GTX 285 idling a little hot...I think

[jktstance]

I just recently built myself a new system and I've been noticing my EVGA GTX 285 SC card (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130446) seems to be running a little on the hot side, particularly when idle. Temperature seems to stay at around 67C on idle, though I've been reading that Steam does not allow GPUs to downclock. Sure enough, when I close Steam, the GPU drops by about 10C, to 57C, which is still pretty high. I haven't stressed the card too much yet (I don't have Crysis yet , but it seems to handle itself very well under load.

SpeedFan quotes my system temperature at 47C which also seems high, but my CPU maintains itself at the mid-30C range quite well, so I'm guessing the mobo temperature sensor is not quite accurate.

What are some good idle tempertures for the GTX 285? I've been hearing that it's a fairly cool card, but I don't think toasty idle temperatures are enough to warrant an RMA.

My system:
Core i7 920 @ stock for now
ASUS P6T
6GB OCZ Platinum @ stock
EVGA GTX 285 SC Edition
Xigmatek HDT-1283 (Dark Knight) cooler
Corsair 850 PSU
CoolerMaster CM-690 case (I do not have the side fan connected, for noise reasons)

 

[werxen]

is it overclocked? even then, if its not crashing you should be in the clear. btw: steam has nothing to do whether you can downclock or not.

 

[jktstance]

The SC edition is overclocked by EVGA by a small margin. I have not done any overclocking myself yet.

 

[mikecs]

your case most likely isn't getting enough airflow. when mine downclocks it hovers around the low to mid 40's. when its at its overclock settings @ idle usually in the low 50's. I'd say suck it up and deal with the noise and move some air by turning the fan up to 50% or more. Either that or get some air moving through your case. Previous posters are correct though if your not freezing up or BSOD'ing your ok the temp threshold iirc is like 105 (its on nvidia's site) and your by no means hitting that without something being seriously wrong even at your high idle temps.

 

[royalcrown]

@op...I've been wanting one, how is the fan noise ?

 

[L1qu1d]

my 285s idle as low as 42 that I've seen but they generally stay 45-50 when browsing. I don't think 57 idle is high, but it could be lower. What do you top off at?

 

[jktstance]

@royalcrown: The fan seems quiet enough. My entire system is very very quiet as long as I keep the chassis fans connects to mobo power slots. At full speed the stock CM-690 fans are a little loud. I don't really hear the GTX fan at all. Just make sure you enable to option to sync to vertical, otherwise the framerates in menu or loading screens shoots up to ridiculously high numbers and the card emits a high pitched whine (not too bad, but just irritating enough). Even at 60fps, I still hear a bit of that noise, or maybe it's just my imagination.

I've seen it get in the 70s when playing Mass Effect (not exactly the most demanding application, I know), but I don't really have a way to record min/maxes yet. Does SpeedFan or EVGA Precision have an option to do that, since I can't seem to scroll on the temperature graphs those applications produce.

Also, Steam is in fact preventing downclocking. Looking at EVGA Precision, the moment Steam is unloaded, the core, shader, and memory clocks all instantly downclock (the memory downclocks to 100 ) and a temperature reduction follows shortly. When Steam is off, the tempature is in the high 40s to low 50s.

 

[UncleSam21st]

Zotac GTX 285:
Room temp 20-23c (approx)
GPU Idle temp 45-49c
GPU load temp 60-72c