ATI 5850 idle Temps

Drakcol

Member
Nov 11, 2009
27
0
71
My card seems to idle a bit hot (nothing near dangerous but a bit warm in my opinion) My 5850 idles around the mid to upper 50's Celsius while the rest of my system (the motherboard and cpu) stick to the lower 30's. I don't think it's caused by bad airflow in the case, but hell it could be.

So, has anyone else noticed their 5850's idling in the mid 50's or is it just mine?

I wouldn't worry about it but it really limits the ocing I can do with the card.. esp when I start getting artifacts when the temps hit the mid 70's (on the off chance that I have a bad card do you know if there's say a one year warranty on them?)

Thanks for all the help.
 

crackshot91

Member
Sep 23, 2009
59
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My 4890 idled at 55 before I underclocked it and increased the Fanspeed a bit. Now my 4890 idles at 40c. It still hits mid 70s at load, but I love my idle temps. Maybe try increasing the fanspeed? I'm not sure what's normal for a 5850, but 50c won't hurt it.
 

Imp

Lifer
Feb 8, 2000
18,828
184
106
Yep, that's a bit high, but it depends on your case. Do you have a mini-tower with poor wire management, clogged ventilation and few fans?

I'd be comfortable with low 40s. I've heard of GPUs with poor thermal paste application, so that could be an issue, but you may void your warranty by re-pasting.
 

SmCaudata

Senior member
Oct 8, 2006
969
1,532
136
I wish these sites would post deltas above ambient case temp and ambient room temp. In normal operating ranges the delta should be pretty flat. Simply stating the temp is much less useful as everyone has different cases and different room configurations.
 

gunner46

Junior Member
Sep 14, 2006
15
0
0
I wish these sites would post deltas above ambient case temp and ambient room temp. In normal operating ranges the delta should be pretty flat. Simply stating the temp is much less useful as everyone has different cases and different room configurations.
Concur with you. All stated temps do not mean much unless they also include ambient case temp and ambient room temp.
 

Bill Brasky

Diamond Member
May 18, 2006
4,324
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That does seem a bit high. I'm idling at 39C right now and ambient is 70F (21.1C) according to my thermostat (I do have excellent air flow in my case though). You might need to reseat the heatsink with new AS5.
 
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MrK6

Diamond Member
Aug 9, 2004
4,458
4
81
OP, what's the make and model of your 5850? Have you checked the idle clocks and voltage with a program like MSI Afterburner?
 

betasub

Platinum Member
Mar 22, 2006
2,677
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C'mon Zaitsev, working out a delta isn't easy if you jump between temp scales! I'm getting 70F ~ 21C, so no wonder you're happy with 39C on the GPU - a delta of only 18C at idle.
 

Grinja

Member
Jul 31, 2007
168
0
0
I have an Asus DK 5850.
My idle is typically 50C with fan speed at 24% (I've left it on auto).
Room temp is around 23C
 

gunner46

Junior Member
Sep 14, 2006
15
0
0
With XFX 5850, it's idle is 37C and ambient is 70F (21.1C) with fan at 24 percent (low)
 

bradyapba

Senior member
Nov 29, 2004
240
0
76
then u are using either a upgraded cooler or live in the arctic circle.

Oh im using an upgraded cooler :) twin turbo pro :) and I live in New England, it is pretty chilly :)

But to the OP....

Before my Cooler was installed:

I was idling in the low 30's. My full load temp testing at stock was only in the 50's. That is a very warm idle temp, no matter WHAT your ambient temp is.

So heres my suggestions.

1. Turn up the fan manually. Set it to like 50%, then like 75%, then like 90%. (its gonna sound like a jet engine.) But its just for testing purposes. See if it brings down your temps.
2. Check the screws in the back of the card. There are 2 sets. One set of 4 holding the cooler on the GPU, and about 10 holding the cooling plate to the card. Try tightening them. They may be a tiny bit loose. I have seen it on some cards. Even a 1/8 turn, can signifigantly improve your temps.
3. Could be a bad spread of goop. You could take off the cooler, and reattach with some fresh goop, arctic silver 5, mx-2, etc.
4. You could just have a hot one (but i doubt it, I would RMA if i could not fix the temps) but if you cant RMA, you can try and aftermarket cooler.

Those are the 4 things I would try.
 

tweakboy

Diamond Member
Jan 3, 2010
9,517
2
81
www.hammiestudios.com
That is perfectly normal idle temps, It's going to be in the 50's

No need to increase the fan and have loud noise while your on the desktop just to get it to 40's c idle.

When you game you can take the fan speed up then and worry about load temps not idle,, gl
 

bradyapba

Senior member
Nov 29, 2004
240
0
76
That is perfectly normal idle temps, It's going to be in the 50's

No need to increase the fan and have loud noise while your on the desktop just to get it to 40's c idle.

When you game you can take the fan speed up then and worry about load temps not idle,, gl

You know this how? From your 8800GT?

That poor advice, because it is not normal. I have tested 5 different 5850's in recent builds. The highest idle temp I got was 37C on any of them.

Even on FULL LOAD 100% GPU stress testing for 30 minutes, they barely broke into the 50's.

So, no, 50'sC idle temp for a 5850, is NOT normal.

Esp if he wants to OC. Its going to leave little head room. There are many things he can try to lower those temps. Telling him its normal, when its not, isnt really helping him.
 
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ryman546

Junior Member
Mar 2, 2010
5
0
0
i agree 50 at idle is NOT ok. Im getting 32 degrees celsius idle temps now that ive added some fans to the case for better airflow. Keep in mind this is with the XFX Black edition which is already overclocked a little *same reference cooler*
 

TridenT

Lifer
Sep 4, 2006
16,800
45
91
Lucky for you guys... I have two freaking 4850s and they run at like 80C idle.
 

Acekain

Junior Member
Mar 30, 2010
1
0
0
My card seems to idle a bit hot (nothing near dangerous but a bit warm in my opinion) My 5850 idles around the mid to upper 50's Celsius while the rest of my system (the motherboard and cpu) stick to the lower 30's. I don't think it's caused by bad airflow in the case, but hell it could be.

So, has anyone else noticed their 5850's idling in the mid 50's or is it just mine?

I wouldn't worry about it but it really limits the ocing I can do with the card.. esp when I start getting artifacts when the temps hit the mid 70's (on the off chance that I have a bad card do you know if there's say a one year warranty on them?)

Thanks for all the help.

This problem drove me up the wall for days. If you are running 2 displays disable your secondary it will drop you temps by 10 degrees. I think this especially affects XFX xxx/black edition cards.
 

Relics

Junior Member
Apr 19, 2010
1
0
0
This problem drove me up the wall for days. If you are running 2 displays disable your secondary it will drop you temps by 10 degrees. I think this especially affects XFX xxx/black edition cards.

Fantastic tip, thanks! I'm running a XFX HD5850 XXX edition + 6600GT (for a third screen. grabbed from spare parts). Managed to drop my card from idling at mid 50's to idling at low 40's by moving my second monitor to the 6600GT (ie. 5850 for primary display, 6600GT for secondary and tertiary)
 

alwaystipsy

Junior Member
Nov 20, 2009
1
0
0
Are you running dual monitors? My idle temps are around 50 C with dual monitors @ 400 core and 900 mem.

My 5850 would idle around 30 C when I only have one monitor attached since it runs @157/300