8800GT Too Hot?

VtPC83

Senior member
Mar 5, 2008
447
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81
Question:

I am playing ARMA2 and after about an hour and a half or so, my framerate drops from the already painful ~25 FPS to unplayable ~5 FPS and stays that way until I completely close down the game and re-open. I then get another hour or so of gameplay and have to do it again.

Any ideas on whether this could be a GPU issue or CPU issue?

I have:

ASUS P5N-E SLI MB
Core2 Duo 2.66 OC'd to 3.0 (should I remove this OC?)
3 GB XMS2 RAM
Nvidia 8800GT (was OC'd but I removed that, still having issue)

I know the system is from the stone age but it's what I have right now. Any insights?
 

Termie

Diamond Member
Aug 17, 2005
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Have you tracked your temperatures using a program like RivaTuner?

There's a slight possibility you're running into a VRAM bottleneck. Did the 8800gt previously work fine in this game? If so, memory is not an issue.
 

Bat123Man

Member
Nov 14, 2006
190
4
81
Question:

I am playing ARMA2 and after about an hour and a half or so, my framerate drops from the already painful ~25 FPS to unplayable ~5 FPS and stays that way until I completely close down the game and re-open. I then get another hour or so of gameplay and have to do it again.

Any ideas on whether this could be a GPU issue or CPU issue?

I have:

ASUS P5N-E SLI MB
Core2 Duo 2.66 OC'd to 3.0 (should I remove this OC?)
3 GB XMS2 RAM
Nvidia 8800GT (was OC'd but I removed that, still having issue)

I know the system is from the stone age but it's what I have right now. Any insights?

It's the game. Have a look at this youtube video :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=867dhUTKX7g

BM.
 

liddabit

Member
Jun 17, 2011
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Tracking in Rivatuner is a really good idea. My 8800gt spikes very hot in 1 or 2 games. (Neverwinter nights 2 kills it on heat for some reason, but more modern games barely touch the temps)
 

VtPC83

Senior member
Mar 5, 2008
447
12
81
So I ran Rivatuner and the max setting my card gets to is 80* during gameplay. I get about an hour and a half's worth before needing to shut the game down to the FPS issue.

Is 80* too hot for a 8800GT? The fan is set manually set to 100% all the time.
 

trollolo

Senior member
Aug 30, 2011
266
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in my experience the 8800's ALWAYS run hot. i had a GTX version that was hot as a woman with loose morals even when just idling. replace that card, son
 

Termie

Diamond Member
Aug 17, 2005
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So I ran Rivatuner and the max setting my card gets to is 80* during gameplay. I get about an hour and a half's worth before needing to shut the game down to the FPS issue.

Is 80* too hot for a 8800GT? The fan is set manually set to 100% all the time.

80C is not too hot, though it's hard to say whether your card is running as designed given that you're running the fan at 100%. Still, that means it's not shutting down due to overheating.

I say it's a software issue, or perhaps a memory bottleneck. You might consider picking up something like an HD5770 - they have been around $90AR lately, run cool, and avoid the memory problem due to the 1GB of VRAM. Also it should be about 50% faster.

Bench: http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/178?vs=172
Best deals:
$90AR plus free game: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814102873
OR
$89AR/Code ("RELAX"): http://www.superbiiz.com/detail.php?name=AT-5770V3

Alternatively, if you have the budget and power supply (at least 400w high quality PSU), this GTX460 1GB for $120AR would do nicely: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814133326. It's twice as fast as your card.

By the way, you can use RivaTuner to monitor VRAM usage, and that's something you should do to check my hypothesis. If you're at 512MB the entire time, you're memory is full and could cause the bottleneck.

You can read more about Arma 2's bottleneck issues here: http://hardforum.com/archive/index.php/t-1564929.html

Another issue they mention is textures streaming off the hard drive - this could also be part of your problem (although it wouldn't cause a permanent drop to 5fps).
 
Last edited:

liddabit

Member
Jun 17, 2011
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80c is hot, I am not sure about too hot.. it might vary by card. However, I start seeing performance drops and stuttering in games when the card gets over 68c. Over 70c I start getting crashes and bluescreens.
 

VtPC83

Senior member
Mar 5, 2008
447
12
81
Termie,

Would my Dual Core process be a bottleneck for the 460 card? I plan on building a new system around Christmas and want to make sure I don't spend money on a card now that I could put toward a new system then.
 

Termie

Diamond Member
Aug 17, 2005
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Termie,

Would my Dual Core process be a bottleneck for the 460 card? I plan on building a new system around Christmas and want to make sure I don't spend money on a card now that I could put toward a new system then.

Yes, the dual core will be a bottleneck for the 460. I have a C2D@3.3, and in some games, the CPU maxes out while my GTX460 is only at 75% load. But that means it's a perfect upgrade for you. You'll probably get much better performance in Arma 2 now, and it would be a great card to carry over to your next system. At $120AR, it's also a great price. If you're planning on a new build, however, you probably have some idea how much you want to spend. Perhaps you want to spend more...if so, something like and HD6870 would be perfect:

Newegg ($155AR) - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814102948.
Superbiiz ($150AR/$10 code RELAX) - http://www.superbiiz.com/detail.php?name=AT-6870_1G

That even comes with a free game (Deus Ex), and at $150AR, it's a great price as well. About 2.4x faster than your 8800gt. It's also a solid 20% faster than the GTX460 for $30 more.
 

VtPC83

Senior member
Mar 5, 2008
447
12
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Tough to say, when I build a new system in Dec/Jan I was looking to get a 6950/570 and then possibly CFing/SLIing later in the year... Have to think about it.

Thanks for your input.
 

Termie

Diamond Member
Aug 17, 2005
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Tough to say, when I build a new system in Dec/Jan I was looking to get a 6950/570 and then possibly CFing/SLIing later in the year... Have to think about it.

Thanks for your input.

Sure thing. The 6950s and 570s aren't fantastic deals right now in terms of price/performance, but this particular HD6950 2GB for $235AR/Code (RELAX), with free Dirt 3 and DeusEx, is at least a pretty good value: http://www.superbiiz.com/detail.php?name=AT-6950_3R.

It's way overpowered for your current system, so I'd only consider getting it now if you're sure you're going to be upgrading in the next 4-5 months. That 2GB buffer will be very nice, however, for Arma 2.
 

bononos

Diamond Member
Aug 21, 2011
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Would 80C for CPU temp be considered hot?
I think 80C+ is pretty hot but acceptable if you're planning to change the card in a year or two.
 

trollolo

Senior member
Aug 30, 2011
266
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Would 80C for CPU temp be considered hot?
I think 80C+ is pretty hot but acceptable if you're planning to change the card in a year or two.

yes of course that's hot, change that card out as soon as possible
 

bononos

Diamond Member
Aug 21, 2011
3,883
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80C is ok - no need to throw out a card if it's running at that temp.

How long have your cards lasted with 80+ temps? I had a couple dead cards because of the heat from the last couple of builds. Most would squeal if their CPU temps were 80C but seem less concerned about the gfx card.
 

Termie

Diamond Member
Aug 17, 2005
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How long have your cards lasted with 80+ temps? I had a couple dead cards because of the heat from the last couple of builds. Most would squeal if their CPU temps were 80C but seem less concerned about the gfx card.

Graphics cards are rated to run up to 100C. Most modern cards load in the high 70s, in fact: http://www.anandtech.com/show/4344/nvidias-geforce-gtx-560-top-to-bottom-overclock/15.

Comparing CPU and GPU temps is like comparing apples to oranges. CPUs are rated to about 70C max. I've never heard of anyone's card breaking because it ran at 80C.
 

bononos

Diamond Member
Aug 21, 2011
3,883
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Graphics cards are rated to run up to 100C. Most modern cards load in the high 70s, in fact: http://www.anandtech.com/show/4344/nvidias-geforce-gtx-560-top-to-bottom-overclock/15.

Comparing CPU and GPU temps is like comparing apples to oranges. CPUs are rated to about 70C max. I've never heard of anyone's card breaking because it ran at 80C.

It could be my MBs, my old 6800gt wouldn't post after 2+yrs and replacement card also had pink checkerbox problems (before it also died). 7xxx/8800gt cards sometimes give pink checkbox artifacts.
 

Belegost

Golden Member
Feb 20, 2001
1,807
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I had this problem with my old 8800GT, it was ram temp, not core temp that was the problem.

Grab RivaTuner and underclock the RAM 100MHz and see what happens.
 

omek

Member
Nov 18, 2007
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Had an 8800GT that ran in the high 80's all the time. I believe they are rated for the high 90's (98c or something like that). That temp is perfectly fine - especially for a single slot 8800GT (it's quite cool).
 

trollolo

Senior member
Aug 30, 2011
266
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Had an 8800GT that ran in the high 80's all the time. I believe they are rated for the high 90's (98c or something like that). That temp is perfectly fine - especially for a single slot 8800GT (it's quite cool).

i don't know man. i went 5 years without dusting it and then it died on me. shoddy craftsmanship, i say.
 

omek

Member
Nov 18, 2007
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i don't know man. i went 5 years without dusting it and then it died on me. shoddy craftsmanship, i say.

I always cleaned mine and gave it a coat of AS5. It still ran in the high 80's touching the low 90's if it was a hot day (especially with newer games). Even changing out the case with a Windtunnel and two 250mm fans didn't change the situation that much. It was a single slot so it's to be expected.

...but, it's still running today :I