GigaByte Geforce 6800 (GV-N68128DH) question

[Anaxibius]

I read a thread (http://forums.anandtech.com/me...rd1=gigabyte+AND+6800) about the GigByte 6800 card and unlocking the 16 pipelines. Well I did that pretty easily with Riva and the Bios Upgrade from Gigabyte, but the temperatures that the person listed (in the 40-45 C range) aren't anywhere close to what I am getting. Idle, my card is at 59 C and after running 3DMark05 it was at 66 C. I got GT type scores from the test, but I am concerned about my temperatures. For those of you who don't know the GigaByte card comes with a massive heatsink/heatpipe combo. I have heard and read that this particular card stays cool, but I am not seeing that. My rig is listed below, any ideas would be appreciated. For clarification, I have a very tightly wired case. No extra wires hanging around, all rounded cables, all sheathed. If you look at the case the two intake fans blow directly over the hard drive bays. I only have one drive and it is in the top position in the bays. I could move it to the bootom and possibly increase air flow over my card, but I am not sure. Thanks for the input.

GigaByte GA-8Ik1100 Rv. 2 MoBo
P4 2.8/800 FSB
1 GB PC 3200 Corsair Dual CHannel DDR
Seagate 80 GB/8MB Cache/7200 SATA HD
Gigabyte GeForce 6800 128mb Vid Card


Case and Cooling
KingWin Kt 424 Case (2 Intake 80x80x25 2500RPM Fans, 1 Exhaust 80x80x25 2500RPM Fan)
Antec TruePower 430 PSU (1 Intake, 1 Exhaust)

 

[Anaxibius]

Quick update. I moved the hard drive and achieved massive gain of 1 degree C, so I am idling at 58 C now. Woohoo. Just curious if there is anything else I should be trying.

 

[Anaxibius]

Bumping in hopes of getting some help.

 

[rliao]

With video cards, my personal opinion is that the GPUs are fairly resilient. That said, I'd like to believe that as long as you're not getting any artifacts while running high-stress benches, you're in good shape. To me, the high temperature wouldn't matter much if it isn't causing problems.

In any case, temperatures under 70C should still be considered safe for operation.

Of course, that purely personal conjecture so you may find other opinions. If possible, see if you can't google for Nvidia's specs. They'll probably have recommendations there. Good luck!

 

[Anaxibius]

I found a couple references that said the core temp slow down threshhold is 120 C, so I am fine. I also found several references to idel temps of 59-61 C. What threw me was the original posters (in the link I provided) claim of 40-45 C idle temps. I am thinking that was less than truthful.