PC Temperature

[[JiF][AARP]Tissueman]

I normally operate my PC with a 'the less I know the better' attitude, but recently let my curiosity get the better of me. I downloaded this utility from nVidia that allows me to monitor my GPU temperature. With the fan in automatic control the temperature is 57-58C during normal operation. When I play Crysis it gets up to 68-71C. What is considered a 'normal' range? Should I manually set the fan to get the temp lower?

[[JiF]Lonewolf]

Your temps are in the perfectly acceptable range. As long as your temps are below 80c your in good shape but if you start to get any higher then 80c I would then speed up the fan. I know my 8600GTS's run around the same temps as yours and I have had no worries yet. I try to keep mine at a max of 75c so I have a little cushion before it gets to hot. I'm not sure what card or temp monitor you have but mine has a high limit alarm I can set that will start beeping when it hits my max setting.

One thing to remember is if your vid card starts to artifact and such I would check the temps to make sure your still under 80c because your card will start to artifact when its starting to get to hot before it shuts down.

[[JiF]Toriq]

Hmmm...my case (sViking Thermaltake with 2 fans + chip fan) has a temp sensor and readout panel on front which I have set to ring the alarm at 59.3C. Guess that's much too low after reading here. When playing BF or TF2 it never gets above around 55C, though once when the room was hot it started beeping as it hit 59.9C. Didn't know what the heck the noise was (had headphones on) and then looked over and saw the lcd temp display panel flashing red. Though I was in trouble! But, now I guess that temp was pretty low after all. Maybe I'll set my alarm to 65C or so.

Thanks for that bit of info.

Edit: Oops! I read CPU not GPU! Doh! Have to check out Sly's Riva utility post and maybe use it.

[[JiF]Sly Gambit]

I normally operate my PC with a 'the less I know the better' attitude, but recently let my curiosity get the better of me. I downloaded this utility from nVidia that allows me to monitor my GPU temperature. With the fan in automatic control the temperature is 57-58C during normal operation. When I play Crysis it gets up to 68-71C. What is considered a 'normal' range? Should I manually set the fan to get the temp lower?

Well I try to keep mine under 60 when idle and under 70 when running and have it set to alert at 75 and shut down at 80. But listen to Lonewolf but you should automated your fan speed based on the GPU temp anyway.

http://www.vaguesoft.com/index.php?pageid=rt207

I just did it the other day with my 8800 GTS. Basically you set up the utility so it monitors your GPU temperature and if it goes up the utility increases your fan speed. Since it is only really going to get hot when you're gaming you're not going to be able to manually watch it anyway and having something in the background watching for you is the best approach. Basically it's quiet when you're not doing much, a little louder when you are doing some things (BF42!), and as loud as you can stand when burning up the pixels playing Crysis.

My fan was originally at 30% out of the box and it's an overclocked card. That wasn't fast enough to keep it cool (it was 60c idle) so I had to do something. nTune actually doesn't work with my card - some weird incompatibility with the BFG 8800 512 GTS - so I ended up using RivaTuner which handled it well. The fan speed profiles are just a bonus.

[[JiF]LtWaterboy]

mmm....liquid cooling....

no noisy fans...

LT

[[JiF]Sly Gambit]

You say that now but just wait until that thing springs a leak...

[[JiF]ALargeWoodenBadger]

... temperature is 57-58C during normal o... Crysis it gets up to 68-71C. ...

The fact that the temperature is given in Celsius is an indication that you should not be using that PC in the US. PCs' designed to run in the US are programmed to report exclusively in Fahrenheit as required by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI). My guess is that it was probably sold to you by mistake. However to avoid any unwanted insurance issues you may want to wrap up that unit and send it to a country which is familiar with the whole metric system. If you would like, I'll hold on to your PC for you while you contact your insurance agent and any and all federal agencies that deal with imports, border security, tariffs, consumer safety, shipping ... etc.

Just to be safe please include your shinny new monitor and that fancy video card when you send the unit (air freight – just to be safe). You better throw in a couple of hundred bucks to cover power usage and a new desk to place it on. I’ll take good care of your PC and get it back to you as soon as I’m sure it is safe.

In fact you had better check your flat screen TV, Blue Ray DVD player and any other expensive toy you have for any signs of metric tampering. If you find anything, anything at all, just send them along I’ll take good care of them.

Tissue, now that you are retired you have to protect yourself. People of your generation are often targets of expensive scams. But don’t worry I’ve got your back. You just send me the goods and I’ll make sure you are never taken in by some silly little electronics scam. And don’t worry about paying me, at least not while your currency is down.

[[JiF][AARP]Tissueman]

Thank you for your kind help Badger. Should I wire you some money via WESTERN UNION in advance? I'll be sending my stuff to you as soon as I get my money from my friend in Africa.

[[JiF]ALargeWoodenBadger]

[[JiF][AARP]Tissueman]

Just read your sig, Badger and cracked up.

[[JiF]ALargeWoodenBadger]

AH, The Princess Bride! The source of all great wisdom.

[[JiF][AARP]Tissueman]

Lonewolf and Sly, Thanks for all the info. I'm sure Badger will implement your advice as soon as he gets my PC, monitor, etc.