[RESOLVED] 115 C on MSI 7800GTX? Bad?

[firesnapper]

I recently discovered that my gfx card (GTX 7800 MSI 256 Mb) has a very high temperature while playing HL2Episode2.
I play several games so Ill check the different temps while I play the other games, but this temperature seems pretty high to me comparing to CPU temps.

Is this temperature normal for these cards, and do they get damaged?

While not playing games the temp stays at around 58 C. Is this temp Ok? So the difference is almost 50 C when playing that game I mentioned above.

Is there any way to see if the fan on the gfx card is running without the need to open the computer box?

I havn't OC the gfx card, and in the Nividia control panel 115 C is in the Red dangerous zone according to the diagram there. At 110 C the graph shows yellow.

Anyone else have the same/similar cards at similar temperatures while playing games?

Any feedback is greatly appreciated!

 

[LOUISSSSS]

no, its not ok. but there r the rest of your post since 2005 when u created the account?

 

[Demoth]

If your hesitant in opening your case, probably means you haven't looked inside it for a while. First thing I would check is if that fan is spinning properly. You want to make sure your case isnt clogged with dust which can easily clog a fan, heatsink or air vents. If there is a lot of dust, get a can of compressed air.

Also be sure you have adequate airflow in your case. You should have at least an input and exhaust and there should be a constant flow of warm air coming out of your case.

If everything there seems ok, I would do a full reinstall of the OS. It is possible for viruses or corrupt drivers to cause heat issues or a sensor to misread.

Your model card typically idles around 50* but shouldnt be going over 80*. This would indicate an airflow issue as the more likely cause.

If nothing else works, remove and reinstall the gpu heatsink, sometimes that fixes this issue. If not, get an inexpensive third party GPU cooler. 110*C can fry your card within weeks if unlucky.

 

[otispunkmeyer]

dust is the likely culprit.

IIRC, those cards use like a blower or squrril type fan (one thats on the same plane as the heatsink fins) and they either suck air thru and over the fins than then expel it out of the back, or they suck air in at the fan moutning area and blow air over the fins.

either way, the fins are usually quite thin and have close spacing. this means dust can clog the gaps between the fins. if you dont clean it you eventually end up with a wall of dust blocking all the air flow of the heatsink and you beign to rely almost completely on conduction alone to expel the heat from the GPU. i've seen similar things happen with laptops....my mate basically had to pry off a thick wall of dust that was baked to the front of the fins on his laptops heatsink. yeah he was wondering why his machine was getting so hot and was so loud. he had zero air flow.

of course, check that the fan is actually working

and failing that do as Demoth says..... spend a couple of bucks on something like a Zalman VF-700, even the AlCu will be much better than the stock cooler.

 

[firesnapper]

I had closer look on the card, and opened up the lid that covers the heatsink-cooling-system, and guess what I found there: dust. I removed all the dust, placed the heatsink-lid back on, and started the machine. Temps now show:
When not playing games: 50 C
When playing a game: 70 C

This means the temperature dropped by 45 C on high load. I've monitored the temp for several hours now, and it's seems to be stable. I just wonder how long my gfx has been at those high temps...

 

[Therk]

same thing happened to my 6800GS, 50C idle, 100 - 105C on load, opened the card up, removed dust, temperatures now 40 - 45 C idle 70C load

 

[Bateluer]

My former roommate lost a 6800GT to dust.

 

[bryanW1995]

if it's running your games fine then no worries. 115c is probably the thermal shutdown temp, so you're probably ok running at 110c for few hours here and there. besides, it's only a 7800. I highly recommend that you sell that bad boy on ebay just to be safe and upgrade to an 8800gt or rv670 card asap just to be safe, however