Crossfire has increased motherboard temps is this normal

[simon12]

I used to have a single 4890 and my motherboard temp was around 27-30C idle and never went much over 32C ever I recently swapped the card for 2 x 4870s and now the board temps are 39-40C as soon as it powers on and can go as high as 45C (maybe more I haven't had it long) is this normal and/or safe? I don't think its due to higher case temp as its at it as soon as it powers up when the cards are both pretty much idle but I could be wrong. The board is a Asrock 880G Extreme 3.

 

[jyjjy]

Even at idle an HD4870 uses a lot of power which will raise temperatures. It actually uses even more than the HD4890 and you have 2 of them. They could definitely be the cause of this. That said I don't think the temps you are quoting should really be a problem but a case with better airflow or adding some more fans to your current case(if there are spots for more) would likely help.