Do I need water? (5870)

[kazsymonds]

Hi All,

I recently built my first home build pc, and i'm really happy with it so far, but today i encountered a problem.

I decided to buy Crysis and Crysis warhead from steam, as i wouldn't have been able to run them when they were released, so i didn't get them. i'm enjoying Crysis but i seem to be having a little problem.

My graphics card gets hot. Really hot.

After playing for about 30 - 40 minutes it got to 77 degrees and it turned off windows aero! I'm playing on High settings (not even vhigh!)

This is a problem for me, I want to be able to run new games at high settings, but if I can only do it for 30 mins at a time, what's the point?

So my question is this, would a bigger case give better cooling and solve my problem, or should I start to thing about getting some kind of watercooling going?

I'm fairly serious about gaming, and I don't really have a budget limit but watercooling may be a bit over the top for me no?

Specs;
i7 920 @ 3.8ghz
Akasa heatsink / fan
6gb OCZ obsidian ram
Corsair 750w PSU
ATI Radeon HD 5870
Coolermaster 335 case

I was thinking maybe if I got a much bigger case the cooling would be better?

It isn't tight in my case, but maybe the airflow isn't quite enough?

I can get pics of the inside if anyone wants to see.

Cheers

 

[Hectic Glenn]

Normal GPU temp on load. What's the problem, did your PC blue screen or just turn off aero? Probably just a windows optimisation setting.

 

[Ravioli]

77? Thats not hot at all, thats what my gpu IDLES at when im writing in notepad lol

Mine goes up over 100C when gaming if i dont turn my PCI Fan on max, which lowers it to about 90.

8800 **** yeah.

 

[Stigmata]

It turned off Aero at 77 degrees? Sounds like a driver issue, not a hardware one.

Don't worry about overheating until your GPU is hitting 90 and above. Celsius, to be specific.

 

[kazsymonds]

Normal GPU temp on load. What's the problem, did your PC blue screen or just turn off aero? Probably just a windows optimisation setting.

Really? I thought that it was a high temp.

The only other games i've been playing are tf2 and l4d and i dont go over 65 on them, but then they are much easier on the GPU.

Basically what happened was i returned to desktop with Crysis still running just to check on the temps i was now up to (being a new rig, i am still getting a feel for how it performs, where it's limitations are) but when i did it it turned windows aero off (went back to the gay blue window bars and no transparency) and started running the game in a window.

Once i started playing again I was getting stuttering / low frames.

Should add that im running 1920 x 1080 too.

I'm not bothered if it want to turn aero off whilst i game. Makes sense, but i was just worried that i was coming to the limitations of my card and that it was throttling back becuase of the temps.

I'm also thinking about getting another card at some point to run xfire so i can run it on the very highest settings and all the newest games on v high.

I dunno man, maybe it just hated me cause i wanted to look at the desktop, but i thought it was a high temp and throttling back...

At what point will the fans properly kick in? It doesn't get very noisy and i'd put up with a little more noise for lower temps...

I'm also thinking about the overdrive feature, how can i use this when my temps seem to get fairly high anyway?

Am i over reacting? Maybe my card isn't even started at that temp?...

 

[Acepilotf14]

It SEEMS high, but it's not. Well.. Mine's idling at 52 right now.

 

[Ravioli]

Your GPU is fine, you wont get any artifacts or other weird shit happen until it hits 95+
My card has been rolling between 75-95 (and 100+ in extreme moments) for the past 3 years and its still going strong.

 

[kazsymonds]

Anyone know if the fans will kick in on high at some temp point then? If that temp is ok then fine, but i want to know i will be able to keep playing without worrying about it. I'm hoping the temps level off at about 80 and i can play for a few hours.

 

[Ravioli]

Download CPUID Hardware monitor, it doesnt even need to be installed. Just minimize your game when its rendering crazy shit and check out the temps. For me the fans doesnt kick into high gear until around 85C.

 

[kazsymonds]

Download CPUID Hardware monitor, it doesnt even need to be installed. Just minimize your game when its rendering crazy shit and check out the temps. For me the fans doesnt kick into high gear until around 85C.

That's the program i was returning to desktop to view!

Thanks all, puts my mind at rest :angel:

 

[Asus]

You can right-click->properties->Compatibility on any shortcut and "disable desktop composition" (Aero) when that app gets run. But it sounds like the mess up is the alt-tabbing with the game rather than the GPU or Aero exactly.

If you don't have one yet you could always install a front case fan (120mm size). That points right at the GPU across the bottom of the case.

 

[kazsymonds]

You can right-click->properties->Compatibility on any shortcut and "disable desktop composition" (Aero) when that app gets run. But it sounds like the mess up is the alt-tabbing with the game rather than the GPU or Aero exactly.

If you don't have one yet you could always install a front case fan (120mm size). That points right at the GPU across the bottom of the case.

Yeah, i got one in the front, sucking air in towards the GPU.

Maybe i should put it in the lowest PCIE x 16 slot to move it away from my giant CPU cooling block.

I dunno man, i wonder how it will work when i have 2 or a 5970 + 5870...

 

[Remus]

Like everyone else said the temperature isn't too high, however if your interested in a case with better cooling I highly reccomend the Chieftec Dragon CH07 case. it has three 120mm fans, and one big 220mm fan.

 

[Hectic Glenn]

My case has 3 x 120mm fans on the front cooling a triple radiator. Although lots of fans is a good solution to heat problems...its extremely irritating with the amount of noise it puts out.

Yeah, i got one in the front, sucking air in towards the GPU.

Maybe i should put it in the lowest PCIE x 16 slot to move it away from my giant CPU cooling block.

I dunno man, i wonder how it will work when i have 2 or a 5970 + 5870...

Crossfire & SLI are a complete waste of cash and a false economy. Your performance again isn't significant enough for that kind of cash and the driver optimisation for current games can be slow. Hide the money from yourself and use it on an upgrade for your GPU in 18 months ~

There comes a tendency as a PC enthusiastic after you've built something to keep adding extras and touching it inappropriately. It's dangerous as you'll end up buying or upgrading things unnecessarily just to get your brain's dopamine release so you can rejoice in your manly pursuit for a PC which will make small children cry.

 

[kazsymonds]

Crossfire & SLI are a complete waste of cash and a false economy. Your performance again isn't significant enough for that kind of cash and the driver optimisation for current games can be slow. Hide the money from yourself and use it on an upgrade for your GPU in 18 months ~

There comes a tendency as a PC enthusiastic after you've built something to keep adding extras and touching it inappropriately. It's dangerous as you'll end up buying or upgrading things unnecessarily just to get your brain's dopamine release so you can rejoice in your manly pursuit for a PC which will make small children cry.

As always Glenn, you are the boring, down to earth voice of reason to the 8 year old boy in me that wants a ZOMG Awesome computer.

I applaud you sir.

I'm still thinking about getting a SSD, it boots REALLY slow. But maybe i should leave it there and save my money for a 6870, or whatever is next.