Variable idle temp on my GTX 260?

[pdawg1717]

I recently got an EVGA 260 216 55nm card so I've been monitoring temps a little more closely than usual and I've noticed that with ambient and CPU temps holding steady my GTX 260 will sometimes be 43C (40% fan) and other times is up to 54C (40% fan)...then if I reboot it will sometimes be back down around the 43C temp...I'm using 182.50 Vista x64 driver on Windows 7...anyone else seen this? I'm using Precision 1.7.0 too...what could be causing this?

 

[lopri]

I'm guessing the temps are reflecting frequencies? GT200 clock frequency changes quite intelligently. (2D / Performance 2D / 3D) It will move up and down when it detects certain apps, or when Windows calls for GPU acceleration. Current ForceWare (182.50) works nearly to my satisfaction in Vista 64 and I give a big kudos to NV for getting this right.

 

[pdawg1717]

Originally posted by: lopri
I'm guessing the temps are reflecting frequencies? GT200 clock frequency changes quite intelligently. (2D / Performance 2D / 3D) It will move up and down when it detects certain apps, or when Windows calls for GPU acceleration. Current ForceWare (182.50) works nearly to my satisfaction in Vista 64 and I give a big kudos to NV for getting this right.

That's what I figured but it's tough to figure out what is causing it...sometimes the only prog "open" is firefox and it is still high...even if I only use precision to o/c and do it manually the drivers will switch clocks based upon 2D and 3D apps though?

 

[lopri]

Yes. My GTX 280 is OC'ed to 650/1400/2400, and it doesn't affect the other clocks. (2D and Performance 2D) Oh and it's certainly possible Firefox triggers 3D clocks. Flash video (especially in full-screen mode), Acrobat plug-in, etc. Also check your start-up apps. Certain apps will put the GPU @3D clock all the time. (e.g. any virtualization app will cause 3D frequency, which is understandable)

It's a lot more manageable, though. You just have to find out what's the trigger. ForceWare came a long way - it used to be nightmare when Vista first came out. It's now stable enough for me to consider putting a GeForce in my work system!