GPU Temps and cooling solutions

Cork · 3 Oct 2011 at 00:23

I have the EVGA 570 Superclocked Graphics card which, as the name suggests, comes pre-clocked (Core 797MHz, Shader 1594MHz) but it's running a little hot. When playing games like Dead Island or the BF3 beta the temps are in the mid to high 80's. I use MSI Afterburner to make sure the fans actually kick in and this keeps the temperatures to high 70's or occasionally 80/81 (especially this weekend with the stupid weather we're having in the UK). I think this is ok but the fans make a lot of noise.

I've looked in to some after market coolers and there seem to be a few options which will help with the heat and the noise but the problem is that I (foolishly) bought the Micro version of the Asus P8P67 Pro motherboard. I only have the Graphics Card and an Asus DX2 sound card fitted but already it's lacking space. If I fit a different cooler to the graphics card it will only leave a centimetre or two between that and the sound card as, from what I've seen, it will become a 3 slot card.

So, my questions are:

1. Is 80+ too hot for the GPU or am I worrying over nothing?
2. If it is too hot is there any point getting an after market cooler (not water!) since it's likely it would just be blowing straight on to the sound card?
3. If it is worth getting one, any suggestions on the best? And are they relatively easy to fit? I've been building my own PC's for a while so I'm not a hardware novice.

Any advice and guidance would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

C64 · 3 Oct 2011 at 01:14

You do know that you don't have to plug the sound card in to the pci-e 1x slot right ? it can go in the lower gpu pci-express slot.your temps seem pretty normal though I prefer to set my gpu fan to manual normally around 50% permanently no idea how that would perform on that card though.

I see no good value budget coolers for the 570 those zalmans are so overpriced I don't think it's worth it at all.Arctic cooling imo always offer the best value and performance for vga cooling.

Cork · 3 Oct 2011 at 08:42

Thanks for the reply.

The sound card is in the lower PCI-E slot. The 570 covers the 1x slot anyway. Hindsight is a wonderful thing but had I known the Micro was so small I wouldn't have got it.

I'll test just running the fan at 50% when I get back from work and report back on the temperatures.

david_129 · 3 Oct 2011 at 10:09

My 580 is running up to 85-90 which apparently is normal for 580s very hot .... bit scary tbh

pgi947 · 3 Oct 2011 at 12:56

what case do you have and how are your fans setup? a high flow side intake shaved a good 15c from my 6950s under load. alternatively you could look into an antec spot cool, I hear those things work wonders on hot cards

Cork · 3 Oct 2011 at 19:02

david_129 said:
My 580 is running up to 85-90 which apparently is normal for 580s very hot .... bit scary tbh

Scary is right! But if this is ok then I'll stop worrying about it. I'm sure the manufacturer max temp is 96 but I wouldn't want it hitting that.

pgi947 said:
what case do you have and how are your fans setup? a high flow side intake shaved a good 15c from my 6950s under load. alternatively you could look into an antec spot cool, I hear those things work wonders on hot cards

My case is the Antec 182. Very similar in layout to the new version:

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-163-AN&groupid=701&catid=7&subcat=

I have one intake fan on the front and 2 exhausts, one on the back and one on the top. I'm also using a Akasa Venom CPU cooler:

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=HS-072-AK

I don't think I can use a side intake without butchering my case, which isn't ideal. The antec spot cool looks interesting though and it's cheap enough for me to give it a go, even if it doesn't help, so thanks for that. I haven't seen those before.

pgi947 · 3 Oct 2011 at 19:10

Thats cosmetically a really nice case! A shame about its cooling potential though, max of 2 intake (front)and 2 exhaust (top and rear). I wouldn't want to butcher such a nice case unless your confident you can make a tidy job of it. Perhaps worth looking into the antec spot cool to push a little more air around your card. Then if your still un-easy with the temps it may be time for a more air-flow friendly case.

In the market for a new case my self, can't decide between the Zlaman Z9 Plus and the Corsair 400R

Cork · 3 Oct 2011 at 19:54

Yeah, it is a nice case. Some very handy features. And no, I wouldn't make a tidy job of it so I'll go with the Spot Cool and let you know.

Those seem like great cases you're looking at. I've heard good things about the Corsair (is there anything they don't make now??) but the surprisingly cheap price of the Zlaman.... very tempting!

pgi947 · 3 Oct 2011 at 19:59

Yeah thats my main issue, zalman is cheaper, has a fan controller and temp sensors, corsair are just stunning quality, great cable management amongst other things, I can see it being an impuls buy what ever I get, would love to hear from some Z9 owners though.

Cork · 3 Oct 2011 at 20:39

The user reviews on Overclockers for the Z9 are all very positive but I guess you'll have to move over to the cases forum for real user opinions.

And there's nothing wrong with impulse buying, expect when you end up with a micro motherboard!

pgi947 · 3 Oct 2011 at 21:30

Cork said:
And there's nothing wrong with impulse buying, expect when you end up with a micro motherboard!

Ahh thats something I have done at least twice to my knowledge, a real kick in teeth. Not as bad as alcohol + 1 click buying.