LadyCrimson Posted November 4, 2009 Author Share Posted November 4, 2009 (edited) So is 48-52C at idle "normal" for the GTX 200 series of cards? This in 75F temp room w/the GPU stock fan going at 60%? The reading I've done makes me think so, but this makes me worry about summer days when it often reaches 85-90F in this room. Late night, when the room is closer to 62-65F, the idle GPU temp drops to maybe 41-43C. The back fan vent on the card shoots out super-warm air, so at least I know it's doing it's job. When I play Borderlands, it shoots up to 70-75C. I know they're rated for max temps higher (especially if not OC'd) but the last card I bought flaked out due to too much time w/high heat, so I'm now paranoid. If I buy something like this Artic Cooling VGA triple fan cooler, is someone like me going to be able to safely install it? The instructions in one review sounded like I might risk breaking something.... Edited November 4, 2009 by LadyCrimson “Things are as they are. Looking out into the universe at night, we make no comparisons between right and wrong stars, nor between well and badly arranged constellations.” – Alan Watts Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Theseus Posted November 4, 2009 Share Posted November 4, 2009 Thats a little on the hot side. I know my bunk 8800GT use to get too hot, its because mine was one of the first with the cheap ram in it that would artifact easily. I ended up getting a huge heatsink and new firmware and it was sweet from there! You might also try to check and see if the airflow is adequate. THere are also pcicard slot coolers that have fans for pci slots. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LadyCrimson Posted November 4, 2009 Author Share Posted November 4, 2009 (edited) My case has the two fans both on the side and the top (plus the one in the back), and the air coming from them feels coolish. But the front intake fan (it's a big one) is semi-blocked by the unremovable multiple hard drive mount casing so I'm not sure how great the airflow from it gets pushed through the entire case. :/ The Asus AI Suite says the CPU/System temps are a little high, too, I think..low 40's. So you didn't have any trouble installing non-stock stuff on the card? Taking apart stock things to put new stuff on isn't something I've ever done before...maybe hubby can do it. Edited November 4, 2009 by LadyCrimson “Things are as they are. Looking out into the universe at night, we make no comparisons between right and wrong stars, nor between well and badly arranged constellations.” – Alan Watts Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Theseus Posted November 4, 2009 Share Posted November 4, 2009 It was pretty easy. I had to flash the video card bios though. That is always risky. I replaced the stock cooler with the EVGA AKIMBO cooler. That cooler came with a BIOS that controlled the fan settings specifically for that cooler. Ever since then I haven't had a problem! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Humanoid Posted November 4, 2009 Share Posted November 4, 2009 I replaced the cooler on my 8800GT with an Accelero S1 (with undervolted turbo module) and I'm pleased with the results, and installation wasn't too bad. However with most (or even all) 3rd party coolers, there's a catch - it decouples the GPU cooling from the memory and the VRM cooling, which gets delegated to small or non-existent individual heatsinks. The danger therefore is that while the temperature monitor will report a nice drop in the GPU temperature, you won't be able to determine whether the other chips are necessarily getting sufficient cooling. L I E S T R O N GL I V E W R O N G Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arkan Posted November 5, 2009 Share Posted November 5, 2009 (edited) What would one expect the current life expectancy of the GTX260 to be? 2 years maybe? Edited November 5, 2009 by Arkan "Of course the people don't want war. But after all, it's the leaders of the country who determine the policy, and it's always a simple matter to drag the people along whether it's a democracy, a fascist dictatorship, or a parliament, or a communist dictatorship. Voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked, and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism, and exposing the country to greater danger." - Herman Goering at the Nuremberg trials "I have also been slowly coming to the realisation that knowledge and happiness are not necessarily coincident, and quite often mutually exclusive" - meta Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LadyCrimson Posted November 5, 2009 Author Share Posted November 5, 2009 (edited) I have no clue. In the old days I've had vid cards that worked forever. Heck I have an old VooDoo card that still functions, if I had a PC I cared to put it in. lol But these high performance/high heat cards...who knows. Assuming no defects, I'd guess 3 years, longer if you don't stress it all that much. Maybe someone else has a better idea... Edited November 5, 2009 by LadyCrimson “Things are as they are. Looking out into the universe at night, we make no comparisons between right and wrong stars, nor between well and badly arranged constellations.” – Alan Watts Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Theseus Posted November 5, 2009 Share Posted November 5, 2009 (edited) I've never had a card that died on me thus far. I've had one bad cards that needed to be replaced out of the box and one I have now that needed a new cooler. I couldn't return the one with the new cooler since i bought it used. I expect my cards to last 2-3 years or until the power is doubled finally. Thats typically when i buy a new card. So I will buy a 5850 or a new Nvidia Card if they double the 8800GT. How long will they actually last? Depends on the heat it naturally generates (quality of the card), the heat of your case; airflow, and the purity of the power flow your power supply generates and supplies your graphic card with. Those are the factors i can think of thus far. Im guessing if one really takes good care of the card taking these into consideration it could last 10 years maybe? My card which is bad quality RAM will probably start to artifact sooner then that. Its had a rough life, I've correct the heat issue for now with a new cooler but its still cheap ram that EVGA decided to use (or is it NVIDIA?). But who really wants a 10 year old graphic card? Edited November 5, 2009 by Theseus Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arkan Posted November 5, 2009 Share Posted November 5, 2009 Haha. I was talking about obsolescence, not physical life. "Of course the people don't want war. But after all, it's the leaders of the country who determine the policy, and it's always a simple matter to drag the people along whether it's a democracy, a fascist dictatorship, or a parliament, or a communist dictatorship. Voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked, and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism, and exposing the country to greater danger." - Herman Goering at the Nuremberg trials "I have also been slowly coming to the realisation that knowledge and happiness are not necessarily coincident, and quite often mutually exclusive" - meta Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LadyCrimson Posted November 5, 2009 Author Share Posted November 5, 2009 In that case...unless you're a serious graphics 'ho, my answer remains the same...about a few years. And if you don't care whether you can run at max-everything settings, or aren't playing games much or are broke, even longer. But yes, 10 years would be pushing it. Maybe 4-5 at most. heheh “Things are as they are. Looking out into the universe at night, we make no comparisons between right and wrong stars, nor between well and badly arranged constellations.” – Alan Watts Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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