Rivatuner question

Dale · 15 Dec 2009 at 10:31

Hi,

Quick question regarding Rivatuner, not sure if this should be in the Overclocking section or the Graphics section, but I'll try here first, so apologies if I got it wrong.

I've been trying to shut my graphics card (Nvidia 9800 GX2) fans up for when I'm working in Windows etc, so set the fans to 60% or so inside Rivatuner which has worked. I've got a little Gadget running (Windows 7) to monitor the GPU temps, running around 105-107, not sure if this is two high or not, but I've heard rumours that around 105 is considered safe.

However, my question is that if I jump into a game I would like the fans to automatically speed up due to the load so the GPU doesn't heat up and eventually stop / crash / etc etc the game. Will Rivatuner allow this or will they be permanently held at 60% or whatever I set them at? (i.e. will I have to remember to manually set the fans back to 100% for a gaming session)?

Thanks.

DavyBoy · 15 Dec 2009 at 10:56

I don't know about the 9800GX2, but if my card was hitting 107c I'd be worried..

There should be a way to setup a fan profile to make them speed up under load, can't you set the 2D and 3D fan clock speeds seperately in RivaTuner?

ETNiES · 15 Dec 2009 at 12:13

Thats way to high, your fans are running on 100% all the time because your card is overheating, i'd make sure the fan is turning properly, then clean out all the dust from the fan, and maybe apply some arctic cooling paste

Dale · 15 Dec 2009 at 12:18

Fans @ 75% and temp is now at 85 degrees C.

jms198 · 15 Dec 2009 at 12:20

Sounds like it needs a clean.

There is a tutorial for setting fan speeds based on temps from 3DGuru I believe so have a look on there.

you may want ot underclock in windows to save on power and heat; just go th eOC route but backwards and check its stable.

Dale · 15 Dec 2009 at 12:26

Thanks Jms, will have a read there :-)

Dale · 20 Dec 2009 at 22:32

Just to update - Rivatuner helped with the fan noise, but I've not figured it out 100% yet. The fan options (System Settings, then the Fan tab) don't always appear when I load Rivatuner - not sure why this is yet...

However, re: temperatures. This was getting a bit silly. With fans at 100% the Win7 gadget I have running (http://blog.orbmu2k.de/) was suggesting the GPU temps were hitting 116 Celsius under load (although the gadget isn't reporting the load, but I was playing Borderlands at the time!). I can testify that this was pretty hot, I had the side of the PC case off to aid cooling and accidentally (after half a bottle of wine) stuck my bare foot out and burnt it on the GFX card! LOL! It was that hot!

Took the 9800 GX2 out of the PC today, pulled it apart to clean, barely any dust in there, but air dusted it for about an hour to make sure! Also, cleaned off the GPU's and re-silicon'd it with some Thermalright thermal paste. idle temps are around 55 now and load (L4D2 everything maxed) is around 87 Celsius.

Conclusion - Old thermal "stuff" was crap / worn out / broken! and needed replacing.

(oh, and the fan was permanently at 75% during my “game test”)