Just hoping that someone can look over this and tell me if i need to be worried or not: http://forums.bit-tech.net/picture.php?albumid=558&pictureid=49460 for referance, the ambient temp is 20.5 degrees c The issue is that those max temperatures on the GPU (81) were made in guild wars 2, not exactly a HEAVY game and was in fairly normal surroundings (i.e. not a lot of players on screen). I'm concerned because my fans have been spinning up and making a lot of noise recently, nothing odd sounding but just spinning up faster than normal. It seems to be the case fans that are making the most noise but the PSU seems to be running its fan almost constantly at low levels which is giving me a bit of a headache. I primarily use this machine for work (3ds max and Vray) and need it in top form. I may just be being paranoid. maybe i need to invest in some water cooling Any help greatfully recieved.
a 970 should never be getting to 81c really so something is wrong. there should be no need for watercooling ether, better to find the root of the problem than just ignoring it and throwing money at it hoping it will go away. What stands out for me in your temps isnt the high 81c, but the low 50 at idle. The 970 should be down clocking it self loads more. My 970 sits at 135mhz idle, with 324mhz memory, with a temp of about 27c with air cooling. Max load would be getting about 70c on a bad day. im really not sure what could be doing this other than a GPU thats on its way out, but this is doubtful with it been a new card and your not reporting any other problems. Your CPU is ice cold so its not the temp inside the case been raised. I think figuring out the problem to your card not behaving normally at idle will help your high temps as well. Have you used any overclocking software at all? If you have the card may have kept the higher voltage settings possibly?
The CPU is water cooled by one of the corsair "contained systems" so it is a posability that the over all heat is a bit high. Nothing in my case is overclocked as i need it stable as possible and am not confident enough in my skill to be messing round with any of that. Is it possible there is something wrong with the PSU and it is pumping out more heat than it should? The GPU is currently quite close to it. Ill probably have to open up the machine and see if i can move things around a bit. Thanks for the advice.
The bes thing to do is to take a photo of your case and note your fan setup (so we know which way are they blowing), this way we can advise if you've got the optimum cooling config
your PSU should never be hot to the touch, only moderately worm at most. So on load, have a feel of the PSU safely and if its burning up you know your problem. Also as above, a photo will help of your rig's guts.
I'd be interested to hear what model of 970 you are using. It sounds like one with sub-optimal cooling.
Can't remember the brand, will be opening up the case when i've finished this work off. I CAN tell you that i wont be buying from them again. this isn't the first issue i've had with them and their customer service is terrible.
Does it have a blower-style fan (with a rear exhaust), or is it an open-air cooler which dumps heat back into the case. If the former is it a "Titan-style" NVTTM cooler as below or another style?
Hopefully this will help: http://forums.bit-tech.net/picture.php?albumid=558&pictureid=49466 It's a galax branded 970. And before someone says it, the cable managment was much better before i opened it up and started unplugging things lol. Edit: and yes im afraid it is pumping the air back into the case not out of a rear vent.
well for starters galax/KFA2 are stella, i have a very similar card, mines just the updated version of yours (OCUK's exclusive Infin8 Black edition). Idle i get 27c, in game 70c. Fans 1 and 2 are the wrong way round but make little to no difference really when i comes down to it. Just heat rises and your battling against physics. it will help to turn them round to give one direction airflow that works with heat rising. Also i would get rid of the two door fans, there pointless and will not help in anyway, just mess the airflow up and add to the noise. PSU fan 7 sucks air in, not out btw All your parts are quality and dont see anything that stands out here to why your GPU is getting toasty still. Your cable managment, although has nothing to do with thermals, is making me feel very uncomfortable.
Is it possible that i'm overloading it? I running 3 displays of the single card. 2x 1920x1080 and 1x 1024x1280. As a side note, im running my machine now with the case wide open and the temp is holding completely steady at 48 degrees. the clock is not dropping below 911Mhz acording to CPUID HWMonitor.
are you drivers up to date? i still think finding the reason your card will not down lock much is the root of your problems. Overloading it? no, running 3 screens is a walk the the park for a 970. [edited my other post]
I didn't think so TBH was just on the off chance. I'm not particularly confident in my building skills so like to double check stuff. Drivers are all up to date. A friend just recommended i try rebedding the heat sink on the GPU. Any thoughts on that? Oh and PSU is warm but not hot. so dont think that that is the issue, assuming you hadn't all already figured that out Yer the cable management is tough in this machine, its basically a mATX case which fits standard ATX boards. in retrospect was a poor choice for my needs. had to mod it just to fit the CPU cooler properly. Is there a way to purhaps manually set a max temp and force it to downclock?
Let's get the stupid out the way first, apologies if I have missed it. Power up your system with the side panel off, are the fans on the GPU spinning as expected, one of them may not be spinning if a cable has gotten in the way or it may have died (have seen that a few times). Switch the fans on the side panel around, and the ones in the top of our case too. This will allow cool air to be blown onto your GPU and then out through the top of the case cooling the GPU, CPU and motherboard. Right now your GPU is trying to blow air through the heatsink when it is being sucked out by the side panel fans. Close it all up and let us know what has happened.
i would not take the heat sink off unless you can see its not fitted properly. there should be no need to add software to make the card do a standered feature. Someone with the same problem as you here with a fix: https://linustechtips.com/main/topic/262678-msi-gtx-970-gaming-4g-not-downclocking-while-idle/ completely clean out your drivers using: http://www.guru3d.com/files-details/display-driver-uninstaller-download.html Then reinstall the latest. I know you said your up to date but bugs can carry over from over versions sometimes. After Google'ing around, it does seem to be a driver issue but, easily resolved by flushing your drivers and reinstalling. If that does not work, it does seem that having 3 monitors could be stopping your GPU from going into low power mode when idling.
Turns out it's just a glitch in the software, tried unplugging a monitor and it dropped almost right away. Seems i have a choice between 3 monitors or silence/a longer lasting GPU. I may get a liquid cooler for the GPU akin to the one i use for my CPU. just for the sake of having best of both worlds. Really appreciate the help given here. thanks.
