GPU running ~10c hotter than CPU @ Idle. Help!

[Billy_71]

It's summer down here in the southern hemisphere and is around 26c ambient. Recently I've been noticing my cpu sitting around 27c idle but an alarming 45-50c for my gpu @ IDLE. I was unpleasantly surprised as it had rised from being around 40-42c idle a couple days before. This is quite scary to see in a monitoring program (personally) because the fans are at around 40-50% when at this high of a temperature. Usually it is around ~30c with this kind of fan speed. Please give me some pointers in what may have caused this sudden spike in GPU heat? (Yes, I have cleaned my pc case and components of dust recently.)

 

[Ecky]

45-50c is still very safe. Many GPUs are programmed to leave their fans entirely off until ~60c to cut down on noise, and can safely run at 85-90c indefinitely without harm. If you're noticing your GPU fans are spinning at 40-50%, I'd check to make sure there's no background activity using your GPU (with something like GPU-Z) and maybe reseat the cooler with fresh thermal paste.

What GPU? How hot does it get during gaming?

 

[Billy_71]

45-50c is still very safe. Many GPUs are programmed to leave their fans entirely off until ~60c to cut down on noise, and can safely run at 85-90c indefinitely without harm. If you're noticing your GPU fans are spinning at 40-50%, I'd check to make sure there's no background activity using your GPU (with something like GPU-Z) and maybe reseat the cooler with fresh thermal paste.

What GPU? How hot does it get during gaming?

I'm sure because my monitoring software has 0% gpu activity when idling and continues to sit around 45-50c during this period. It is a Gtx 970 evga ftw card I've had for ~2 years now. It hits around 75c while gaming these days (it formerly was only around ~65c when gaming a year or so ago) I'm ok with PC building and what not but when it comes to messing with GPU cooler shrouds I've always been a bit 'off' about it just bc of the finite damage it feels like I could cause with the most minor mishap (it doesn't help that it is the most expensive part of the system) although this may be the route I will have to take if this is not a software issue (please be one lmao)

 

[Ecky]

If it's only hitting 75c under load, sounds like there's nothing wrong and it's just the fan speed profile programmed into it. 45-50c is harmless.

 

[Billy_71]

If it's only hitting 75c under load, sounds like there's nothing wrong and it's just the fan speed profile programmed into it. 45-50c is harmless.

Alrighty, thanks for the reassurance. It was just kind of alarming due to me not being use to seeing these kind of idle temperatures :/
I'll be back if something blows up in the future lmao. <3