GPU heating up to 115 but case doesn't feel hot

[Guest]

Hello all. My specs are:

Intel(R) Core(TM) i5 CPU 750 @ 2.67GHz
ATI Radeon HD 4800 Series
Windows 7 x64
4 GB RAM

Just recently my GPU has been overheating and it's fan running very loud. I cleaned out my case and disassembled my graphics card to clean it throughly. I noted that the thermal paste on the GPU may have been a bit sparse, but I'm relatively inexperienced to know for certain.

After I put everything back in order, I decided to run GPU-Z and log a brief playtime in Fallout 3 on "High" settings. During my playtime I experienced no slowdown in framerate that was unusual, nor did I experience graphic artifacts. I'm not sure how to post the .txt file, but if anyone is interested I could try to find a way to PM it. My clocks are set to default at 850 for the core and 975 for the memory. My drivers are all up to date.

On the log it says my GPU was idling at 70 C on my desktop and reached 115 C during gameplay. Such high temperatures is a relatively new development, as I've played Skyrim on "High" for hundreds of hours and I don't think it's ever gone over 90 C. What is even more odd is during my brief test, even though the readings were saying 115 C, I felt my case and it didn't feel particularly warm.

My best estimation is that this could be a thermal paste issue.

I decided to seek advice before anything major like a crash happened. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[GreenDutchAlien]

Hi.

Sounds like it yeah. If you remove the heatsink it's better to renew the paste anyway.

 

[vrumor]

Hate to say it, but if you dont know to replace the thermal paste when you remove the HSF combo, then you shouldnt be taking anything apart like that. No offense intended, but you have probably done more harm, than good.

 

[Guest]

Ok thanks, I'll focus on getting that sorted out before doing anything else. And yes I am pretty inexperienced, but I fully expected to make some mistakes as this is my first build and I've had it for several years now. I was planning on buying new paste to reapply regardless, so I'm glad my suspicion was at least somewhat accurate. Also, this was actually the first time I've ever taken the heatsink off the chip.

 

[GreenDutchAlien]

You can always ask advice here before doing something like that, could save you a lot of hassle and money 😀 A wise man learns from mistakes of others, a fool from himself . . . ( no offense, i have always been a fool myself 😛 )

Maybe get a top quality paste now your at it, can make a few degrees difference.

 

[chugot9218]

At 115C, I am amazed your video card is still operational at all lol.

 

[Guest]

At 115C, I am amazed your video card is still operational at all lol.

I've read 120 C was the upper limit for things like this so I was aware of the risk that's why I kept the test brief at 10 minutes. I'm just surprised the game was fully functional the whole time and that there were no graphical issues.

 

[chugot9218]

Hmm, most of what I read reported max temps on that card as high as 105, but not much higher. What are you using to monitor the temps? Sounds like it may be an issue with that or a sensor some where.

 

[Guest]

I was using HWMonitor to track min/max, the Catalyst Control Center, and I checked the log in GPU-Z. Over the 10 minutes I'd say the average temp was 100, max 115, and min 90 in game.

 

[Sunius]

When you remove heatsink, you cannot reuse old thermal paste. You've got to use new one.

 

[chugot9218]

Yes, that seems hot and if all those sources list about the same temp I assume its accurate. Replace the thermal paste as suggested above, should help quite a bit.