is a good idea to replace the thermal paste of my GPU?

[davy rockstar]

hi!! guys
its me again, i bought a HD 7770 vapor x (at last), and all my system works fine with the CM extreme power plus 500W

i also downgrade the OC of my phenom II, but still the CPU/NB and the HT (is like 200MHZ faster for each one i think i can have a better performance and prevent a bottleneck)...

all the temps of my system are almost the same, CPU is up to 52°C while playing ('till now), MOBO up to 43°C, HDD up to 43°C...

but my GPU i think is a little bit high
is like 38°C average on ILDE

and the max temp registred till now is 75°C ussing MSI combustor tests open GL 3 @ 1080p for 15 min
while playing ace combat AH with AA is up to 71°C (for more than an hour 😛)

so my question: are this temps OK?? in the internet performances is said that the max temp they register is like 65-69°C

whats the highest temps that a HD7770 works with?
is a good idea to think in replace the thermal paste??
this temps could be cose the OC of my system?

 

[jerreece]

You're fine as it is. If you are maxing out at 75C while using the MSI combustor I wouldn't worry. And idle GPU temp of 38C is fine.

When Tom's Hardware did a review of the 7770 after it came out they found max temps hit 65C during their test.
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/radeon-hd-7770-7750-benchmark,3135-15.html

 

[Isaiah4110]

I could be wrong here, but I believe if you remove the HS/fan on your GPU and replace the thermal paste you will void its warranty. 71°C on your GPU doesn't sound that bad to me. Check out the load temps recorded here. TH was showing 65°C load temps on a stock 7770, so your factory OC'ed 7770 running at 71°C load doesn't seem bad to me. If you are concerned you could always try calling the manufacturer (Sapphire) to check against their expected numbers and RMA if necessary.

 

[davy rockstar]

thanks guys!

well it could be also the weather, i'm from mexico city, in spring and summer we're like 30ºC...

and yep oppening the product should put end to the warranty, but since i'm from mexico, i really dont trust in the sellers, also this card doesnt have any logic issue, so i would rather make some preventive maintenance before claim the warranty

so, what is a dangerous temp for this GPU (just to be alert if the temp increases)?
if the temp increases, replacing the thermal paste should be the solution?

 

[jerreece]

If this was purchased new in box you should not need to replace the thermal paste inside of a couple years. I've never had to do it on a video card before.

The latest nVidia video cards can run up to 94C as a max temp. I'm not sure what the AMD 7770 has for a maximum and I'm not seeing anything readily available online.

 

[Supernova1138]

Your temps are just fine for a 30 degree ambient temperature. I'd only get worried if your temps exceed 85 celsius, as the thermal cut off point for AMD cards is at about 102 degrees, and you want to have some headroom in case of warm weather, besides lower temps will make your card last longer.

I have had to repaste a graphics card recently because MSI wouldn't do anything about my high temps as they weren't quite hitting the thermal cut off point. It's fairly easy to do, but as said above, it could void your warranty, I wouldn't do it unless your temps were really bad (85+) and you were either out of warranty or the manufacturer refused to fix the problem for you.

 

[Isaiah4110]

so, what is a dangerous temp for this GPU (just to be alert if the temp increases)?
if the temp increases, replacing the thermal paste should be the solution?

Your temps are just fine for a 30 degree ambient temperature. I'd only get worried if your temps exceed 85 celsius

Exactly what I was about to say. As long as the graphics card isn't constantly above 85°C every time you game then you have nothing to worry about. Additionally, I would be pretty surprised if you were to see more than a 2-3°C temperature drop from applying new thermal paste.

 

[Supernova1138]

so, what is a dangerous temp for this GPU (just to be alert if the temp increases)?
if the temp increases, replacing the thermal paste should be the solution?

Your temps are just fine for a 30 degree ambient temperature. I'd only get worried if your temps exceed 85 celsius

Exactly what I was about to say. As long as the graphics card isn't constantly above 85°C every time you game then you have nothing to worry about. Additionally, I would be pretty surprised if you were to see more than a 2-3°C temperature drop from applying new thermal paste.

Most of the time that is true, you probably wouldn't see huge gains in repasting the card unless you maybe used some really high quality thermal paste. Sometimes though, the manufacturer does not do a good job at applying the thermal compound, and you can get really bad temperatures. My temps dropped a good 10-15 degrees after I repasted my card.

 

[davy rockstar]

so, what is a dangerous temp for this GPU (just to be alert if the temp increases)?
if the temp increases, replacing the thermal paste should be the solution?

Your temps are just fine for a 30 degree ambient temperature. I'd only get worried if your temps exceed 85 celsius

Exactly what I was about to say. As long as the graphics card isn't constantly above 85°C every time you game then you have nothing to worry about. Additionally, I would be pretty surprised if you were to see more than a 2-3°C temperature drop from applying new thermal paste.

Most of the time that is true, you probably wouldn't see huge gains in repasting the card unless you maybe used some really high quality thermal paste. Sometimes though, the manufacturer does not do a good job at applying the thermal compound, and you can get really bad temperatures. My temps dropped a good 10-15 degrees after I repasted my card.

thats what i thought, a monufacturers fail... however if its a bad quality paste or if it has a problem, probably the temp will increase in near future, so i will check constantly the temp

yesterday i tested GTA IV maxed out, and still the same 71ºC
i know that a GPU is meant to work with high temps, so thanks for that good fact of the 85ºC