Question MSI GTX 970 Gaming 4G high temperature?

[frankmauro]

I verified that the temperature of my 7 years old GPU at rest (using only chrome) is always 58°/59° and that its fans turn on for a couple of seconds and then turn off (I read that this should be normal routine).
My room temperature is about 28° and the PC is well positioned and ventilated. I also have a second monitor connected but turned off (not sure if it will affect).
I ask you first if it is normal to have similar temperatures completely at rest.
Should I leave everything like this or should I use MSI Afterburner to "force" the activation of the fans and costantly lower the temperatures? With Afterburner default settings the temperature reaches and remains constant at 44° with the fans at 47%.
I add that the frequency is 899 Mhz (never overclocked).

 

[hotaru.hino]

Having a second monitor connected, even if it's not powered on, may still trigger Windows to act in dual-screen mode. Also if your monitors' refresh rates don't evenly line up (e.g., 144Hz and 60Hz), this can prevent the GPU from idling.

 

[frankmauro]

Having a second monitor connected, even if it's not powered on, may still trigger Windows to act in dual-screen mode. Also if your monitors' refresh rates don't evenly line up (e.g., 144Hz and 60Hz), this can prevent the GPU from idling.

This is very interesting and, yes, the refresh rates are 144 and 60. I guess I can't teach Windows not act in dual-screen mode if my second monitor is off.
In this scenario, would you advise me to use Afterburner to keep the fans active and lower the temperatures or do I leave everything as it is (temperature around 60°)?

 

[hotaru.hino]

This is very interesting and, yes, the refresh rates are 144 and 60. I guess I can't teach Windows not act in dual-screen mode if my second monitor is off.
In this scenario, would you advise me to use Afterburner to keep the fans active and lower the temperatures or do I leave everything as it is (temperature around 60°)?

You can use MSI Afterburner to keep the fans active if you want, but I do suggest lowering the 144Hz monitor to 120Hz so the GPU can properly idle.

 

[frankmauro]

You can use MSI Afterburner to keep the fans active if you want, but I do suggest lowering the 144Hz monitor to 120Hz so the GPU can properly idle.

You are my hero. I set my main monitor to 120Hz and the temperature dropped to 45° (with off fans) The frequency dropped to 135Mhz (from 899). At this point, I think I could avoid Afterburner and leave everything as is, do you agree?
Also, I'd like to ask you why setting the monitor to 120Hz made all this difference (15° or maybe more because the fans always turned on at 60° ). Is it a simple difference in the assigned power or was there an higher load because maybe 60Hz and 144Hz are not multiples like 60 and 120?

 

[hotaru.hino]

You are my hero. I set my main monitor to 120Hz and the temperature dropped to 45° (with off fans) The frequency dropped to 135Mhz (from 899). At this point, I think I could avoid Afterburner and leave everything as is, do you agree?
Also, I'd like to ask you why setting the monitor to 120Hz made all this difference (15° or maybe more because the fans always turned on at 60° ). Is it a simple difference in the assigned power or was there an higher load because maybe 60Hz and 144Hz are not multiples like 60 and 120?

If you're fine with the temperature now, then you can leave out Afterburner.

As for the reason why setting the refresh rate makes a difference, I'm pretty sure it's because 144Hz doesn't line up with 60Hz and that can cause timing issues if the GPU was idling properly. I suspect if you could bump up the 60Hz monitor to 72Hz, you could run the faster monitor at 144Hz and the GPU can still idle properly

 

[frankmauro]

If you're fine with the temperature now, then you can leave out Afterburner.

As for the reason why setting the refresh rate makes a difference, I'm pretty sure it's because 144Hz doesn't line up with 60Hz and that can cause timing issues if the GPU was idling properly. I suspect if you could bump up the 60Hz monitor to 72Hz, you could run the faster monitor at 144Hz and the GPU can still idle properly

I would say I am fine now.
About refresh rate, thank you for the explanation. I suspected this could be the reason.
Thank you so much for solving my problem and I wish you the best.
Goodbye!