Just Upgraded to 9600M GT - Overheating

Hey all, recieved my 9600M GT today, installed fine, booted up fine,

however, as soon as a launch a game, the temps are hitting 100 degrees! thats definately not right, my old card was a 9300M GS temps never went over 70...

any ideas?

 

The cooling system in your laptop may not be adequate for 9600, you may not have adjusted the heatsink onto the graphics card properly or may need to mod the heatsink/cooling system to the 9600 as some graphics card upgraders have to do

 

The laptop model i have varies with GPU's, it does come with the 9600M GT, but the one i got had the 9300, so the cooling system is fine, its actually quite good.

The GPU actually faces down towards the mobo, and affixes onto the heatsink with the four screws, so all i had to do was screw them onto it, i might try some new thermal paste maybe? what about thermal pads with come with backplates can they be put on the gpu main bit where it touches the heatsink? if i add that to the grease that is already on it? would that help?

thanks

 

I have a 6930G with a 9600M and it works fine , under load <80°c.

I suggest you run to your local pcstore and get a tube of thermal paste (generic paste is fine but there are some brands on the market that will lower the temps a few degrees). Clean the gpu + heatsink with alchohol , reapply thermal paste and win !

 

Thanks for the reply, what do you mean by generic paste?

 

I've just had a look, the screws holding the GPU down in place, are just a tad too short, but the GPU is still affixed down where it should be, but if i give it a tug it comes away. these screws are the ones which i had on it before with the 9300m gs, the backplate is secured to the GPU as well, iv got a spare one, but if its secured to the GPU, can i not prize it off? will it damage it?

 

9600M GS is not 100% same as 9600M GT.
9600M GT is a very hot GPU. My housemate is using it.
Basically, this GPU raise about 85-90C while gaming. I help him to undervolt the CPU(not GPU) and cause the overall environment to be cooler. It helps the GPU temperature to decrease about 1-3C while gaming.

Applying thermal paste, you need make sure "how to apply it nicely and suite your laptop". Thermal paste might not show its effect right after you apply it sometime. It will take effect after a few days.
Applying high amount of Thermal Paste can cause overheat instead of lower the temperature.

Vacuum the CPU, GPU, RAM and the other stuffs is much easier and need to be done 1st before doing anything deeper.

Make sure the heatsink are connected to the GPU.

If you have done all physical modification or methods, and all of them didn't help much. You can try UNDERVOLT or so called FLASHING of BIOS.
Undervolt the GPU did help a lot for 9600M GT. I'm not sure why. But a lot of users seems to have 5-15C lower temperature after undervolt the 9600M GT.

 

Thanks for the reply, its gone down a bit now, about 95 max, but only tested it shortly, will try some more, ill get some more paste too....

i have undervolted before so i'll try it again.

i can't believe the increase in performance over my 9300M GS! so far i've tried:

Cod 4
Unreal tournament 3 - looks beautiful stunning scenery.
NFS: Shift
Grid

all high settings and very playable frame rate

looking forward to installing new games and trying em out

just hope i can get this temp to drop, dont want it dying on me! like my 9500m gs (which i killed) lol but i definately won't be overclocking this card.

thanks for Cobra i bought it from him on this forum, sold my 9300m gs for £10 less than i bought the new one for, so bargain!

 

I think after you have undervolt, you will have about 7XC or 8XC as your maximal gaming temperature.
How do you kill your 9500M GS? BIOS flashing OC? BIOS flashing Undervolt? or OC normally(using software)?

 

One thing that's keeping me from upgrading my card to an ATI 4650 (apart from finances, of course lol) is the fact that my thermal module, specifically the plate on which the 9300M GS sticks to, looks too small for an MXM-II card. It has extra memory modules that I think also heat up? But I'm not sure if that contributes to the core heat--I might have to do a bit more research about it.

Have you seen the actual plate that makes contact with the GPU? I just recently opened up my laptop, and lo and behold, it has the plate only the same size as my card!

Finally, thermal paste + thermal pad isn't really a good idea... The thermal pad only works if you have a large gap between the plate and the core. See if the thermal paste you put on the 9600M got spread enough evenly, and that would mean that the GPU perfectly touches the plate. Otherwise it might be barely touching the plate in which case you'll have to put on thermal pads instead.

Wait a sec--did you replace the old thermal paste with a new one?

Darn, I'm jealous.

 

Hey, yeah its definately touching the heatsink, it spread it out, but the screws are definately not long enough, its not going all the way down like it should, its popping out at an angle, i didnt replace with new paste no, just used the paste that was on the old card.

DarkSilver, i killed it by Bios overclock, and software Overclock, but too much lol

 

Avoid BIOS overclock, it sucks.
Undervolt by Flashing BIOS is OK. It won't spoil the GPU easily.
I guess if you sucessfully undervolt your 9600M GT to about 0.95V or 0.9V(since have people success with 0.9V before), you can have high OC with your card because the temperature of your GPU decrease harshly.

 

Thanks

Undervolt by flashing BIOS? i usually do it by RMClock, is that right?

 

RMClock is for undervolting CPU's, you need to BIOS flash to undervolt GPU's

 

Yep! RMClock is used to Undervolt your CPU.
While Flashing of GPU BIOS is used to Undervolt your GPU.
Flashing of BIOS is very dangerous^^! It can kill the GPU if you're unlucky. LOL.
Somehow, some people claims that flashing of BIOS is not dangerous and very easy to do. I do not 100% agree with that.
Some risks are still there.

 

it is very easy to do. I even killed it one time, took 1 minute (a simple blind flash) to get it back up running. Just make sure your computer is set to boot up from the usb-dos drive.

 

Yeah i flashed my old 9500 many times, overclocked too much though and killed it.

you think i should undervolt my GPU then? im getting 106 degrees now, i cant run it like that, thats ridiculous! the 9600 came from an MSI laptop, do you think its worth flashing it with a proper acer 9600m gt bios? mind you, GPU-Z is reading it as Acer Subvendor.

Thanks

 

Undervolting will help you lower the temp of your GPU, I have read lots of people had great success reducing the temp of their GPU(>10 C) by lowering the default voltages. I have undervolted my GPU too, resulting a 3 C drop in temp, which seems just a little, but still helps. 106 C is going way too far off the safe operating temp of any notebook GPUs, i would definitely try undervolting if i was in your case.

 

Ive just tried undervolting, every volt reading on nbitor was at 0.89v

cant go any lower..

apart from the Extra one, which was at 1.05v

wierd...

 

I am glad that it is working for you and you notice a big diffrence in games. I dont want you to burn it up and at 106c is on the verge of burning up. It never ran hot for me. It was only used twice so its like brand new. Please change the thermal paste as soon as you can. If you have to get a good laptop cooler for it and I know that will help alot for keeping it nice and cool. They are cheap and I would get a Zalman 2000 or Kyro they are great for keeping notebooks cool. Please keep us updated. Thank you.

 

Just do it! 0.89V!!
A cooler will help but very very insignificant. Unless your cooler is very strong.
A cooler will normally decrease the overall temperature of a laptop about 2-4C.
But don't think it is useless.
Combination of Undervolt CPU, Undervolt GPU, Thermal Paste, Dust Free(vacuum once a month) and Cooler could help a lot.

 

I said every reading on nbitor was ALREADY on 0.89v, i couldn't go any lower, the only one i could go lower on was "extra" that was on 1.05v

 

Just a thought..... are you sure its reading 100C not F? The display setting may of gotten changed somehow.... 100F is very good

 

The other options don't matter, "Extra" is the voltage the motherboard provides to the GPU when u do heavy graphic work/gaming. Lowering it should give u better temp of GPU while gaming, which is exactly what u want.

 

Are you still using the bracket on your 9600M ? (back side ) A picture would help if you're not certain. If you are , remove it and your screws will be long enough.

You are still using the preapplied thermal paste, this definitely the main cause of your high temps ! Go to your local pcstore and ask for some thermale paste / cooling paste .

wiki about this : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thermal_grease

Clear yr gpu + heatsink and apply fresh paste.


ps : There are 6930G's with a 9600M GT and a P8600+ so cooling shouldn't be a problem ! And a 9600M GS and GT are very simular in heatoutput, when overclocking my GS to 670/1600 , far beyond GT setting , it's still under 80°c

 

Ok i've reduced that "Extra" from 1.05v to 0.89v the same as the rest, and just tried resident evil 5, (runs fantastic i must say. very smooth fps)

and the temps has not gone over 88 degrees WOOHOOOO!! gonna do more testing

 

ok after a bit more testing, 90 degrees, still better than 106 lol

that was max temp reading in hwmonitor.

definately gonna get some new thermal paste.

 

Told you already. You will have your temperature decrease harshly by reducing the voltage usage. ^^!
Do you have cooler? If you don't, you can lift your laptop a little to ensure more air flow to decrease the temperature as well.
Please do vacuum the FAN part behind your laptop. That can the culprit too.
Thermal paste was not a good choice for me. You can't see the effect straightly with thermal paste. Because it needs to show its effect after applying. In addition, apply wrong amount/thickness of thermal paste can cause increase of heat.

 

Glad to hear it worked out for you, test the voltage extensively with 3dmark/furmark/games and make sure it is 100% stable with the new voltage, then u are good to go. Very impressive result, i must say.

 

Thanks

ok after extensive testing, i got max temp 95 degrees, well this was 30 mins testing, i'm gonna get some AS5 see if that makes a difference.

 

For a 9600M GT, 95 C isn't ridiculously high after heavy stress, u should have lower temp than that in most games. Reapplying new thermal paste should lower your temp a bit further.

And try to refrain yourself from OCing the card as Undervolting will usually substantially reduce your ability to OC, but in return u get a much cooler running card, its a trade-off, imo the drop in temp easily overweighs your loss in OCing.

 

Not really. I have stress my GPU for 30minutes using ATItool and wat I got only 73C. Well, my 9500M GS DDR2 have OCed. Original clock is 475/400/950 and OC is 615/470/1415. Check my Signature. LOL.
95C is indeed high. 0.89V should give 7XC normally(with OC). Have user here using 9600M GT with OC and 0.89V and his temperature(max gaming and stressing) only about 75-80C.

 

What seems hot to you might be reasonable for him, cuz he has a totally different video card.

I agree 95 C is not within the safe operating range, but considering the fact he is still using the old thermal paste he ripped from his old GPU, 95C seems reasonable. Once he replace it with new paste, he should be able to see another drop in temp.

 

Yes i agree lidowxx, i'll get some rubbing alcohol, and AS5 should give me a nice drop in temps.

you're right considering i've used the same paste from my old GPU and i have fiddled with it a bit in my fingers, it's probably no where near as good as it should be.

 

I've been playing a few games over a certain period today and my max temp now is 89 degrees, sometimes popping up to 91 now and then, but mainly stayin in late 80's very early 90's now.

gonna order some paste off ebay

 

I know. But 9600M GT with 9XC temperature even with undervolted is considered very high.
Thermal Paste was not like freezing field or ice block. It won't decrease the GPU temperature a lot. Mostly 3-8C.

 

So whats my best option to get the temps down? copper mod? what else?

thanks

 

Improperly placed/bad paste can severely affect the temp, i have read many stories about this. And thermal paste plays a big role in the overall cooling of a laptop, although its effect varies in different laptops.

Even if the difference is a mere 3-8C, it could make a video card live longer if it's suffering from overheating. Imo, u really don't need to panic before it goes over 90C.

And junglebungle, consider purchasing a laptop cooler if u are still not comfortable with the temp after u apply new thermal paste, with the conjunction of UVing/new paste/cooler, your 9600M GT should be living in the 80C zone, which is completely safe and normal.

 

I am not insulting or mocking here. I just tell that the GPU 9600M GT of yours is not very good on the temperature really. Like I told before, 9600M GT should not over 90C normally(without OC and Undervolt). I have seen plenty of 9600M GT, all of them are not as hot as yours honestly.
So, why it is heated up so much on your laptop?
Answer(a lot):
a.) Maybe it is from ASUS?
b.) Solder bad built(silicon)?
c.) Heatsink not functioning well with this GPU?
d.) FAN speed increase didn't kicks in with this GPU?
e.) Many more.

Well, you can try all the method you think will work for your GPU.
I didn't force you to stop or anything. Just to tell that, sometime the heat-up can be reduced using other way like the "answers" I provided above.
You can use:
Level 1, Thermal Paste and Cooler and Undervolt
Level 2, Copper High Quality Heatsink
Level 3, Water Cooling System(H2O)
Level 4, Forced Convection and Phase Change Cooling System(Liquid Nitrogen, Liquid Helium or Solid Carbon Dioxide).

 

I've noticed you mentioned a few times the screws are not firmly secured and you can "pull" the card/heatsink off. That means you do not have a completely secure connection and yes, your temps can be off 10-20 degrees if not more even if it feels it is securely in place.

Nvidia cards either have flush rear mountings where the screw tubings go through the card and extend a slight bit from the front of the card for the screws to mount or inverted mountings where the protruding mount assemblies are actually poking out the back on all four corners and plastic caps on all for corners (This is how the MSI 9600M GT cards look).

Like previously recommended, remove the rear mounting plate from your old GPU and affix it to the new GPU.

Either that or you may need to remove the existing plate and flip it around and secure each post end with electrical tape to prevent any electrical connections.

Pictures would definitely help, but I think at its core, it is an issue of a insecure mating of the heatsink and the GPU more than anything else.

 

I've noticed you mentioned a few times the screws are not firmly secured and you can "pull" the card/heatsink off. That means you do not have a completely secure connection and yes, your temps can be off 10-20 degrees if not more even if it feels it is securely in place.

Nvidia cards either have flush rear mountings where the screw tubings go through the card and extend a slight bit from the front of the card for the screws to mount or inverted mountings where the protruding mount assemblies are actually poking out the back on all four corners and plastic caps on all for corners (This is how the MSI 9600M GT cards look).

Like previously recommended, remove the rear mounting plate from your old GPU and affix it to the new GPU.

Either that or you may need to remove the existing plate and flip it around and secure each post end with electrical tape to prevent any electrical connections.

Pictures would definitely help, but I think at its core, it is an issue of a insecure mating of the heatsink and the GPU more than anything else.

 

Can somebody tell me how to undervolt the 9600M GT ?
Can`t find a guide etc.

Thanks