Highest safe temperature for graphics cards?

[runevirage]

I was wondering what the maximum temperature of a graphics card can be with no chance of damaging the card. Today I was running 4x4 SSAA in a game and my cards peaked at 98 degrees C, which seems fairly high. They were at 100% load and 100% fan speed too. I heard they can go up to 120 degrees C without a problem but is this true?

 

[mtosev]

which gfx?

newer nvidia cards have a max temp of 115-120C.

 

[Hockster]

What card?

That's pretty high for anything other than a 470/480.

 

[Mussels]

most cards will survive 120C or so, but not for extended periods of time.

Fermi aside, try and keep temps below 80C

 

[runevirage]

These were GTX 275s. They normally peak at 85-90 but under extreme stress like the situation mentioned above they can go above 95. Just wondering if this was safe or not.

 

[Shou Miko]

if you think temps are to hot, clean your card for dust, make your case airflow better or install a new cooler on it, together with the airflow ^^

 

[DarkOCean]

I was wondering what the maximum temperature of a graphics card can be with no chance of damaging the card. Today I was running 4x4 SSAA in a game and my cards peaked at 98 degrees C, which seems fairly high. They were at 100% load and 100% fan speed too. I heard they can go up to 120 degrees C without a problem but is this true?

Those temps are definetly to high for 100% fan speeds .What case do you have ?
I think you dont have enough airflow or the video cards are full of dust or something are wrong in there.
Put some fans on the side panel if you can.

 

[runevirage]

Case is HAF 932. Not sure if it's a dust problem, they've been running on the same temps since day 1.

Edit: So here's the Nvidia specs page, it says max temp 105. Does that mean the card will last as long at 105 as at any temp under 105? Or does it mean 105 is the sort of "breaking point" temp?

 

[Mussels]

Case is HAF 932. Not sure if it's a dust problem, they've been running on the same temps since day 1.

Edit: So here's the Nvidia specs page, it says max temp 105. Does that mean the card will last as long at 105 as at any temp under 105? Or does it mean 105 is the sort of "breaking point" temp?

it means that at 105, it will operate. It wont crash or artifact, for example.

That said, it will likely shorten the lifespan of the card.

 

[btarunr]

It depends on the GPU, really. Higher-end GPUs are made on higher-grade manufacturing processes, and can withstand up to 120C. For others it's typically up to 90C.

 

[KainXS]

I have run cards at 105C over long periods of time with no problem, but its different from card to card, for example, one day I turned on my pc to see my 8800GT was doing 105C because the fan wasn't working on it and it wasn't dead, but my old 8800GTX did the same thing and died almost instantly.

 

[Bassman_soundking]

wow, I hope my card doesnt run that hot. I have a small case. How do I find out how hot my card is during games or even at idle?
Haf 932 is about as much airflow as you can get I think

 

[tianhui]

My Diamond 4870 idles at around 46-48C which seems okay for this particular card,
how do i figure out the safe load temperatures w/o actually frying out m'card?

 

[DarkOCean]

wow, I hope my card doesnt run that hot. I have a small case. How do I find out how hot my card is during games or even at idle?
Haf 932 is about as much airflow as you can get I think

Use gpu-z or msi aferburner.

My Diamond 4870 idles at around 46-48C which seems okay for this particular card,
how do i figure out the safe load temperatures w/o actually frying out m'card?

Below 90 c is pretty safe for any gpu but y preffer to keep mine below 80c.

 

[theonedub]

I let my GTX 275s get up to 84C Folding and there is no damage. The temps would be lower if the card was not being suffocated due to the SLI layout of my board.

 

[Bassman_soundking]

My XFX GTS250 idles at 51* at 35% fan and at 46-47* at fan speed 50%
I installed that MSI afterburner.
Btw what does (folding) mean?

 

[theonedub]

Folding as in Folding@Home (the scientific application) it loads the card to 100% and I run it 24/7. So far 84C temps don't bother them.

 

[ToTTenTranz]

The first, "noisy cooler"-equipped 8800GT used to go up to 105º quite often.

 

[Zubasa]

The first, "noisy cooler"-equipped 8800GT used to go up to 105º quite often.

I had a dead 9800GT with that cooler sitting right in front of me yesterday

 

[OneMoar]

meh something bothers me about 100% fan and still haveing 90c+ temps check and make sure the cards can breath thats starting to get a bit warm

 

[hat]

Try taking the cooler off, cleaning up the excess paste, and putting some of your own on... MX-2 is a great choice. That should make temps drop considerably.

 

[Bassman_soundking]

Try taking the cooler off, cleaning up the excess paste, and putting some of your own on... MX-2 is a great choice. That should make temps drop considerably.

you can do that on a gpu?

 

[OneMoar]

you can do that on a gpu?

/headdesk

 

[a_ump]

lol of course you can. Though i'm sure you will need this answer as much as i do. Can thermal pads be re-used for memory and whatnot on the stock heatsink as long as they're intact? or would he(and i) need to buy new pads if we wanted to apply some MX-2 to our gpu's?

 

[claylomax]

It really depends on room temperature. There is a big difference between gaming in the summer and the winter. I was playing Batman last December and it wouldn't trigger the fan on my 285 it was constanly at 40% and temps peaked at 83. Regarding the max safe temp for a video card, my old HD4870 idles at around 80 and peaks at 90 and still rocks.