XFX 6950 2gb temps too high!

[K42 Solarflare]

So I'm gaming normally one night and everything is fine. I decide I want to download a graphics mod for skyrim (An ENB mod) so I install it and start up skyrim. Game looks cool but then my 6950 starts to go off like an airplane so I stop the game right away and uninstall the mod. I check my idle temps and they are stuck at around 57c when just before I installed the mod it was mid 30s. First I assumed I had to wait for it to go down. Nope temps are still at around 57c so I set the fan to 50% (Its normally around 40 under load). That helped but barely. I then tried reapplying thermal paste this made things worse and temps went even higher I gave up and decided to RMA the card xfx deemed it faulty and they sent me another card (Not sure if it's new or refurbed) same problem. Now I'm just confused I'm sure its' not my airflow or anything to do with my fans because temps don't just magically go up by 20 and stay there forever. I even tried a system restore to before I downloaded the mod. Not sure what the issue is but if someone can solve this mystery it would be a big help.

Specs:
MSI P67A-GD55 (B3) LGA 1155 Intel P67
XFX HD-695X-CNFC Radeon HD 6950 2GB 256-bit GDDR5
Antec High Current Gamer Series HCG-750 750W ATX12V v2.3 / EPS12V v2.9
Intel Core i5-2500K Sandy Bridge 3.3GHz
G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600

If it matters I'm running 2 monitors and disabling the second one doesn't help.

 

[dudewitbow]

possibility that the thermal paste inside burned out for being too hot? the radeon 69xx series are indeed power hungry gpus that is

 

[K42 Solarflare]

I doubt it I'm sure xfx reapplied paste when I RMAd it.

 

[vmem]

you running GPU-Z to check temps? maybe your idle's not truly idle... check GPU load

 

[K42 Solarflare]

you running GPU-Z to check temps? maybe your idle's not truly idle... check GPU load

Nope it says the same temp and it has 0% activity.

 

[K42 Solarflare]

Bump

 

[K42 Solarflare]

Anyone?

 

[inclemental]

57C seems normal if your XFX HD6950 is at idle with full GPU core clock speed @800MHz and memory clock @1250MHz. My card is at 54C as well with 27% fan speed or 50C with 50% fan speed.

But your card should automatically reduce its core clock speed and memory clock speed to 250MHz and 150MHz when idle. then the temp should be about 39-42C regardless of the fan speed. so check with GPU-z to see what is your core speed and memory speed at idle.

my room temp is about 23-25C

my max temp is about 71C at 99% GPU load non overclock at 27% fan speed at 25C room temp
and 67C with 39% fan,
65 with 50% fan

full load with video card stability test

idle with core at 250MHz and memory at 150MHz

watch youtube with minimal GPU load but core speed at 500MHz and memory at 1250MHz

 

[bystander]

If you disconnect the 2nd monitor, it often will not go back down to normal idle temps until you reinstall the drivers. At least I've had it happen before. Disconnect the 2nd monitor and reinstall the drivers, then check your idle temps. It is normal to have 57C if using 2 monitor clocks, while idle.