GPU fine with idling yet is overheating like crazy when under stress

[Ghozt51]

Hi, today my computer crashed in a way I haven't seen for a looong time when my CPU needed a new heatsink; a coloured screen with stripes. This happened twice today(Once costing me an hour long league of legends match and second a brief rocket league one) and never for the last year or so and by leaving speedfan on my second monitor while I played rocket league it seems to be due to the GPU overheating like hell when under stress even when my ventilation is at max (which drives all other temperatures down to the 20-40 range when idle). By overheat I mean getting to 70c(I presume) and shutting down as an emergency.

This is really odd as this seems to have happened overnight and i've not had this problem in a long time.

GPU: 3 year old radeon 7850
CPU: AMD FX 8320
PSU: Corsair 600W

 

[elneelo]

Sounds like a dusty GPU to me, with poor thermal paste spread (due to age). Have you ever cleaned it/ taken it apart?

7850 @ 70 degress celsius is not a bad temperature though.

 

[andy_Man]

70c is not hot for a graphics card. You should download gpuz (run it and go to Sensors tab) then play games, or download a stress test software like furmark/kombuster.
Have you cleaned the dust out of your computer in a while?

 

[jakegroves]

70 Celsius is normal. New GPU's get 50-60celsius under full stress.

 

[Ghozt51]

I will probably dust my computer on the weekend, I have a feeling leaving the window open in the summer really took its toll on it dust wise. I'll get back to you guys then

Also how exactly would I reapply thermal paste on the GPU? Im not very confident messing with it.

 

[andy_Man]

Clean the dust first, then lets worry about the paste if need be. It's not that hard. It's basically carefully removing screws, unplugging the fans, and taking off the fan/heatsink.

 

[jakegroves]

don't touch your GPU unless your prepared to take the risk ... watch some youtube tutorials.