Zotac GTS 450 eco High temperature

Sanideth

Distinguished
Apr 24, 2014
7
2
18,515
Hello guys!
I have a strange problem
I was playing world of warcraft today and fps dropped drastically...
I thought it was a patch problem, because I used to have 50-60 fps on good settings
then I thought that the game graphics were upgraded, and I lowered the settings to minimum, but in vain, it was the same
so I figured something was wrong on my pc, checked the temperatures and video card was on fire
if it's idle, temp is between 45-60 celsius, not the worst case I think
but if I play anything, like wow, call of duty 4 (not very demanding games), temperature begins to go up slowly, and after 4-5 minutes it is above 90 celsius, and fps begins to drop.
I installed afterburner. the cooler runs really fast, at first it runs on 23 percents, and when temperature starts to rise, cooler starts to run faster and even on 99 percent temperature is still above 90
I checked the video card, removed cooler and a metal radiator (dunno what it's called), cooler was a bit dusty, as for the radiator, It has a plate on it, which prevents me seeing what is the condition inside, it has really tiny screws and I don't have a screwdriver of that size :/
So, can you help me figure out what the hell is wrong with it?
Can dust drastically lower performance in 1-2 days? ( that's strange because a week ago everything was fine)?
or is it possible that the card aged and it's useless now? (it is 1 year old)
P.S oh btw, thermal paste was dried up, I scraped it and re-pasted it (didn't make any improvement)
P.P.S please forgive me for my English
 

clutchc

Titan
Ambassador
You might try actually cleaning the old dried thermal past from the surface with some cleaner. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835100010&nm_mc=KNC-GoogleAdwords-PC&cm_mmc=KNC-GoogleAdwords-PC-_-pla-_-Thermal+Compound+%2f+Grease-_-N82E16835100010&gclid=CL_H_uaIssECFe0-MgodZmYA3Q
Scraping it off will leave microscopic grooves that will not transfer heat. That and blowing the dust and dirt out of the cooler's fins is about all you can do. Is the case getting good air flow?
 

Sanideth

Distinguished
Apr 24, 2014
7
2
18,515
I removed the radiator (managed to unscrew tiny screws with a small screwdriver and a tweezer :D) and vuala, it was dusty as hell, I cleaned it and now idle temperature is between 30-40 and during play maximum temperature was 60
thanks ^^