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How to keep a gtx280 under 105c

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  • How To
  • Thermal Compound
  • Graphics
Last response: in Graphics & Displays
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August 12, 2013 10:10:05 AM

Hi. Bought a gtx280 while other card is rma.
Card works fine, condition is good. but it runs insanely hot. game with 60% load, fan goes 100% after 1 min, and gpu goes 105c after 5 min where it also starts to throttle.
Idle the card sits at 65c
I even changed the thermal paste, didn't help.
Got 3 extra fans inside the case, one directly behind the card. running a lownoise environment.

Any suggestions?

More about : gtx280 105c

August 12, 2013 10:17:43 AM

It sounds like the thermal paste and install of the HSF is poor. Make sure the HSF is clean as well.
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August 12, 2013 10:18:20 AM

you probably need more air, low noise and hot cards built on big processes don't go well together. have you blown out the heatsink, is it dusty?
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August 12, 2013 10:59:39 AM

The card is completely clean. When i changed paste i cleaned both gpu and heatsink with alcohol cloths, and reapplied new paste.
This is the case. behind the hdd bay i've installed an extra fan, which blows directly on the gfx card.

sileo 500


HSF = HeatSink Fan ?

p.s. is there issues with the login function? i can only login if i request password change.
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August 12, 2013 11:06:40 AM

hmm, how tight were the screw when you replaced the compound?, was it compound that was already there or was it a thermal pad, if it was a pad you might have the wrong distance between the cpu and the heat sink.
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August 12, 2013 11:09:35 AM

It is compound, and the original was compound, however they used way to much, a lot of excess paste. The screws were really really tight, screwed them back just as tight, or at least tried to.
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August 12, 2013 11:19:31 AM

fusk said:
It is compound, and the original was compound, however they used way to much, a lot of excess paste. The screws were really really tight, screwed them back just as tight, or at least tried to.


You may not have used enough compound. While it is common to see articles on how to use very little compound for best results, it is far worse to not have enough. You'll only lose a couple degrees by using the least amount needed, but you'll gain a ton of heat if not enough is used. It is better to error on the side of caution. This can be particularly big if the surfaces are not completely flat to each other.

HSF = heat sink fan or maybe it's heat sink and fan. It is the whole heat sink and fan component.
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August 12, 2013 11:25:24 AM

As i had enough paste at hand, i did a test to see if it would fill the area. And it looks pretty good, not a thin layer so you could read the letters through the paste.
It looked something like this.



Just ignore the cpu and mobo, and pretend it's a gpu. But in my opinion that's enough paste.
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August 12, 2013 11:28:40 AM

If the fan is working, and the heat is that high, I'd definitely try again, perhaps use a touch more. Maybe its got a spot the compound did not spread to when pushed into place. I don't really know, other than heat is obviously not dissipating properly, and if the fans are at 100%, and visibly working, that leaves the HSF.
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August 12, 2013 11:34:15 AM

The whole area is covered, after the test, i re-cleaned, reapplied new paste and screwed the card back together, the screws can't get any tighter, so can't fasten the heatsink any better. but i guess i'll have another look.
At 100% fan you are not in doubt if the fan is working or not.

The area on the gpu looked something like this. Ignore the blue circles as the pics are taken from another site where they test different thermal compound spread methods.

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August 12, 2013 11:36:50 AM

Perhaps the HSF is broken. Maybe a weld on one of the tubs connecting to the fins is not connected properly.
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August 12, 2013 1:42:53 PM

Don't think it's going to matter. Unplugged the card, went out to use a bicycle compressor, gave it a little blow from the exhaust end, used my mouth as well, a little dustball flew out. plugged card back in, dead. No fan, no picture. Changed pcie slot, no effect. Power led on card is on, but nothing happens, so it's probably ruined now. that's 27 euro wasted. Argh that is sooo annoying.
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August 12, 2013 2:44:00 PM

to be honest the lower end cards are getting to be nearly as good, you can pick up gtx470's for £80 if you are lucky.
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August 12, 2013 5:42:50 PM

true, but that's a lot for a temporary card. I just found a used gts250 for about the same price, should be able to get him down to 15/20 euro. But it is pretty annoying as it worked fine for a day, and my messing about probably ruined it.

However, i found out the red led on the card, is supposed to be green. Red means not enough power, which is either the card or the psu. But rest of my computer works, can hear it boots windows from the sound. Tried different ports on the psu, switching the cable to no avail, so i can probably assume it's the card.
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