Simviation Forums

just wondering what temperatures i'm safe at with my graphics card before damage may occur. There shouldn't be any problems with it, its a PCI-E nVidia GF 6600GT 128mb. the normal temp for it is about 55C.

Thanks

That sounds about right.

Generally, keep the vid card temp below 65. For most cards, the damage threshold is 115, so make sure it never gets there (and unless you live in an oven, it shouldn't even come close to that).

+1

However if your like me and like to keep things below 30C get a Zalman cooler for your card. Or better yet watercooling. Also Do nVidias run hot? Cus my X800Pro runs 47C and its overclocked.

Cheers
Cameron

My 7800GTX runs at 50C idle, that should go down some once I get better case airflow. I can't justify buying a GPU heatsink to much trouble for nothing. I don't overclock my video cards much.

......Also Do nVidias run hot?

nVidias? Actually, I've never seen one.

nVidia cards that I have seen use nVidia chipsets and design, but are manufactured by third party companies.
nVidia specify a "reference" design for each category of card, it's then up to the individual manufacturer to implement that card's characteristics, cooling solutions and performance capabilities notwithstanding.

The old ATI vs. nVidia mentality is largely based on ignorance and retoric. Video hardware needs to be carefully researched and assessed in order to make valid comparisons and objective observations.

Running "hot" is a subjective analysis without other supporting facts, such as case ventilation, ambient air temp etc.

But, alas, to allay any fears or misconceptions, modern video cards seem to have improved dramatically as far as heat generation/dissipation/performance ratios are concerned due to modern silicon processes and other technologies.

For instance, my new nVidia 6600GT runs relatively cool

My 6800 is running 40C idle. case internal temp is 31C

If you want to find out what yours are
http://www.lavalys.hu/index.php and get Everest Home edition. Reads most of the current sensors (including realtime harddisk temperature from SMART status and GPU)

That would work. As would SpeedFan

My XFX 6600GT PCI Express is running 44

I have 2 6600GTs: (at idle) the upper board runs at 75 deg and the lower board runs at 50 deg.

I built the computer when the SLI boards first came out and was a little concerned, but have never had a problem.

GPU temps

No problems:

70-80c - high load operation

45-60c - normal idle


At or above 80c is not recommended for any extended periods although if the card fluctuates between 70c and 80c (as most do under high load) but does not maintain 80c+ for periods of time, your OK. That is assuming the manufacture does not have a critical temp of 95c or less. Most C/T's are 100-110. As with any electronic component, heat shortens the lifespan. Overclocked or not, rule of thumb is if the GPU remains at or above 80c under hard, full load it would be wise to look at the thermal transfer system of the entire tower, including the GPU.

For non-fluid cooling, the Zalman heat tube system is excellent and uses no fan. A fan can be added if desired. It is a huge and heavy GPU/memory HS block which sandwiches the card and does the job quite nicely without any fan unless your tying to O/c 50+mhz over stock on the card.

My 6800GT after about 4 hours of gaming it to the max, runs abour 53C.

I'm probably going to get a waterblock for it, then only be left with the fans in my PSU.

Considering my coolant temperature rund between 5F and 40F during the winter (depends on outside temps, where my radiator is), I have plenty of cooling power to tap.

That would work. As would SpeedFan

i have speed fan but it only shows the temps of my 2 HDs. But if i go into the ATI overdrive section in the Catalyst Control Panel it tells me the temp of my GPU (right now at 50C idle). Something sounds fishy here. Either my speed fan program is not set up properly or the temp given my the catalyst panel is fony...

any one have any thoughts on this??

i have speed fan but it only shows the temps of my 2 HDs. But if i go into the ATI overdrive section in the Catalyst Control Panel it tells me the temp of my GPU (right now at 50C idle). Something sounds fishy here. Either my speed fan program is not set up properly or the temp given my the catalyst panel is fony...

any one have any thoughts on this??

Unless there is a new version I am not aware of, Speedfan does not tie into an ATI card. I use ATI Tool v.024 which allows me to override the card BIOS and set the video card fan speeds based on a graph of GPU temps. Mine are as follows:

(temp) = ( GPU Fan Speed)
0c

do you have a link where you can download this tool? thanks alot...

do you have a link where you can download this tool? thanks alot...

http://www.techpowerup.com/atitool/

I cannot vouch for the beta version, only the current alpha release