Graphics card overheating upon computer boot up

[Dudeguykid]

Hello members of Tom's Hardware,
Less than a month ago bought a pre-built PC with a GT 630 graphics card, i7 3770 @3.4GHz processor and 6 GB ram. It served me well for about 2 weeks, but when I started it up I found that my games were stuttering and were running below the FPS they normally did. I then monitored the temperature on Speedfan: it was idling at 60-65 degrees celcius and the temperature would not drop; in fact, it would only increase if I opened a 3D application. So I tried rolling back to the previously installed display driver, and the temperatures suddenly went back to normal and the GPU was cooling down normally.

However, when I booted up my PC again the next day, the problem reappeared. I decided to update to the latest version of the display driver and the problem once again disappeared. I have no idea what the cause of this problem is, and dust is certainly not a factor. Is this a sign of a faulty GPU?

For reference, all my other temperatures are stable, even when the GPU is in its overheated state; CPU idles at 45 degrees, MOBO at 28 degrees and hard drive at 38. If someone could help me diagnose this problem at the very least, I would be grateful. Thanks in advance.

 

[dingo07]

My first question would be: did you add or change anything from the day it was working to the next day it wasn't? What did you do that day?

 

[Dudeguykid]

I didn't do anything in particular. I didn't change the clock speeds, or anything like that. I think I installed Crysis, but that's it. Speaking of which, could a program be the cause of this problem?

 

[dingo07]

I think Crysis uses DirectX9 and installs it... you may want to look into that

 

[DANWIN]

why would you downgrade to directX 9 ( bro just upgrade to directX11 if you didn't already and if that doesn't work then something is probally faulty and you should get some sort of refund for it

 

[Dudeguykid]

Well, it's doubtful that DirectX would cause such an issue - I had installed lots of other Steam games that use DX9 and I had no problems until that day.

 

[DANWIN]

why would you downgrade to directX 9 ( bro just upgrade to directX11 if you didn't already and if that doesn't work then something is probally faulty and you should get some sort of refund for it

 

[dingo07]

why would you downgrade to directX 9 ( bro just upgrade to directX11 if you didn't already ...

HUH?

who's telling him to downgrade to anything...??? noone...

 

[xaephod]

DX9 has nothing to do with your GPU overheating. I would see if its still under warranty and have it replaced. If its not, you may want to check the cooling fan and possible reseat it with new thermal paste and/or replace it with an aftermarket cooler.

 

[dingo07]

I didn't do anything in particular. I didn't change the clock speeds, or anything like that. I think I installed Crysis, but that's it. Speaking of which, could a program be the cause of this problem?

if you didn't do anything, then it's a bum card, period.

 

[simon12]

65C is not overheating for a graphics card they can run into the 90s.

 

[Dudeguykid]

@DanWin That's not really how DirectX works - but that's going off-topic.

@xaephod I'll consider it.

@simon12 That's true, but I don't think you've read my full post. My GPU idles at 39-41 degrees celcius. When I restart my computer it skyrockets to 60+ degrees in an instant and my games stutter.