With so much processing power comes so much power consumption in today’s gaming computers. That new graphics card may be fast, but it might also become so hot that you could cook an egg with it. When using several GPUs in SLI or CrossFire, this is double true. Even though 80C is a standard recommendation, some graphics cards seem to scoff at such a low-temperature restriction. Is above 80C bad for your GPU, and what can be done to prevent it?
Is 80C truly too hot for a GPU to operate at? GPUs can run as high as 92C, according to research. Thus the answer is typically no. Specifications don’t tell you everything.
There is a trade-off between graphics cards‘ performance, temperature, and noise. Speeding up the clock rate will boost its performance and games raise its temperature. It is possible to increase the fan speed to keep the temperatures down. However, certain graphics cards may become quite noisy if the fans run high RPMs. However, no one answer will satisfy everyone; some individuals choose quiet; others prefer efficiency, and others favour performance. Fortunately, you can alter your card’s settings to make it work the way you want it to rather than what the manufacturer intended.
MSI Afterburner is a fantastic program for dealing with an overheated graphics card. It works with AMD and GPUs and has all the features you could want. In addition to Settings, customers have the option of EVGA’s Precision X1. Other manufacturers’ utilities are similarly comparable, but the ideas are the same regardless of which one you choose.
Consumer graphics cards were not designed to operate at maximum speed and 80-90C all day, every day, for months, as we’ve learned from the cryptocurrency mining period of the last several years. Graphic card RMAs have surged due to mining, which costs both the card makers and the miners time and money. Mining cards and settings that can sustain 70-75C under load are sought after by most users, and many of the tactics used there apply to gaming as well.
Overclocking is similar to a wild graphics card, but the result is different. Fan speed, clock speed, and voltage are all controllable parameters. Your GPU and card type and your personal preferences will all impact the optimal settings. Start with fan speed and voltage if you want to maintain performance at a high level. As a rule, you should experiment with all three variables if you’re trying to reduce noise. An overview of each is provided below.
Voltage and clock speed determine a computer’s power consumption and heat dissipation. As a result, cutting the voltage by 10% is much more advantageous than cutting the clock speed by 10% since power consumption rises linearly with clock speed but rises by the square of the voltage. Afterburner requires a restart after checking the option to unlock voltage changes. Undervolting is the way to go if you want to minimise noise and temps, after which most GPUs may be safely tuned up or down by 0.1V, maybe 0.2V. In my experience, AMD’s Vega graphics cards are excellent candidates for undervolting.
You’ll have to modify the voltage and frequency curves to get around this. Press Ctrl+F in Afterburner and flatten anything over the maximum voltage you want the GPU to utilise. For instance, consider this:
In the same way, as overclocking, you should do a stability test on numerous games and programmes after making any modifications. Your GPU and graphics card may not be able to withstand the voltage decrease, and even if some games work, others may not. Attempt a 50mv (0.05V) voltage decrease while running a windowed benchmark like Heaven or 3DMark, and if it’s stable, try a voltage drop of 0.025V steps until it crashes or reaches its maximum voltage limit, whichever comes first. A baseline voltage may be established before testing in various applications.
The same concept applies to clock speed. If you’re ready to give up some performance, lowering the clock speed by 50 to 100 MHz may assist. Be aware that a decrease in clock frequency of 50 MHz does not necessarily reduce GPU speed of the same value (e.g., since current GPUs employ base and turbo clocks). Boost clocks should be lower, but you may adjust them as needed.
Graphics card fan speeds may vary significantly across models, even if the GPU is the same. Some models favour low noise above temperature, which may result in GPUs that can reach 80-90 C. When it comes to graphics cards, I think that lower temperatures are more significant than a “quiet” card—and some coustmers are always a little concerned about models where the fans stop totally below 50C. they would like to have a fan speed of 20% to 30% as a minimum, and they don’t enjoy having a GPU temperature of more than 80C. company will create a custom fan curve in Afterburner like the one above to keep everything under control.
Adjusting the fan curve isn’t the only option; some may prefer it. Target temperatures may be specified for Settings and the EVGA Precision X1. If you surpass the intended temperature, what will happen isn’t always apparent. Higher fan speeds, reduced clock rates (throttling), or a mix of the two are possible with various GPUs.
How significant is the preceding? Researchers have noticed that RTX 20-series GPUs tend to overheat, particularly the 2080 and 2080 Ti variants. At stock, the backplate of an MSI RTX 2080 Ti Duke 11G OC graphics card may reach 74C when playing a game. It’s interesting to note that the core of the GPU doesn’t get much hotter than that, but the card’s surface may still reach dangerously high temperatures. After tweaking the fan curve a little and setting the voltage/frequency curve at 950mV/1875MHz, the temperature decreased to 70C. Unless a fan is directly blowing on the metal, nothing further can be done for the backplate.
Conclusion
When a computer’s hardware, such as the CPU or the graphics card, becomes too hot, it might damage it. Overheating of a graphics card may occur for a variety of reasons. Overheating may cause serious harm to your computer’s components. To ensure your gadget’s long life and smooth operation, you should constantly watch your graphics card, CPU, or memory card. Several options are available to you if you’re experiencing GPU overheating issues.
