ATI 4870 odd heating

[tangomango]

I just reformatted (well, my HD failed and I just got a new one) and my PC is sitting at around 65-70 idle. Usually it was around 40-50. Also when I game (Arkham Asylum), it shoots up to a 80-85.

I've read these temperatures aren't too bad, but still, I was wondering why all of a sudden my graphics card is heating up so easily.

If it's any constellation, the AC in the house is broken. The AC vent is kind of far from the computer, but I can see that being the problem. I thought I'd ask anyways.

Thanks!


Here's the info:

ATI 4870
Catalyst 9.9

http://dl.getdropbox.com/u/143598/cata.JPG

 

[hunter315]

Is the case temperature higher than it used to be? It seems like something changed the airflow in the case significantly to cause that big of a temperature shift, if the case temp is still the same make sure your GPU fan isnt clogged with dust or anything.

 

[FallenSniper]

My guess is when you reformatted and reinstalled the graphics card, some drivers were different. What is your fan speed in CCC? Changing that speed has a huge effect on the temp of your card, so I would recommend playing around with that speed some.

 

[tangomango]

Thanks for the prompt reply fellaz!

@Hunter: Hm, I'll download Rivatuner to check the case temperature (I think Riva shows that). I just finished cleaning it, the fans were a bit clogged but not nothing serious at all.

@Fallen: I always set my fan speed to about 35-40%. Back a week ago or so, it would idle at like 45 (when I had AC on much of the day), and no more than 50 (while AC was off).

But now, it's not going lower than 58 when it is idle and it shoots up to 80-85 when I enter Arkham Asylum. Another weird thing is that if I'm in the game and I alt-tab, it'll show the 80 but then quickly go back down to 60 or so. And quickly, I mean like 3-4sec. And after strenuous play, I will end up getting a VPU error. This usually happens around 85.

I'm not exactly sure what Catalyst I used before, I'm sure it was 9.9, but I will try down-grading to 9.8.

 

[FallenSniper]

What you might want to do is make two profiles within catalyst. One for normal use, and one for gaming. A lot of people do it with around 35% fan speed for normal use, and then put the fan speed at maybe 60% or 65% when they are gaming. It only takes a couple clicks to switch between profiles, so it's pretty useful.

It drops low after you minimize because it isn't working on the game anymore. You might want to download AtiTool and try using that to get a good idea of what your temps are when under load.

 

[tangomango]

Alright, I will try that and try out that program.

I was just wondering why the increase in idle temperature all of a sudden. I'm really leaning towards different drivers at this point.

 

[FallenSniper]

Yeah I really don't think anything other than drivers would cause this sort of thing.

 

[tangomango]

ATI Tool is actually not compatible with 4800 series with the current releases :/

 

[FallenSniper]

Really? I've been using it with my 4870. Would it not install for you?

 

[tangomango]

Yeah, I'm having the same problem as this guy:

http://forums.guru3d.com/showthread.php?t=269383

 

[FallenSniper]

Oh now that's weird. Wonder why mine works...