GPU Idling at 77C - Is this bad?

[RelentlessMH]

Hi,

My GPU is a nVidia 8800 GTS 320mb.

I'm a computer hardware novice but from googling it sounds as though this temperature is too high. For testing purposes I loaded up L4D2 and played a bit, and the temperature on the GPU went to around 88C.

Just last month I did a thorough dusting/compressed air cleaning of inside my PC. I've checked today and all fans seem to be running normally.

My computer performance seems to be fine. The computer is about 3 years old.. I'm not sure if it's always been running this hot. I haven't had any crashes or freezing, but I'm still worried.

Here is a screencap from a monitoring program. I've downloaded several other software which show nearly the same.

Any replies would be much appreciated. Any idea what I should I do if it is indeed a problem? Thanks.

 

[rolli59]

77°C is high. If the cooler on the card is clean maybe it is time to reapply thermal paste.

 

[jryan388]

Strange that gaming only raises it 10C... What fps do you get in l4d2? How long did you game for?

 

[RelentlessMH]

I played for about 30 mins and the maximum it went to was 90C. My FPS was around 25-65. That's normal for my FPS though, as my computer isn't all that great.

Reapply thermal paste? I have no idea how to do that. Guess it's time to ask a computer techy friend to come check it out?

 

[jonnyboyC]

honestly it's not that hard at all, there are plenty of guide on youtube, just buy a small tube off newegg, and it's as simply as removing your card, take some screws of taking off the heatsink, then remove the goop (aka thermal paste) put a small amount in the middle then press the heatsink and the pcb, (back part of your card it's green) put the screws back on, put it back into the slot, then you done