How hot should my GPU run?

**Lemur** · 07-28-2007, 06:54

I have a 1900-series card as well, and I opted for the $19.99 solution. Cooler, and more importantly, quieter.

**Alexander the Pretty Good** · 07-28-2007, 17:25

Lemur, did your 1900 come with an onboard fan and housing? Mine does, so I'd have to remove it to install the cooling thing on the card...

**Lemur** · 07-28-2007, 17:39

Yup, you gotta take off the cooler to upgrade it. If you're not comfortable with that procedure, you can always get your local hardware geek to do it for you.

**Alexander the Pretty Good** · 07-28-2007, 17:51

Questioning my geek credentials!?

I'll look into it. Thanks for the link.

**TosaInu** · 07-31-2007, 09:59

Hello,

70 is still safe, but of course you want it to be cooler. When it overheats, it can also freeze your 3D game after playing a few minutes. I blamed it on (a) software bug(s) when it happened to me, but it turned out that the GPU hit 90 degrees Celsius and more.

Installing a new cooler didn't turn out to be that difficult. Hardest for me was to remove the push pins that attached the old cooler. It never passed 65 degrees after (6600 is a hot chip) and ran quieter for ~$20.

**Alexander the Pretty Good** · 07-31-2007, 21:44

Got it today and installed it. It took 30 minutes but I was being cautious. Also, the thermal pads they provided to put on RAM chips were really annoying, since they stuck to everything but the chips. One review that I read while installing it suggested using Arctic Silver thermal paste instead of the default pads. (I don't have any paste at all so I'm kicking myself

). Anyway, managed to get the pads on after a little trial and error. Put it together and popped it in.

I can't even hear it, which is a little disconcerting, to be honest. ATITool says it's running and it's staying pretty cool while basically idling. I'm running the fan at a constant 100% since I can't hear it over the fan in my room. I'm going to try some games in a bit, see how hot it gets and how fast it cools.

Looks like a $20 well spent. Thanks Lemur!

**Lemur** · 07-31-2007, 22:11

Yah, it's the best $20 I spent on my gaming rig. I get really annoyed at fan whine, so near-silent parts are a must. Now I just have to decide what to do with my stock CPU cooler. Core2Duo, Intel 975 mobo. Ideas?