115 degrees

Stamper · 6 Jul 2008 at 22:26

Hi all,

I'm not really much into games - but I've been trying to play Call of Duty 4 recently, however the game keeps slowing down then freezing for 1-3mins.

This is my spec :

Intel Core2Duo e6400 @ 2.13ghz (no overclock)
-Artic Cooling Freezer 7
2 GB Ram (Geil PC6400 Dual Channel)
Gainward Geforce 7900 GT

To work out why it was freezing, I've installed CoreTemp to monitor CPU, and nTune to monitor GPU temperature.

The CPU idles around 42-43 degrees. When running the game it runs up to 55 degrees.

However the GPU idles at 75 degrees - and when the game freezes, it looks to be running at 115 degrees! This seems way to hot for me!

I've also taken the side of the case encase all the hot air was being kept inside, but this is no help.

The game is not running at challenges settings, basic 1024x768 with no anti aliasing turned on. I also set my nvidia settings from 'performance' to 'quality' but there is still freezing in the game.

Can anyone offer any help please?

Duke · 6 Jul 2008 at 22:29

GPUs often run hotter than CPUs but that is too hot! What condition is the cooler in? Full of dust? How is the case cooling?

It will be freezing due to the temps I expect.

Stamper · 6 Jul 2008 at 23:07

The cooler is ok - I took the cooler off the graphics card and dusted both of them. It made a little improvement but the temperature is still around that mark and still getting freezing.

Oh it's probably worth saying - I formatted my drive and did a clean install of windows. As first of all I thought this was a driver issue.

gurusan · 6 Jul 2008 at 23:36

...did you put fresh thermal paste on the gpu when reseating the cooler?

mogli1990(OcUK) · 7 Jul 2008 at 01:54

yep if you took the cooler off you would have disrupted the thermal paste that was there... gurusan's right, apply some fresh paste

also i find using a hoover works better than dusting... i attach the "brush" end to my hoover (small thing with bristles) and then give it a wipe/hoover... also if you can, take the cooler apart to clean the fan and get more access to the fins etc...

it might also happen the cooler isnt seated properly, that happened to me with my GeForce FX5800 and that card was a nightmare to control...

make sure all the screws are tight, that was the case with my X800XT, i took off the cooler to clean, put it back on, not tightening the screws cause i was scared, and turned out not enough pressure meant not enough contact so it wasnt cooling as good as it should have

smilertoo · 7 Jul 2008 at 02:08

These days the gpu always runs hotter than the cpu...unless your cpu is about to fry.

muon · 7 Jul 2008 at 02:10

Is the fan spinning?

mogli1990(OcUK) · 7 Jul 2008 at 02:10

lol... once i was running an Athlon XP 1800 Palomino or something and turned it on forgetting to plug the fan in... was funny when i got out of the shower all i heard was BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP lol... taught me my lesson

mogli1990(OcUK) · 7 Jul 2008 at 02:12

LOL at ghost!!!

yea definately check that... that was a problem with my X800XT... fan connector was loose, I had to get round it by bending the wire in a weird way... it's a messy setup, but it did the job... otherwise my fan wouldn't even turn on AND THE CARD WAS 1 MONTH OLD... kinda upset me

Greebo · 7 Jul 2008 at 11:28

I have the same problem with a XFX 7900GT. Graphical glitches when it hits 80C and crashes at 100C (about 2 mins of gaming on GRID)

I'm fitting new AS5 and a better cooler tomorrow so I will see what difference it makes.

It was bought 2nd hand so it may have had an aftermarket cooler on before I got it.

I can't get over how pathetic the gpu block and fan is though.