan speed dependent on temperature.

I would recommend it as letting the cards use the default bios fan speeds, the cards get way too hot at load, 90+. I try to keep mine around 85 max at load when gaming.
 
Last edited:

finbarqs

Diamond Member
Feb 16, 2005
3,617
2
81
I have dual NEC monitors going on, and my idle temps are 56C... i'm on a PNY GTX 480
 

RussianSensation

Elite Member
Sep 5, 2003
19,458
765
126
Even when I run a single monitor, when i have GPU-Z open (version 0.4.4), my idle temperatures rise to 53-58*C from 38-42*C. Something about the program produces major increases in idle temps.
 

Tempered81

Diamond Member
Jan 29, 2007
6,374
1
81
Polling sensors can cause changes in pstate, increasing voltage, however the core may switch rapidly between clock states, or remain at idle clock. Check Vgpu with a DMM. For the op - i thought a new 480 bios came out with a better fan profile and a fix for high temps on multiple screens in idle. Maybe check that out too
 

SolMiester

Diamond Member
Dec 19, 2004
5,330
17
76
Are you using two monitors ? That is pretty normal if you have 2 monitors plugged in, my main card idles at around 62-66 because of using dual monitors, and that's with using a custom fan profile that runs the fan at 50 percent at idle.

With two monitors the GTX 4XX series does not fully downclock at idle, it remains at full load voltage and full load memory speed. It will only cut the core clock in half at idle as well.

If you're not, then something is up.

p.s. what is up with the forums and spitting out gibberish when you use percent symbols ?


Noticed that too, thought it was just me, using FF 3.6.8!
 

imaheadcase

Diamond Member
May 9, 2005
3,850
7
76
Thats not normal, even for 2 monitors, i run two 24inch 1900x1200 it idles at 41c. Running Folding at home it goes up to 71c. I'm using the EVGA 460 Superoverclocked one with both monitors plugged in to DVI and latest drivers from nvidia site.

It must just be the 480 cards, not exclusively the 4xx cards.
 
Last edited:

cocainewhite

Member
Mar 17, 2009
28
0
0
Thats not normal, even for 2 monitors, i run two 24inch 1900x1200 it idles at 41c. Running Folding at home it goes up to 71c. I'm using the EVGA 460 Superoverclocked one with both monitors plugged in to DVI and latest drivers from nvidia site.

It must just be the 480 cards, not exclusively the 4xx cards.

Oh yeah definitely, look at the transistor count - 1.9billion for the 460 and 3billion for the 480 - a much bigger core size, so its bound to run hotter.
 

cocainewhite

Member
Mar 17, 2009
28
0
0
Polling sensors can cause changes in pstate, increasing voltage, however the core may switch rapidly between clock states, or remain at idle clock. Check Vgpu with a DMM. For the op - i thought a new 480 bios came out with a better fan profile and a fix for high temps on multiple screens in idle. Maybe check that out too

I'm just using the stock bios at the moment, maybe I'll flash the new one one to see if that does bring down temps!
 

imaheadcase

Diamond Member
May 9, 2005
3,850
7
76
Oh yeah definitely, look at the transistor count - 1.9billion for the 460 and 3billion for the 480 - a much bigger core size, so its bound to run hotter.

That still does not explain the temp staying that high with 2 monitors..is what i was pointing out.
 

3DVagabond

Lifer
Aug 10, 2009
11,951
204
106
wasn't the dual monitor high idle temps addressed in a driver update? Are you running the latest drivers?
 

Keysplayr

Elite Member
Jan 16, 2003
21,209
50
91
A single GTX4xx with a single monitor will significantly lower it's idle clocks to the order of about 51MHz core, 102MHz shaders and something like 300MHz for the DDR5.
When a second monitor is connected to the card, the clocks automatically rise to 400 core 800 shaders and I forget what the DDR5 gets to. This would account for higher idle temperatures when a second monitor is attached. Something about using the second RAMDAC and the driver/performance. Unknown if this will be addressed, or if it's a necessary measure and will remain unchanged in newer drivers.
If I hear of any updates, I'll let you all know.
 

Grooveriding

Diamond Member
Dec 25, 2008
9,116
1,266
126
wasn't the dual monitor high idle temps addressed in a driver update? Are you running the latest drivers?

No, it has no changed, I am on the latest drivers and my cards have the most recent bios.

With more than one monitor the 480 remains at load voltage all the time, as well as load temps on the ram 1850mhz and 405mhz on the core. It stays pretty hot at idle because of this.
 

Petey!

Senior member
May 28, 2010
250
0
0
If you run 2 identical monitors (refresh, res, etc), then the cards downclock properly as if it was only running 1 card. But when you run 2 different monitors it will idle in 3D mode (high temps)
 

evolucion8

Platinum Member
Jun 17, 2005
2,867
3
81
I don't understand why it happens, it isn't like if the GPU control the monitor by itself or is it? It's the NVIO Display integrated on the GPU?