High idle/load temperatures for Radeon 6950

[whatistaters]

Hey all, I just built my PC last night and ran some WoW tonight. Midway through a battleground I checked my graphics card temperature (running full Ultra graphics) and I saw that it was running around 68 degrees C and after cooling for a few minutes it idled around 41 degrees. This seems high as many reviews I read suggested it should run in the high 20s and run in the mid 50s during a heavy load.

I think this could have something to do with my PSU unit right below the graphics card, but I do not know how to get the extra heat out of the card area. I have included a picture of my case set up. I would appreciate any useful suggestions.

 

[whatistaters]

I have tried to move the cables out of the way as much as possible, but that is about the best I can do, given I do not have a modular PSU. I have ziptied things as much as possible. I considered installing an exhaust fan pointing downwards on that vent on the right side, but I am not sure how that would work.

Also, what is that diamond-looking thing on the top of my graphics card?

 

[obrio]

I'm seeing about the same temps with my radeon 6950 overclocked to 6970 speeds with +20% voltage. Not sure if this is a problem yet (stumbled across this doing research for the same thing). My only suggestion to you looking at your setup would be to turn your PSU so the fan is blowing down and not into your case. It looks like there's vents on the bottom of your case for this if the PSU will fit that direction.

 

[whatistaters]

I actually remedied this problem by downloading MSI Afterburner and setting up my own fan settings for my GPU. I can keep the card around 59-62 degrees C with my fan running at about 35-40%. I think my PSU sucks air down and pushes it out (Antec EarthWatts 650).