[SOLVED] GTX 550 Ti Overheating issue!!!!

[jingsaw2859]

I got this computer last summer and from then I had a lot of issues in overheating, the GPU would heat to around 80C and the PC would turn off, even on 8-9 y/o games, I'm a DIY guy so I didn't take it to fix, but now I figured a fix, I got MSI Afterburner and underclocked the GPU by a lot I also set the voltage lower, now the games aren't shutting my PC off, but it's bothering me that my GPU runs like a low end now, I can't buy any case fans and I would like somebody's help to fix the overheating with the default clock speeds and voltage, the warranty is over. My specs:

500W Codegen PSU
3400 Intel Core i5
1x4 GB of kingston ram
Nvidia Geforce GTX 550 Ti
Windows 8.1 64 bit

Edit: Drivers are up to date so don't bother telling me to update them.

 

[Moonsfang]

It is kind of outdated but if your getting constant overheating while just idling and not doing much or playing 8 year old games then its overheating for some other reason. Is it clean with no dust clogging up your air flow or heatsinks? Also what kind of airflow do you have on your system

 

[jingsaw2859]

It is kind of outdated but if your getting constant overheating while just idling and not doing much or playing 8 year old games then its overheating for some other reason. Is it clean with no dust clogging up your air flow or heatsinks? Also what kind of airflow do you have on your system

It idles at 35C-38C, I've cleaned it multiple times, as I said before I can't really buy anything, I don't know the name of the case, but it's a Magnum, also the only fans it has is the PSU, CPU and GPU fans and there are a lot of holes in the case and I can attach 2 fans in it if this helps you help me.

 

[azzazel_99]

Is the fan spinning? Sounds to me like something is blocking air. I use evga precision x and set my own fan curves. Maybe your fan is not speeding up to match the heat rise.

 

[Moonsfang]

It is kind of outdated but if your getting constant overheating while just idling and not doing much or playing 8 year old games then its overheating for some other reason. Is it clean with no dust clogging up your air flow or heatsinks? Also what kind of airflow do you have on your system

It idles at 35C-38C, I've cleaned it multiple times, as I said before I can't really buy anything, I don't know the name of the case, but it's a Magnum, also the only fans it has is the PSU, CPU and GPU fans and there are a lot of holes in the case and I can attach 2 fans in it if this helps you help me.

Check and make sure that the fan does spin and spins faster whenever under a load.. Also you have to have some kind of fan ventilation. Its not a good idea to run without any case fans. You need to have some set up in a way that will pull air inward through the front/bottom and exhaust through the back/top

 

[jingsaw2859]

Is the fan spinning? Sounds to me like something is blocking air. I use evga precision x and set my own fan curves. Maybe your fan is not speeding up to match the heat rise.

The fan is spinning, it does the same if I set the fan speed to 100 percent, I'll try taking a picture of the inside of the case and add it to the next post.

 

[bucknutty]

I am not sure that card is overheating. The Nvidia 400 and 500 series cards normally run under load in the 70-80 range.

As a test set your clocks and voltages to default and use precision or afterburner to set the fan to 100%,(its going to be loud) Run a game or 2 and watch the temps. I bet they will stay in the 60s. If the computer crashes then its not the temps that are the problem. If the temp does get up to 90 with the fan at 100% then the card definitely has an issue causing it to overheat.

 

[jingsaw2859]

Here is the pic, also front of case if anybody is interested. Also sorry for sideways images, phone messed up.

Case
http://postimg.org/image/j7w0ljcvf/

Front
http://postimg.org/image/l2r8gap4x/

 

[jingsaw2859]

I am not sure that card is overheating. The Nvidia 400 and 500 series cards normally run under load in the 70-80 range.

As a test set your clocks and voltages to default and use precision or afterburner to set the fan to 100%,(its going 0to be loud) Run a game or 2 and watch the temps. I bet they will stay in the 60s. If the computer crashes then its not the temps that are the problem. If the temp does get up to 90 with the fan at 100% then the card definitely has an issue causing it to overheat.

You probably didn't see it, but I mentioned before that it still heats to 80C in around 10 mins during mostly any game even when fan at 100 percent.

 

[Hevatroid-1387955]

Buy a case fan to help get the air out of the case.

 

[bucknutty]

Another good way to test for overheating is to take a window fan or a desk fan and point it right at the open case while gaming and watching the temps.

If it is hitting 80 with the fan set at 100%. I would reseat the GPU heat sink using new thermal paste. There are lots of threads here on toms that walk you through the process. In short take the heat sink off clean the thermal paste off, put a pea of new paste on the gpu and put it back together.

I would also add a fan to that opening just above the GPU. A basic fan from newegg only costs $5.00

 

[jingsaw2859]

A other solutions? I'm gonna try and buy some thermal paste next week, also wanted to ask, if I set everything to default in MSI Afterburner and lower or increase the voltage and keep the fans 100 percent all the time will it damage the GPU and what does the voltage do?

 

[jingsaw2859]

Guys??? You asleep??? 😀

 

[azzazel_99]

Voltages would be adjusted when overclocking and what not. I'd leave it at stock settings and if you are having issues then maybe the card is faulty.

 

[whiteknights]

Guys??? You asleep??? 😀

Front fan: intake
Back Fan : outlet
two upper fans: outlet
side fan: intake
those will cool down Temp. 10+ Degrees

Anyway if you are at a hot environment then 80C is not that bad .. you have up to 90-93 max

 

[jingsaw2859]

I was playing with Afterburner and set my Memory clock to 1600 from 2050, core voltage to 1025 from 1075 and fan full speed then I launched GTA IV and played it for about 20-30 minutes then the computer shut down, the temperature was at 61-65 the whole time until it shut down, what is this supposed to mean????

Update: I also tried the overheating test and it put the temperature to 75C and it didn't shutdown.

 

[jingsaw2859]

Guys?? ^^^

 

[azzazel_99]

your issues are somewhere else it sounds like. Cpu overheating and not GPU or bad psu or bad mobo bad memory could be several things.

 

[RobCrezz]

To be honest, I would blame the PSU. Codegen PSUs are total junk! I wouldn't even use that on my old spare pc, let alone a nice i5 machine. Anandtech did a review on codegen and it was said to be one of the worst PSUs ever.


I know you said you cant, but you really need some fans for your case. A couple of 120mm fans (1 exhaust, 1 intake) would cost like £10 or $20.

 

[jingsaw2859]

I took off the heatsink from the GPU and I saw that the chip has some places that the thermal paste doesn't cover, so I rubbed it into a pea size square and equally put the heatsinks pressure on then I turned the PC on, set everything to default in Afterburner and set fan speed to full speed, turned GTA IV on and played for more than a half an hour without the PC shutting off and then I checked the temperatures, it was hovering at 61C-63C, do I call this a success or a fail? Is 63C normal for a GPU temp? Or should I be worried????

Update: It's also idling at 27C when it idled at 36C-38C before???

 

[azzazel_99]

Fantastic! Perhaps that was the issue or by messing with it you seated something properly that was otherwise mounted I correctly. Those temps look great.

 

[jingsaw2859]

Fantastic! Perhaps that was the issue or by messing with it you seated something properly that was otherwise mounted I correctly. Those temps look great.

Yes haha! Finally fixed it, but I'm still gonna try and buy Arctic Silver 5 and some fans, because as the people said I shouldn't reuse old thermal paste. Thank you guys!!!!