980m temps

What are normal temps for the 980m when gaming? I'm using a p170em. I've read different things. Some people state anywhere in the 70s is normal. But is this with the fan set to full blast or just automatic profile? I'll stay in the 70s for the most part with fans on full throttle, but not always. For example, playing World of Warcraft at max settings will push me in the mid 80s (87 max) even with fans on max. GTA 5 on fairly high settings will cause me to hit low to mid 80s at times, but I usually get mid to high 70s. If I leave the fan profile on automatic, I'm usually in the low 80s for most games.

I thought maybe I pasted the GPU improperly, so I repasted to be sure. Take a look at this pic. I think I might have been a little heavy on the IC diamond, so I used slightly less with my repaste. Still, temperatures don't seem to have improved. My heatsink seems to be in perfect condition (no bends). I am not overclocking.

 

Yeah there's quite a bit too much paste there, that may increase temps. You may want to look into getting an undervolted vBIOS, perhaps from @Prema since to me mid80s sounds way too high for gaming.

 

mid 80s on full blast during gaming is too high. rule of thumb: anything below 90 for prolonged periods of time is fine. that should be a given with automatic fans during games, no matter what settings.

the paste on the chip looks fine, since it sports a thin layer that lets u see the writing on the chip beneath, so thats a good sign.

things to consider:

- check your heatsink fins for any dust accumulation and also take out the fan blades and rinse them with water to get rid of any dust clogged on them. u can take out the fan blades out of their casings to rinse them off, of course make sure that theyre 110% dry before u insert them back in
- try and prop up the back of your machine when gaming, thatll improve airflow vastly!
- have u tried the foil tape mod yet? here an example of what i mean:



see the foil tape covering the gap between the fan casing and heatsink fin? that improves the direction of warm air to the outside of the machine and can significantly improve temps, both for CPU and GPU. foil tape only costs a few bucks, so its definitely worth it.


check those things and report back how ur temps may have improved good luck!

 

You should just have a little paste around the side, the application looks fine, but not perfect

 

First off, thanks for the replies everyone. Definitely helpful.

I thought it was too much. I used a little less on the repaste, so hopefully that will be better. I'd rather not undervolt. I remember reading another post of yours where you say you undervolt all of your cards to make them last longer... Not sure I want to go there, but it's something I'll consider if things get worse.

Thanks for all the pointers. A few things:
-I got a brand new heatsink AND fan for the 980m, so I should be good on those two. But I totally believe you. I'm usually pretty good about checking/cleaning my laptop innards every 6 months or so. I learned my lesson last year. I didn't clean out my CPU side for almost a year and a half. Finally did a full removal/repaste, and wow, I was amazed by the huge chunk of built up dust/debris stuck on my fan exhaust. Imagine the lint collector in your clothes dryer. It was that bad. CPU temps dropped 15 degrees after that.
-I'll start propping my laptop once I get my huge cm storm angled pad back. It's been at a friend's place since last spring.
-I was planning to do the foil tape mod when I got my 980m, until I got my upgrade kit. The new heatsink came with a thick piece of plastic that covers the exhaust fan for more directed airflow/ducting (never seen this before, but it came with my kit). It probably isn't as good as the foil tape because there is a small gap between the top of the fan and the plastic piece, but it's better than the nothing that I had back on my 7970m.

Some questions for you. I notice the extra heatsinks you have affixed to your heatsink/heat pipes. Where can I buy those and how do you affix them? And, as far as foil tape goes, is there a specific one I should buy, or can I just walk into a Home Depot and they'll have it. There's a Microcenter not too far from me...maybe they'll have it.

Haha I've only repasted a handful of times in my life, but I'm getting better at it.

 

u can get those little copper heatsinks pretty much anywhere online, just look for copper ram/vram heatsinks with low height. they have adhesive tape on their undersides, to its basically just unpack and slap them on they do not lower the overall max temps but they do help slow down temp rise, so it takes significantly longer to reach the same max temps as before.

as for the aluminum foil tape, just take whatever u can get ur hands on, no special brand required so yeah, its basically just a quick visit at ur next home depot haha

btw, what kinda thermal paste are u using? u can also shave off a few degrees by going with a high performance paste, such as IC diamond, Gelid GC extreme or thermogrizzly kryonaut (in ascending order of thermal performance). every little bit helps!

also, undervolting is not yet possible on the 900M series, at least not on the fly, so ud have to resort to modifying your vbios and flashing that onto your card.
its true though that undervolting immensely helps with temps and also prolongs the life of your hardware

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

 

Keep in mind that the ambient room temperature can change what temps you are getting as well. I'm not sure if you are in a hotter climate area, but that could be something affecting your numbers versus other peoples.

Also, you could always play with settings in games and lower them back if you think it is running hot. When you are playing, do you have V Sync on or off? Turn it on, so the GPU isn't trying to render as many frames, and lowers it's usage. Might make a difference in temps if you have it off.

 

Any more details on this mod? Is there a post about it anywhere?

 

what kinda details do u need? shoot away

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How many Degrees will it improve the cooling by?

 

it depends on your setup. but around 5C is not unrealistic, especially if the gap between the heatsink fins and the fan casing is considerable.

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Its different for every user. Sometimes even decreasing temps by 1-2 degrees can prevent system damage.
In your case however, the problem is too much paste on the unit.
The layer needs to be less thick and possibly not spilling out of the contact plate.
Im 100% sure less paste will decrease your temps. Need to press it firmly to make the layer thinner and even on the whole surface.
Recommend trying with 2 transparent plastic plates to see how much paste you need for a good spread!

 

Max what you can have is 75*C I think. Maybe your Heatsink is on deadline?

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Sorry double post see below.

 

GTX 980M temps by MartinMac1982 posted Aug 29, 2017 at 11:22 AM

Question, are these Temps OK to game with 24/7 on my GPU, this is running on my GTX 980m (I have two in Sli) don't mean to hijack this thread but 84 max seems a bit high under load. I just received my laptop back from repair and aside from this temp everything seems to be running great for now.