GPU Temperature rising on desktop

[Kerf]

So my R9 270x has been acting up lately. It will heat up to about 75C sitting on the desktop with no load whatsoever put into it. The odd thing is tabbing into a game will decrease the temperature to where it should be. I feel as though I've tried everything. Even reformatted the computer, changed to a different PSU to be safe. Nothing is working. I'm currently rolling back to a previous driver version and seeing if it helps.
Aside form that, the only things I downloaded since reformatting were, GPU driver, java, adobe flash, cpuid, league of legends, world of warcraft, and steam. I really don't know what is causing this or if its just the GPU itself.

Edit: used previous driver, problem persists. I even tried putting in an older video card and the problem still persists.

Ladies and gentleman, I am beyond lost here. Really need some help. =(

 

[clutchc]

If the temp app you are using is to be believed, it sounds like it may be in a small hot case. Is that the situation? Is the case clean, cables tied neatly back to allow air flow, enough fans to promote good flow of air? Try leaving the side off the case and see if anything changes. If not, it may be a faulty MB BIOS transmitting poor data to the temp app since it seems the same with different cards.

 

[Kerf]

If the temp app you are using is to be believed, it sounds like it may be in a small hot case. Is that the situation? Is the case clean, cables tied neatly back to allow air flow, enough fans to promote good flow of air? Try leaving the side off the case and see if anything changes. If not, it may be a faulty MB BIOS transmitting poor data to the temp app since it seems the same with different cards.

Case is pretty clean, I tried dusting it out, wires are not messy at all. As for faulty mobo reading I don't think this is the case. When its getting hot I put my hand near the GPU. I can feel the heat radiating from it at the time its heating up. I believe those temperatures are accurate in this case.

 

[clutchc]

Check the +12v supply to the gfx card. Either in software or with a meter. Maybe the PSU isn't regulating the voltage properly and it is spiking, too high, or possibly is producing severe ripple. What is the make/model of the PSU?

 

[Kerf]

Check the +12v supply to the gfx card. Either in software or with a meter. Maybe the PSU isn't regulating the voltage properly and it is spiking, too high, or possibly is producing severe ripple. What is the make/model of the PSU?

I tried 2 different PSUs and the problem still persists. I got a new 550w Antec Platinum and my old one was a 485w (forgot brand). 12v reading seems fine.

Its showing signs that it could be a virus that increases GPU load, although I did reformat so I dunno how that could be possible. Unless the virus was hiding in the files I saved. Not sure. I ran malewarebytes to be safe and it picked up nothing.

 

[clutchc]

Well, you've just ruined my next suggestion... lol. I was going to suggest a FULL virus scan and a Malware scan just to be safe. I'm down to the slot being defective. It too has a +12V supply regulated by the MB as the final tweak. But I'll keep pondering...

 

[Kerf]

Well, you've just ruined my next suggestion... lol. I was going to suggest a FULL virus scan and a Malware scan just to be safe. I'm down to the slot being defective. It too has a +12V supply regulated by the MB as the final tweak. But I'll keep pondering...

Heh np. 9/10 I can usually troubleshoot my issues with no problem, but this problem has stumped me completely. I even went as far a downgrading java to previous update. (Yeah, that's how far out of ideas I've gotten to) Mostly just trying to figure out things I've done within the past 2 weeks.

 

[Kerf]

Oh something interesting just happened. Apparently my windows theme just change on my desktop. Probably something I should mention.

 

[clutchc]

You probably just never changed from the default of having Win cycle the desktop backgrounds, no?

 

[Kerf]

Let me just remind you and say that it never overheats while tabbed into a game, only on the desktop or internet browser etc... In games the temperatures look completely normal. The overheating happens completely random too, It can be fine for hours and just start acting up for no reason.

 

[Kerf]

You probably just never changed from the default of having Win cycle the desktop backgrounds, no?

Well, I changed to my original theme to what I had before the format, I use no transparent task bar(etc.) and it randomly made them transparent.

 

[Kerf]

OK, so this might just be a coincidence and the issue just hasn't come up, but I uninstalled my java update and gave it a lot of time. It seems like my temperature stopped going up. Is java 8 no good or is their some kind of virus/script using java to put load on my GPU? A virus would be odd since I formatted.

 

[Kerf]

Yup, I think the new java 8 was the culprit, 5 hours and no overheating. I could be jinxing myself though, in which case ill be back to try and figure it out. =P thanks for your help clutchc!

 

[clutchc]

I've never heard of Java causing a gfx card to heat up. But if there was something (virus, malware) causing Java to work the card at extreme levels, I suppose its possible. I disabled Java quite some time back because of the Java virus back then. I only enable it for short periods when absolutely necessary.
Do you have a pgm running in the background that uses Java that could have been enabling it when you were at the desktop or web surfing?