Acceptable GPU temps?

So i know this has been posted before, but I couldnt find the thread and i couldnt find anything about the 3870's on google so here it goes.

My GPU hit 82c today, thats a first for me, usually it would hit about 70-76. I wanted to know the point of when I should worry with the tempatures.

 

m17 usually hits 86c's without a cooler.

Summer and all i think your temps are pretty good for this notebook

 

this should make you feel relieved.


benchmarked dmc4 2 times stocked on a warm day.

 

Thats pretty much my temps when i play demigod That game really likes to tickle my gfx's to death ;<

 

The cooler the better, but 82 degrees is okay.

 

I believe they are warrantied up to 105, then they "should" become unsafe to themselves. The further from 105 you can keep them the better. It is argued that the cooler you keep silicon based microchips, the longer they will last. From a physics stand point, lower temperatures translate to higher switching speeds, so thats always a plus as well. But you are definately safe for now.

 

Hi,
Keep in mind that the computer will actually power itself down when it hits a dangerous temperature. However, often times the sensor doesn't respond fast enough to prevent a little damage. Those temps seem fairly normal, and also cool compared to the m9750 and m15x.

Thanks,
Gabe

 

i would worry @ 90c and kill it @ 100c

 

so what about my temps.

 

your temps were ALWAYS higher then every one elses i have seen

 

lol that's cause i don't use a cooler. but i'm going to buy one now. i'm alittle happy with what i get now. (i know it should be the other way around. lol.)

 

my max was 85 c and that was with out a cooler in the South where highs were 105F

 

my max was 107c when i pad thermal pads on the gpu. Lol. (it was for about 30 seconds then i stripped everything and put as5 on it.) it was in the quad core problem thread.

 

For the GPU memory chips, is it better to use thermal pads or AS5? I already replaced the crap Flex put on the GPU and CPU with AS5.

Also, I got a QX9300 coming sometime this week or next (probably next), what is the best way to keep the northbridge well cooled with the "bigger" cpu. Assuming that my nearly flattened pad provided by Flex is a bad option.

 

don't use as5 on the memory. it will short them out.

 

I meant on the surface, not the pins.

 

don't do it. it's conductive. i know halogod used thermal paste on his. but i think it was mx2.

 

Just wanted to check. I have used AS5 on the chips for my 8800 GTS 512MB desktop card and it is running like a champ. Although I didn't learn until the cooler was back on that the pads were there to span a good sized gap which negated the superior abilities of the AS5 since it had to be a thick amount. But just thought I would check.

 

oh ok. i never used them but if you used them before then i guess it's ok. but i still wouldn't.

 

Ok. that is mainly what I was looking for, was the opinion of others. I know that memory is not the primary heat source on the mxm card and just figured I'd ask if it is worth doing or would be a significant improvement over the thermal pads that are there now.

Thanks for the quick responses.

And I also just ordered the Cryo cooler, we will see if that in conjunction with the hole I cut in my bottom cover will have a good effect on the GPU temps. I am hoping so, as the hole by itself did not make any notable difference, I still had max temps in high 90's.

 

I prefer OCZ Freeze over AS5. Unlike AS5, Freeze isn't electrically conductive and it has no curing time. I have found that Freeze cools just as well as AS5 too.

If you want to further lower temps you can remove the bottom access plate and you'll see a big drop in temps. As long as you're on a flat surface and are comfortable with that.

I will soon be fabricating a mesh screen to completely replace the factory cover and allow my rig to breath.

 

Using a cooler will drop the temp about 10c if youre lucky.

my gpu temps are around 76c during gaming and 50c idle.

 

I don't use a cooler. I just keep the dust out of my rig and use OCZ Freeze.

Here is a shot of my temps at idle:



My GPU's temps reach the mid to high 70'sC during heavy gaming.

 

well those are nice idle temps, but idle temps are not why we all go through all the trouble of modding for cooling. What are your load temps as those are what would scare us to strive for cooler operation.

 

You must have only glanced at my post. Here's a repeat from my post:

"My GPU's temps reach the mid to high 70'sC during heavy gaming."

-But thanks for letting me know why we go through all the trouble of modding for cooling.

 

So that is heavy gaming, can you run a stress program like FurMark for 10 or 15 minutes to see what the absolute high your rig will get up to is?

Before (and after I don't know why) I cut the holes in my bottom, after running FurMark with the GPU's at stock speeds and the fan profile unaltered and without a cooler, I got up to either 93 or 98 degrees (cant remember, but over 90 - pretty sure was 93) on the hotter of the 2 GPU's (which was like 8 degrees over the other one). I know that in normal circumstances it is very hard to run a system at full tilt like this, but it is the level of cooling I would prefer my system be able to deal it. I am an engineer(ing major) we love to over design

At times I wish Flextronics/Arima had just moved the subwoofer and given us a seperate fan for each GPU like Clevo does. That would give so much more peace of mind.

 

After running Futuremark for 5 to 7 consecutive runs my max temps are in the mid to high 70's C.

Since I have started religiously cleaning the dust from my M17 and started using OCZ Freeze My temps during the absolute heaviest loads (gaming or many benchmark runs) never reaches 80C.

Your temps of over 90C, although not deadly, are approaching dangerous levels.

 

Ya that's what I was afraid of, a hot day pushing me up to the limit. I am going to reapply AS5 (its all I got at the moment, once I run out ill try the OCZ freeze) to the GPUs. I think I did a sub par job last time - was more rushed than when I did the cpu. As for dust, I blow out everything with air compulsively every time I open the back, which is nearly every day so I never have a real buildup. Never getting over 90 is the goal, but lower is better.

 

IMO, the most important factor is applying the thermal compound correctly.

Overuse of the paste seems to be the most common mistake people (and manufactures) make.

The best way is to use the absolute least amount of compound that yields complete coverage of the die. The "size of a grain of rice" is a good rule of thumb. Using any more will only cause temps to be higher.

Crappy Dynex thermal paste will work better if applied correctly compaired to AS5 or OCZ Freeze that's applied incorrectly. Of course, a quality thermal paste applied correctly, will perform even better.

 

Ya, I spread the paste with the plastic tool that comes with the Arctic Silver epoxy. But I am pretty sure it was actually too thin (scraped down to die in some places) it was a low light area and I couldn't really tell. It doesn't help that AS5 is so dam thick. Is OCZ Freeze easier to spread around?

 

Futuremark isnt accurate as stressing goes. I can get my temps above 100c with Futuremark but they are around 85c when i game.

Good to check stability but since your temps will never go that high when you game is pretty irrelevant.

 

Yeah, OCZ Freeze is a bit thinner than AS5. You should get a couple tubes of it so you can try a couple things. After cleaning, put just a very small drop right in the center of the die. Set the heatsink in place and wiggle it about a little. Secure all the screws as you normally do for the install, then remove the heatsink assy so you can inspect. See if you have complete coverage or if there is excessive amounts of paste around the edges. This way you'll find the right amount to apply. I don't like spreading it out because I've found that it makes for a thicker layer of compound. You're only trying to fill in the minor imperfections in the die and the heatsink plate. When applied for maximum thermal efficiency, the paste will be translucent and even across the entire die.

 

I concur. With my desktop, since you have to deal with a heatspreader over the die there, I always just put about a green pea worth - slightly less, and let the cooler spread it (since I always use massive tower coolers with alot of pressure). This has proven VERY good for the desktop application, so thin a layer results that the suction is enough to lift motherboard and ram by the tower (although this is of course not recommended). Sadly though, we do not get anywhere near this much pressure in the small notebook application. I prefer not spreading the paste but also didn't want to gob it on and see what happens. Guess this is what I get for not following my gut.

As for the conductivity of AS5, I have heard that it is, and that it isn't, so which is it haha. Tempted to just make a large gob and shove 2 probes of a multimeter into it and check resistance. Although OCZ freeze being thinner will easily move me over to using it.

Thanks for the advice.