Do Video card temps really make a difference??

[Exeodus]

I have seen a lot of posts lately about video card temps, particularly ATI video cards. While temps with the stock cooler seem high, mine idles about 36-40c, it can go as high as 75-80c while playing a intense game. But according to ATI, anything under 100c is acceptable for most GPU's, some say as high as 120c .
So my question to those of you who have ditched the stock cooler for a Zalman or Artic Silencer to get better temps, has it increased your performance at all? Due to placement of the chipset on my board, a aftermarket cooler is not an option for me:shadedshu . I havent noticed any heat related problems with my card, but has the cooler temps increased framerates for anyone with the aftermarket cooler? I'm not worried about my card frying because of heat because it has an lifetime warranty.

Any help would be appreicated

 

[Poisonsnak]

Mine (X850XT-PE) OCed about the same before and after the ATI silencer, I just bought it because I found the stock cooler loud. Maybe though since my card is already clocked so high from the factory it was pretty near its limit to begin with.

 

[trog100]

it made a slight difference to my memory overclock my core only ran low 60s with the stock cooler anyway.. praps a very slight extra 5mhz on the core it now runs low 50s.. perhaps 20mhz on the memory

memory.. well the small plate on the back that covered the memory chips got quite hot.. not too hot to touch but hot.. the big plate that comes with the artic cooler several times the surface area only gets slightly warm to the touch.. i think this gave me another 20 or so on the memory clock..

the noise factor is the big gain thow.. its quite and cool.. for the price i think the artic solution is well worth getting.. but not if u dont have the room for it.. as i say my memory gained more from it than the core.. i just feel more safe about overclocking things if i know they are well cool..

the noisiest thing on my computer now is the bloody 250 gig USB hardrive that sits on top of the case with its whiney little fan.. he he he.. lucky it has an off switch..

trog

 

[giorgos th.]

i agree with the boys opinion.you can gain a lot from a nice cooling system.the stock coolers are #%$#$^$%& and they have a small lifetime.by using a good aftermarket cooler you are increasing your card`s lifetime also.less noise accepted also.and of course you have a much better case air flow.hot air that comes from vga and hdd affects also the cpu cooling.it`s like a chain reaction to me.

 

[technic58]

for me, i mostly use arctic silencers because they are more effective and because are silent. they help my OC sometimes, but not always.

and yea, GPU's can withstand temps much higher then a CPU ever could. my X700Pro gets into the 80's while gaming with its stock cooler, but so far as i can tell it hasnt hurt it at all..

 

[spectre440]

you have to remember that the hotter any component runs, the shorter its lifespan becomes.
that's the primary advantage of a superior cooling system. prolongs the lifespan of the hardware.
the extra overclock you may or may not get out of it is a fringe benefit.

at least that's how i view this issue...

 

[infrared]

Hmm, i had my card overclocked near it's limits, but forgot to enable the fan before playing a game... after playing for 2 hours, closed the game, and realised that the temperature of my gpu had been 90 - 100c the whole time! No artifacts or any strange behaviour though, but i wouldn't like to let it run that hot again. It's usually in the mid 50's with the fan @ 100% while gaming.

Just goes to show... these gpu's are built like tanks!