8800GT heating issues (I know right? another one) :)

Hi guys,

Let me jump right into the subject - I'm having some problems with my GPU overheating like mad (it stays at around 70-75 degrees idle; now at 65 after I tried cleaning the fan).

It gives me headaches even in shitty games like WoW..I can't even attempt to play decent looking ones without it reaching 100+ degrees which is bad.

I want to know what I can do to decrease these temps. Is it my case? it doesn't have fans and my GPU has its stock fan which is bad; I've had this config since late 2007 so it is old as well. Any advice regarding the steps I can take to decrease the temp and do some decent gaming would be greatly appreciated.

here are my specs:

Video card: BFG Tech GeForce 8800 GT OC 512MB

Motherboard: GIGABYTE GA-P35-DS3R

Proc: Intel Core 2 Duo E6850 Box

RAM: Corsair Dominator TWIN2X2048

Case: Antec Tower SONATA 3

Power source: (Antec Tower SONATA 3) EarthWatts 500W


..a little more info:

-I don't have a job atm so money is little to nonexistent; changing the pc is out of the question as well as buying a new GPU;
-I did get a new monitor a while back and am using 1920x1080 as a res when gaming (maybe this can be a factor as well since it needs to render more pixels..I dunno)
-I am using RivaTuner for years now and the fan is at 100% when reaching those temps;
-even when I turn down the graphics settings in game to the lowest possible or try lower resolutions - it still burns like an oven,
-I'm looking mainly for some advice regarding the compatibility of the case with the GPU/ airflow; anything I can do to improve my situation with as little money expenditure as possible.

Thank you for your time.

It's an overclocked card, you could probably lower the temps by clocking it back down to the 8800GT's regular clocks.
Other than cleaning it or getting a new card there's not a whole lot you can do. The card is capable of over 100c though.

Hey guys,

Thanks for all the feedback. I still have it within warranty so I'll prolly just take it in and explain my prob, maybe add that it's making artifacts and hope they open it up and sort the prob out for me.

I'm not that hardware savvy..I tried opening the case and it all went fine until it came down to the final screw and by the love of all that is holy - that stupid thing wouldn't budge. After 30 min of gently trying to get it out without touching the connectors or otherwise damaging the gpu, I called it quits. Hopefully they won't notice that and void my warranty.

I was thinking of maybe adding a third party cooler to it..how easy would you reckon it would be for me to do that? just remove the case and add it directly to the gpu right?

@nforce4max: I looked at the stickies on the Graphics and Displays section but couldn't find anything..can you give me a link to it mate? much appreciated.

It wasn't when I started

They came out easily enough except for the last one and after numerous tries on it I gave up like I said..it's no where near the one you posted but I did use a screwdriver that was bigger than the screw (because I couldn't do it with a smaller one).

tl;dr only partially like your picture; it's still possible to get it out by using an electric screwdriver of the right size I think.