what's normal temp range for a graphics card?

[nikko]

So I've been having all sorts of weird problems and after a reinstall of XP didn't do the trick, I started to suspect my video card, a BFG 6800GT OC, might be the culprit. So I installed Everest Pro to see what it had to say, and it's showing my ambient GPU temp as 53° and the temp of the actual GPU as 82°. I'm not sure what ambient GPU temp measures - is that the temperature of the immediate vicinity of the card? And more importantly, how do each of those numbers compare to what's recommended? Any help would be much appreciated.

By the way, these temps are in desktop mode. i.e. not while I'm playing 3D games

 

[TraumaRN]

First off, is that celsius or fahrenheit.

 

[nikko]

Originally posted by: DeathBUA
First off, is that celsius or fahrenheit.

I guess that would be helpful info to have, huh? My bad. It's Celsius.

 

[TraumaRN]

82 CELSIUS.....holy smokes, literally, is the fan turning on the heatsink? have you dusted that sucker out?

My old 6800GT ran at about 54C, idleing on the desktop and would load up to around 75C depending on the weather and the game. So something is definitely wrong....

 

[Fistandantilis]

you might want to check to see if the sink and fan are making good contact to the GPU also try dusting it out. are you getting any artifacts during gaming?
82c is not all that bad for a temp...under load but when it is idle it should run prolly below 60c, I had an evga 6800gt and at idle it would run around 55-60 under load it would get to about 80-85, I ended up putting a zalman vf700 and it would stay below 60-65 under load.
if you are savy enough you can try to put some AS5 on the gpu, post back with some more info like load temps and any artifacting.

 

[nikko]

Thanks for the replies. I'll check the GPU/heat sink connection. And yes, I get serious artifacts during gaming, until the screen goes screwy and my computer locks up.

 

[Bullhonkie]

Those 6800GTs seem to run pretty hot so that's not too unusual by itself. But if you're experiencing artifacting and other visual anomalies, that's cause for concern.

Does the NVIDIA temp monitor show the same temps in the advanced display property settings?

How are your ambient temps, case temps, and case airflow overall? If you remove the side panel, do your idle/load temps drop noticeably? If you can, try a desk fan pointed at the video card area with the side panel off. See if you can get load temps into the 70s and note if the artifacting still occurs.

It definitely wouldn't hurt to reseat the heatsink with some AS5 as was recommended. Aftermarket cooling is another option if you don't mind spending a little money. I think NV silencers can be had fairly cheap these days.

 

[nikko]

Originally posted by: Fistandantilis

if you are savy enough you can try to put some AS5 on the gpu, post back with some more info like load temps and any artifacting.

Well, I put some Arctic Silver on it and that did the trick. Not sure why I didn't think to check that myself. The thermal compound that came with it was basically all dried up. My idle temps are now around 52° and after playing BF:1942 at two hours with max settings, it's at 65°. Thanks for your help.

When I played BF before, I think temps on it must have topped 100°. It seems fine now, but I'm just wondering whether my card might have suffered any permanent damage. Anyway to find out? Or is it a "if it's working now, it's fine" kinda thing?

Thanks again for your feedback all.

 

[Bullhonkie]

Good to see it was something as simple as that.

I think it's fine as long as you aren't having any other problems. I'm sure NVIDIA is confident enough that their GPUs will survive to the core slowdown threshold.

 

[amenx]

Just wondering, why do you need Everest Pro to see the temps? Cant you see them in the Nvidia display properties tab?

 

[nikko]

Originally posted by: amenx
Just wondering, why do you need Everest Pro to see the temps? Cant you see them in the Nvidia display properties tab?

I didn't realize they were also available there. Thanks for the tip.