80 Degrees Celsius for gaming

[GrantMeThePower]

I took the top of the case off and ran the tomb raider benchmark five times in a row. The chip got up to 67 degrees, but never even 70. The oddest thing, though, is the fan never got above 48%. It sure seems like if they wanted it to run cooler then the fan could ramp up some more.

I could run it with the case off, I could get a different case, or I could mod a fan in.

The downside to running it like this is I can hear it a lot more. Being a htpc as well as a gaming computer, quiet would be nice.

EDIT- What do you guys think is the best choice? If I mod a fan in, it would be on the removable part of the case...i dont know if that is a good idea or not.

 

[GlacierFreeze]

Cheapest option would be to mod a fan in, bigger the better. I'd go 80mm at least. 120mm if it can fit. Hopefully you can aim it at your video card fan too. I'd try that before considering spending money on a new case.

 

[Eureka]

I took the top of the case off and ran the tomb raider benchmark five times in a row. The chip got up to 67 degrees, but never even 70. The oddest thing, though, is the fan never got above 48%. It sure seems like if they wanted it to run cooler then the fan could ramp up some more.

I could run it with the case off, I could get a different case, or I could mod a fan in.

The downside to running it like this is I can hear it a lot more. Being a htpc as well as a gaming computer, quiet would be nice.

EDIT- What do you guys think is the best choice? If I mod a fan in, it would be on the removable part of the case...i dont know if that is a good idea or not.

It's temperature vs noise. 70°C is acceptable for long term performance, so why run with more noise just to lower temps and annoy the hell out of everyone?

It's not too hard to make an exhaust fan in the top.

http://www.overclock.net/t/65321/80mm-120mm-hole-saw-sizes

Bang out the 120mm hole, bang out 4 screw holes (the fans themselves will provide the threading), and maybe a cheapo fan grill to avoid getting your fingers caught. It'll look professional and fit right in.

EDIT: If you really want it to last, get a good fan with fluid bearings, and use rubber grommets on the screws. Save yourself some headache.

 

[aaksheytalwar]

80c is fine, SLI GTX 580s run at that constantly when in games.

It is like saying if a Ferrari can manage 150mph then so can an accord. Makes sense, right?

 

[Golgatha]

What the [heck] is all this hearsay and [such]?!

http://www.geforce.com/hardware/desktop-gpus/geforce-gtx-680/specifications

98°C is Tmax for this card. 80 or even 90 degrees C is perfectly acceptable.

No profanity in the technical forums, please
-ViRGE

 

[GlacierFreeze]

98°C is Tmax for this card.

So?

80 or even 90 degrees C is perfectly acceptable.

Good way to shorten the life of a card. Run it as high as possible without hitting max temp. Bad advice. Not acceptable when it's throttling. His case has no intake fans, hence higher temps than he should be getting.

 

[GrantMeThePower]

If i'm adding a fan to the top of the case, i imagine it should be an exhaust fan, right? Do I need to worry about intake?

 

[GlacierFreeze]

Yeah, top should be exhaust since heat rises.

And I'd do at least 1 intake. Preferably aiming at your card's fan if you can, especially in your case. Will pull cool air into the case a lot faster compared to just 2 exhausts creating a weak vacuum into the case.

 

[nightspydk]

Just as a bit of a sidenote. The gpu would just handle 98° fine or 80 for that matter. But what about the rest of the system. PCIe bus or your ram e.g. I've seen a melted PCIe bus.
In any case heat decrease the lifespan of the chip.

Think about that.

 

[Rvenger]

My 680s never touched 70c during the summer months. I bet the cooler needs cleaned and possibly remounted with new TIM. It would be worth it IMO.


EDIT: Seen the post on top about adding case fans... good idea.

 

[AdamK47]

You should be running 60C max. Anything higher and the chip will melt into a puddle of goo.

 

[GrantMeThePower]

FYI, after taking the case off and setting a custom fan profile to ramp up from 30% to 100% over the course of 40 degrees to 80 degrees, the GPU never gets above 67 degrees and 60% fan.

I'll work on the fan solution. Looks not quite as easy as I'd hoped because of the layout inside of the case. Adding a fan to the side panel as an intake towards the GPU fans, though, will be fairly easy.

 

[Golgatha]

So?



Good way to shorten the life of a card. Run it as high as possible without hitting max temp. Bad advice. Not acceptable when it's throttling. His case has no intake fans, hence higher temps than he should be getting.

Yes, but running 21% under (80°C) the Tmax should be perfectly acceptable. Plenty of thermal headroom left.

 

[nightspydk]

@Grantmethepower. There are a lot of inconsistant fan readings on these card and former where the fan does actually run at 100% tho software reports only 60-70% utilization. Never knew howcome, but it is a fact.

Maybe a bios limitation dunno.

 

[cmdrdredd]

I can only set 80% fan speed on my 670s. It won't go to 100%

 

[GrantMeThePower]

@Grantmethepower. There are a lot of inconsistant fan readings on these card and former where the fan does actually run at 100% tho software reports only 60-70% utilization. Never knew howcome, but it is a fact.

Maybe a bios limitation dunno.

Ah, gotcha.

Well my current plan is to try to add a case fan to the side as an intake blowing towards the GPU card and then a fan on the top above the gpu as an exhaust fan. The only real problem, though, is I can't mount the fan on the inside of the case. It would be mounted on the outside. Is that a problem, other than for the looks?

 

[notty22]

Are there vent holes on the top, as it is? If not, you can always draw a circle or square /tape it and drill a pattern of holes to allow heat to rise. It will look a little better than having a fan mounted on the top. That is a decent looking case, I wouldn't hack it without thought

 

[GrantMeThePower]

Are there vent holes on the top, as it is? If not, you can always draw a circle or square /tape it and drill a pattern of holes to allow heat to rise. It will look a little better than having a fan mounted on the top. That is a decent looking case, I wouldn't hack it without thought

No, there are no holes at the top at all. I think it really explains a lot about the heat issue. When I put my hand over the graphics card without the case on, it shoots a ton of hot air straight up...to nowhere.

 

[aaksheytalwar]

gtx 580s do fine at 90c, it is the equivalent of 70+c for 680