New GTX 260 user: PSU and Heat Concerns

[1a11ous]

Hello Everyone,

I've been a long time lurker on these forums and today I decided to register and write my first post .

I just received my Asus GTX260 video card. I am so amazed by its performance. I tried Company of Heroes and GRID so far. (I will be trying other games very soon ofcourse)

I am concerned with a couple of issues to start with:

1)I bought a Thermaltake PSU which I suddenly realised that it only offers around 33A on its 12v rails. Will this cause problems or stability issues or is it enough.
My hardware specs are as follows:
Q6600 @ 2.4Ghz ( No overclock)
4GB Kingston DDR2-800Mhz
Asus P5Q Motherboard
500GB Seagate HDD
+ the vga.

2)What are the maximum temperatures the GTX260 should reach. While I was in COH, I realised that it was somehow very hot. I couldn't get exact temps.

3)What software/tool do you recommend for monitoring the VGA temps. Does Nvidia have some tool? I am already using SpeedFan.


Thank you all for any help,

 

[Ares202]

Originally posted by: 1a11ous
Hello Everyone,

I've been a long time lurker on these forums and today I decided to register and write my first post .

I just received my Asus GTX260 video card. I am so amazed by its performance. I tried Company of Heroes and GRID so far. (I will be trying other games very soon ofcourse)

I am concerned with a couple of issues to start with:

1)I bought a Thermaltake PSU which I suddenly realised that it only offers around 33A on its 12v rails. Will this cause problems or stability issues or is it enough.
My hardware specs are as follows:
Q6600 @ 2.4Ghz ( No overclock)
4GB Kingston DDR2-800Mhz
Asus P5Q Motherboard
500GB Seagate HDD
+ the vga.

Probably will be Ok with 33A as long as you have 500+ watts too, if you start running into issues such as crashes, freezes BSOD's and critical errors then it might be a PSU issue

2)What are the maximum temperatures the GTX260 should reach. While I was in COH, I realised that it was somehow very hot. I couldn't get exact temps.

Unless Nvidia releases documentation on its maximum operating tempreture we can only guess, Im thinking 90C on the core maybe a little more on the memory, it shouldnt have any real problems till 100C but having an GPU running at 90C for long periods of time will probably effect is lifetime
[/quote]

3)What software/tool do you recommend for monitoring the VGA temps. Does Nvidia have some tool? I am already using SpeedFan.

I use CPU-Z as it has multiple sensors such as Core, Ram + PCB
Rivatuner is usually accurate if you just want the core tempreture

Thank you all for any help,

Your welcome

 

[1a11ous]

Sorry I forgot to post some details:

PSU: http://www.thermaltakeusa.com/Produc...2&ID=1536#Tab1
VGA: http://www.asus.com/products.aspx?mo...=6&l3=720&l4=0

 

[Narynan]

I think that your ok on the psu issue. on the issue of heat, I would use evga precision tool. works fine on my bfg 260. and it has easy access to a number of profiles. there are some games that when I force my card fan to 100% that get me mid 70's on my highest oc. highest I've seen was 81. ands that's while only doing certain particle tasks it seems. it only gets that hot using ati tool fuzzy cube or on the world map for UT3. Rivatuner works well. but only use one at a time not both.... they mess with each other.

 

[abubakarm]

I want to buy a psu for gtx 260, I'm thinking of getting CORSAIR 520HX. Can it run 2 gtx 260s in sli? Or in future if I get a 9800gtx to run for physx processing along with a single gtx260 will the 520hx handle these 2 cards fine?

 

[just4U]

Hardware Monitor is a very useful little tool for checking temps accross just about everything..

http://www.cpuid.com/hwmonitor.php

 

[1a11ous]

Originally posted by: just4U
Hardware Monitor is a very useful little tool for checking temps accross just about everything..

http://www.cpuid.com/hwmonitor.php

Thanks that is a very helpful utililty !

 

[dguy6789]

Originally posted by: abubakarm
I want to buy a psu for gtx 260, I'm thinking of getting CORSAIR 520HX. Can it run 2 gtx 260s in sli? Or in future if I get a 9800gtx to run for physx processing along with a single gtx260 will the 520hx handle these 2 cards fine?

I couldn't comment on SLI, but the 520HX could probably run a single card and a physx card no problem. Why anyone would want a physx card is beyond me though.

 

[exar333]

I would try to keep the core temp at or below 90C if you can help it.

 

[ochadd]

My GTX has never reached 65c, outside of benchmarks I haven't seen over 60. It idles around 45. The fan is set at a constant 60% and while it's the loudest thing in my case it's quite enough from 3' away at ear level. System specs are in my sig.

I'm using the EVGA tool to monitor temps and control fan speed. I use CORE temp for CPU temps.

 

[videopho]

I'd recommend a Corsiar 750w for the gtx-260.
Prior to obtaining the 260 I had the 8800gts-512which ran fine with the Ultra-Finity 650w.
The 260 was however, a different story.
BSOD and freezes were more frequent during game play.
Until I replaced the Ultra with the Corsair the 260 seems very happy at the moments.
The idle temps around 40's and ranges from hi 50-hi 60s load.

 

[Zap]

The PSU link is bad. If the PSU is one of the better Thermaltake units (like the ToughPower) then it will probably be okay. The Corsair HX520 would not be enough for two GTX 260. If you check on SLI Zone, I believe the lowest wattage PSU that is certified for two GTX 260 in SLI is 800W (coincidentally a BFG ES-800). However, I'm fairly confident that the Corsair 750W will run two GTX 260.

Nvidia has the Nvidia System Tools which can monitor (and even log) GPU temperature.

 

[zerogear]

I have my GTX280, and honestly, I just use RivaTuner to adjust that when it hits 70C, it starts the fan at 100%, so that usually keeps my temps around 65-72C during load, and about 40C idle. Of course, having 7 120mm fans on my CM690 never hurts

.

The max temp that GTX (limit) is around 115C, after that you'll start getting problems, but even when running games, you shouldn't really hit 100C, if you do, then something is probably wrong with the contact surface between gpu and the heatsink, so I'd probably RMA if you do get to that temp.