Is it safe to have GPU fans at 100%?

Toggle sidebar Toggle sidebar
S

sejodii

Reputable
Apr 18, 2017
26
0
4,530
Since my GPU hit a temp of 85 degrees when playing Playerunknown Battlegrounds (gtx 1060 6gb), I decided to make fan spin at 100% when temp is 75+ using MSI afterburner.

I just want to know what the risk of doing this is, will it damage the card and fans long term? How long can I keep on doing this and is it normal to play on 85 degrees?

Thanks
 
That is really hot for a 1060 with high fan speeds. It's not dangerously hot, and the fans should be okay running fast assuming you're not gaming for 12 hours a day or something, but that really shouldn't be happening. The GTX 1060 has a measly 120W TDP, it shouldn't be that hard to keep cool.

Can you list your full specs, particularly CPU, Power supply and motherboard.

Have you overclocked the GPU?

Are you sure the GPU is getting adequate airflow?
 


So where should my temperatures be when on full load and playing? My specs are i5 7600k, z270 a mobo msi, gtx 1060 6gb OC msi dual fan v1. The room temp is normally like 23 degrees celcius sometimes a bit colder.
 

Can you tell us your case and powersupply? Also, have you overclocked much?

That's a decent dual fan aftermarket GTX 1060, I really don't think it should be hitting 80 degrees with 80-100% fan speeds. Worth spending some time trying to figure out what's going on.
 


I'm curious about airflow as well.
What case do you have? Where are the fans located and are they intake or exhaust?
Where is the GPU located? Where is the PSU located?

 
Fans are meant to run. The speed isn't going to kill them any sooner than they are rated for. Heat on the other hand, that is a bigger concern. Better to use the fans than have the processor on your graphics board basting itself and the rest of the card in it's own waste heat. The only downside to high fan speed is noise. Speaking from experience, since my own gaming system sits in another room and I never hear the fans anyway, there is zero reason for me to run my GPU fans under 100%. You won't get better cooling than that, unless you want to go above and beyond what the manufacturer has provided. I've run cards this way for years and have had fewer issues due to the high fan speeds rather than more.

I'm also curious about case ventilation. If it's insufficient, you're going to heat saturate the air in your case, and nothing is going to stay reasonably cool at that point.
 
My case is quite small and I have two case fans, one which is like 120 mm and one which is quite small. The case is an aerocool v3x advance and I have a 550w corsair psu. One case fan is in the back, the small one and the big one is in the front of the case. Gpu is located quite low and beneath PSU which is at the top of the case at the back. I have not OC'ed anything but the product is MSI OC 1060 so I think it is OC'ed already??
 
To be honest I have had a read around the net on this Playerunknown Battlegrounds game and it is quite heavy and demanding since its EA and people have problems with even running it.

Do you guys know how I can benchmark my computer to see if everything is normal?
 
omg guys I just realised I made myself misunderstood. after changing fan speeds to 100% I now play with a constant 77ish temp, not 85, which I used to do.
 


Still lacking info. When a person comes to the doctor with an issue they bring their complete body and offer all relevant issue. With PCs that unfortunately is not normal.

Ambient temperature?

No, it will not damage the card. It will only last a shorter time. How much shorter? Idk. Fans are meant to run at 0-100%. If it were not safe the manufacturer would not allow it. Should the fans fail before the warranty window closes you know what you can do.
 


I have provided every piece of information if you read my previous answers. Ambient temp is usually 23ish degrees, exact name is MSI GeForce GTX 1060 Dual Fans OC V1 HDMI DP 6GB and everything else was given.
 
Your case is this one? https://www.aerocool.com.tw/en/chssis/pgs-v/v3x
That's not a particularly small case, and really shouldn't have a problem with airflow.

77 degrees is certainly safe, but it's still hot for 100% fan load.

Easiest way to check airflow issue is to play for a while with the side panel off your case. Does that make a difference? With a full ATX case like that I'd be surprised, but it's still worth checking.

You already told us ambient was "normal" ~23 degrees, so that shouldn't be your issue.

Corsair have varying PSU quality, so a specific model would be helpful (CX550M? VS550? RM550x?)
However, that's unlikely to be issue, even the worst Corsair PSUs aren't absolute trash and keep a GTX 1060 happily powered.

The only other thing I can think to check is dust buildup. Have you been running this for a while? Can you see the heatsync on your 1060? Is it clear or can you see any signs of dust buildup/clogging? A can of compressed air is a good thing to have and periodically clear all the heatsyncs in your case.
 


If you are PC savvy it is quite easy to remove the shroud, fans and heatsink in order to clean the GPU and reapply thermal paste. If you're not I would leave well enough alone and keep the fans where you want them. Some manufacturers allow that and others say it voids the warranty.

At 23c 85C is certainly very warm. Have you used MSI afterburner to watch your memory and core clocks as well as your GPU load to see if thermal throttling is occurring? If it is then the card is not running at manufacturer specs and you would then have a solid RMA case.
 
Guys I built this two days ago but I think the case fans are the problem. I can have 4 in the case but I only have two of which one is only 80 mm. I will insert a 120 mm one tomorrow and see the temps. I dont think dust or dirt is a problem because its fairly new. But would another case fan help? and bear in mind please, its playerunknowns battlegrounds, which is a shittily optimized game.
 


What do you mean with intake/exhaust, arent all case fans the same with the same tasks, which is to get rid of warm air inside the case?
 
No, intake means the airflow is inward, exhaust means the airflow is outward. If you look closely around the edges of most fans, you'll find two arrows molded into the plastic. They denote rotation direction and airflow direction. I would have the bottom fan on the side panel pull air into the case and the top fan on the side panel push air back out of the case. The point is to get cooler air from outside of your case to circulate where your graphics card fan(s) can get a hold of some of it to degrease temperatures further.
 
Wow guys thank you, never thought of that and will do it tomorrow. Also do you guys know if I can apply thermal paste on my GPU, if yes, do I use the same thermal paste as I had used for the CPU?
 


All PC users have their own take on airflow. Personally I prefer to have two 120mm fans in front. That's why I chose a case with them already in place. I also know that hot air rises. I have 2 120mm fans installed on the top of my case. One is off and the rear top fan is on low to help exhaust the hot air that naturally rises. I then have my rear fan to help the CPU cooler's exhaust air evacuate more efficiently. I replace their stock fan with a beefier model. This keeps an airflow that goes from the front to the back. Any other fans would get in the way. I might however install a side fan(modding the side panel or replacing it) near the bottom of the side panel to offer a future 1080 more air.

An 80mm rear fan? That is tiny.
 


Yes you can. I would however check with MSI to make sure that that procedure doesn't void the warranty. Yes, you can use the same thermal compound. I prefer Arctic SIlver 5.
 
I agree. All we can do at this point is work within the limitations of the case. Everybody certainly bring their own ideas for how things ought to be, when it comes to case cooling. Ultimately, it never hurts to try various configurations and find out what gives you the best numbers.

I really don't see both side panel fans as needing to exhaust, as you'll end up with 4 exhaust and one intake at that point (counting the PSU fan.) 2 in and 3 out seems a tad more balanced, especially with the one being 80 mm.
 
Depending on the age of the GPU, it may not benefit a whole lot from applying thermal paste yourself. It isn't as though it ships from the factory without, and the 1060 really hasn't been on the market long enough to need new paste applied, unless you just like tinkering around with that sort of thing. There is always the risk of damage to the card if you're not mechanically inclined or just not careful.
 
Been away and just got back to this...

Have you actually tested with the side panel off? Before you go investing money in fans or anything, just try it with the side panel off and see what your temps do. If they don't change much then it straight up tells you your case has sufficient airflow. Technically, I do agree with a single 80mm exhaust is pretty limited and it certainly **might** be your issue. But it's absolutely worth testing it before you go spending money on something that might not be your issue.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

TRENDING THREADS

Latest posts

Moderators online

Share this page

COMPANY
RESOURCES
FOLLOW
Top Bottom