94 Degrees On Graphics Card?!? Is This Ok?!?

[TheAppleKid2011]

As I always say, I have a Sapphire HD 4890 New Edition and I was playing a game and since I find the auto fan speed to be pathetic and lets the card idle WAY too high, so I like to manually take over the fan and set it so it idles lower.
BUT today I had set the fan speed to 50, and I forgot to put it up higher when I was playing a game, and the temps went up to 94C without me noticing. And then the game crashed.... Because of the heat... Is this ok??? I know I shouldn't run my card like this all the time but just in case it happens again is it ok? I don't want my graphics card to turn into a paperweight...
Any help would be appreciated. Thanks

 

[huilun02]

It's overheating to the point of crashing. Not good to let that happen. Set a custom fan curve so that it runs at a higher speed when temperature rises.

If it still overheats, time to use that warranty.

 

[tigerg]

You should let the card handle the speed for you. Why are you not letting it cool how it wants too? Only because of the noise?

When the fan speeds up, it is desperately trying to cool itself down. If you don't let it do it's job, it will end up crashing like you have experienced. The longer you let it run at extremely high temps, so high that it says "no more!" the faster it will die.

 

[Tehepicford]

93*C???
wow, much heat...

My GPU under load NEVER exceeds 60*C. STOCK COOLER TOO!

Try downloading MSI Afterburner and set a custom Fan profile, or underclocking your GPU.

 

[Shaun o]

At 94c your at the point of damaging the Gpu on the card.
The very fact the game stopped working was due to the driver crashing
In an effort to take the load off the Gpu to cool it down by forcing an exit of the game.


The 4890 is quiet an old card, so I would suggest you take it out and give it a good clean out of all the dust that may of built up covering the intake cooling fins of the heat sink block mounted on the card.

If the card has been heating up, or heating more quicker in less time or you have to ramp the fan speed up more then it is a sign it is clogged with dust.

About a month ago I had to do this with a 4870 card with the same symptoms as you are saying.
Really you should do this about every 8 to 9 months. If it has not been done for a few years then I would pull the card out and have a good look,and get cleaning it.

 

[TheAppleKid2011]

You should let the card handle the speed for you. Why are you not letting it cool how it wants too? Only because of the noise?

When the fan speeds up, it is desperately trying to cool itself down. If you don't let it do it's job, it will end up crashing like you have experienced. The longer you let it run at extremely high temps, so high that it says "no more!" the faster it will die.

If I did set it to auto, It would idle at 60C. But I've never seen a card do that. Should I replace my thermal paste?
Ive seen the GTX 480 on load at 92C, and the R9 290X & 290 run at 95... But I don't like running it even at 85. But since it did it this once and this is the only time it has gone over or even up to 90. Would going up to 94 just that once have done any damage to the components?

 

[TheAppleKid2011]

At 94c your at the point of damaging the Gpu on the card.
The very fact the game stopped working was due to the driver crashing
In an effort to take the load off the Gpu to cool it down by forcing an exit of the game.


The 4890 is quiet an old card, so I would suggest you take it out and give it a good clean out of all the dust that may of built up covering the intake cooling fins of the heat sink block mounted on the card.

If the card has been heating up, or heating more quicker in less time or you have to ramp the fan speed up more then it is a sign it is clogged with dust.

About a month ago I had to do this with a 4870 card with the same symptoms as you are saying.
Really you should do this about every 8 to 9 months. If it has not been done for a few years then I would pull the card out and have a good look,and get cleaning it.

I regularly clean my PC and the Graphics Card and I usually can't see any dust in the heatsink. As I said, it is the new edition so it doesnt have the blower design, it is an open cooler that exhausts the air all around the card.
http://www.sapphiretech.com/presentation/product/product_index.aspx?psn=0001&pid=277&lid=1

 

[rolandzhang3]

Why not set a custom fan curve with MSI afterburner so it automatically ramps up at a higher temperature? at least then you wouldn't worry about forgetting to manually set it

Set the fan speed to 70% at 70C and 100% upon reaching 85C on the curve and see how it goes

 

[huilun02]

If the card still works, which it probably will, unlikely to be damaged by a single crash. But still 94 degrees should not be allowed. If you know how to re-seat the heatsink with new thermal paste, yes it would be good to do so.

Idle of 60C is baaad.

 

[rolandzhang3]

That's a fairly high idle temp even for a card of that era, and I remember my old 260 idling at 56c on warm days

If setting a custom fan curve doesn't help, then applying new paste would be a good idea as already mentioned

 

[TheAppleKid2011]

If the card still works, which it probably will, unlikely to be damaged by a single crash. But still 94 degrees should not be allowed. If you know how to re-seat the heatsink with new thermal paste, yes it would be good to do so.

Idle of 60C is baaad.

I know for today's standards it is bad, but I looked on some forums and other people with 4890s idled at exactly 60-63 too... It is a late 2009 card though...
Anyway I'll just set a custom fan curve and call it a day. I don;t want to open up my PC, wait for the card to cool so it doesn't burn me, take apart the card and replace the thermal paste which I don;t have any spare and then probably need to replace the thermal pads too... I'll probably break something 😛

 

[rolandzhang3]

Normal temperature range for that card under load should be around 84c or so which is normal for a card of that era

Let us know how that goes for you 😛

 

[TheAppleKid2011]

Normal temperature range for that card under load should be around 84c or so which is normal for a card of that era

Let us know how that goes for you 😛

I set a fan curve, I'll run far cry 3 and remember to pay attentikon to the temps on my other monitor now 😛
Ill get back to you with those results soon

 

[TheAppleKid2011]

Normal temperature range for that card under load should be around 84c or so which is normal for a card of that era

Let us know how that goes for you 😛

That fan curve helps a lot. While gaming I never exceeded or touched 70C and stayed around 65C in far cry 3 med to high settings.

 

[rolandzhang3]

Those are great temperatures so you should be fine for a while , by comparison my old GTX 260 reached up to 86C recently and it's still holding up well 😀

 

[TheAppleKid2011]

Those are great temperatures so you should be fine for a while , by comparison my old GTX 260 reached up to 86C recently and it's still holding up well 😀

Yeah hopefully
This is a second hand card however and I have no idea how the other guy used it... And I have no idea why it was idling at 60... Weirrrd... But he only used it for a year, so now I will hopefully be able to get as long lifespan as possible 😀 But I'm still wondering if I should replace the thermal paste on it though, It is a lot of work but it will give me better temps...
I don't want to do that but hmmmm....
Ah crap I'm going on about stupid stuff again...

ANYWAY thanks for your help

 

[rolandzhang3]

No worries, you wouldn't need to apply new paste if you're not even reaching 70C yet

 

[huilun02]

Don't buy second hand.

 

[rolandzhang3]

^Unless it's cheap as dirt 😀

 

[huilun02]

Because it might actually turn out to be dirt.

 

[rolandzhang3]

Ah well, it's a gamble for those willing to take the risk