high idle temps on dual display

[Arrakis+9]

So i took my computer to work today to try and figure out why my video card is idling at such a high temp but to my surprise when i took it in and hooked it up to a single 17 inch monitor the temps were fine (33c) so thinking that it was a one time thing i brought it back home and hooked everything back up but much to my surprise the high temps are back again (65c)

The only thing i've really changed between setups here and at work are the screens, at work i have a 17 inch 1280 x 1024 display vs at home i have two monitors one 24 and one 22 inch totaling to 3200 x 1200

one thing to note is the ambient temps of both locations are roughly the same 70F

does anyone have any idea why my idle temps are so damn high ?

[sneekypeet]

because you are pushing way more resolution. Almost every card i had ran hotter on dual displays.

[Magikherbs]

Yep.. going with a second display will cause your gpu to run a full clocks. Even still that seems high. Maybe the HSF is loose or the thermal paste is bad.

[Arrakis+9]

i did put the system as a mirrored setup and set the screen resolution down to 1280 x 1024 to test and see if it was the higher res (let the video card cool down first) and when i put the fan speed back to auto it slowly made its way back up to 65c

[sneekypeet]

as herbs says, check the clocks. with dual monitors the cards used to run 3D clocks all the time.

[Arrakis+9]

well it is running at higher clocks than on just a single monitor but the temps seem high for what its at does it not ?

[Magikherbs]

Did you check the card ? That is way too high.. and you're not at full clocks yet lol. If gaming temps are high on one monitor, then its either the HSF or the card itself.

Its also using alot of ram.

[sliderider]

It's normal for the cards to idle higher with multiple monitors but not sure why they would be 64 degrees if you aren't pushing them at all.

I've noticed in Trixx that my 6870 likes to idle at around 45 degrees and the stock fan setting at that speed is 1080 RPM. You might need a custom fan speed profile to keep the temp down. My custom fan profile is a little more aggressive at keeping the temps down than the one that is built into the card but it still stays reasonably quiet.

[Arrakis+9]

Well i tried a custom profile as well and that just leaves the fan hovering at 60% all the time which is loud as hell. i'll have to try and take the backplate off my card when i get home and put all the stock screws back in and see if i get better results without it on.

[sliderider]

Originally Posted by Arrakis+9

Well i tried a custom profile as well and that just leaves the fan hovering at 60% all the time which is loud as hell. i'll have to try and take the backplate off my card when i get home and put all the stock screws back in and see if i get better results without it on.

What idle temp are you aiming for with your custom profile? With two monitors it's going to be really hard to get it down to the 40's. In my fan profile at 65 degrees my fan is set to blow at 40% and isn't terribly loud. You do notice it but it doesn't roar like it would at 60%.

[Arrakis+9]

well the blower on my video card is noticable at 45%

i have the thing set at 70c = 70% fan speed and sloped down from there
70% fan speed on my graphics card is also the max speed the thing will go

[Arrakis+9]

update :

i got the backplate off the back of my 460 and put the stock screws back on changed out the thermal goop and tightened everything down as much as i could without stripping the screws. i get roughly 3c better temps without it on but it still doesnt explain why its hitting 60c on idle

[1nf3rn0x]

Did anyone notice that in his tabs, there were two for hentai? LOL. But yeah temps will increase as the card needs to work harder to put more pixels on the screen.

[Arrakis+9]

Originally Posted by 1nf3rn0x

Did anyone notice that in his tabs, there were two for hentai? LOL. But yeah temps will increase as the card needs to work harder to put more pixels on the screen.

65 gigs and growing (no pun intended)

[1nf3rn0x]

WOW, you must really like your hentai .

[Sinzia]

Its a well documented bug about having the clocks not go down to 2d mode when a second monitor is attached, that would explain at least a part of the higher temps, but they shouldn't be nearly -that- high!

I wonder what other people are getting for dual monitors with a 460, Maybe an RMA is in order if its still under warranty.

[cable]

i'm hitting idle 32c on gtx 460 with dual 21 inch fan at 100% but with 7 add on fans it sounds like a 747 on take off and after 10 min. at 50%it hits 35c

[Arrakis+9]

update. i made a more aggressive fan profile and replaced the thermal grease with dow corning 1996 and now my card idles at 53c still a bit high but an improvement none the less.