Powercolor 7870 Myst - proper power and temperatures

[Bastor]

So I recently got the Powercolor 7870 Myst edition and it is a great card with great performance but being new to the hardware scene (due to me lacking any interest until it comes time to upgrade every 2 years or so)

* I hooked the 7870 to my 520W Seasonic S12 II Bronze SS-520GB and it ran just fine but I'm kind of worried it said that the card requires 20 AMPS of power, while both my 6 pin and 6+2 pin connectors are on a 12v and 20 amp rail. Is that a problem? Is it possible I am underamping my GPU?

* Heat - is it possible the thermal paste on the GPU is bad? I'm getting temperatures around 70/71 degrees Celsius at maximum load without clocking.
If this normal or should I buy some better thermal paste?
EDIT: Keeping in mind that my PC box isn't the best in terms of air flows but it isn't that bad and with an open box I get around 1/2 degrees less at full load

Thank you for your future answers
Best Regards,
Bastor

 

[syvmn]

I'm not quite sure about the AMP thing but seasonic is a good PSU brand so I think on that end you should be fine.

My 7870 myst was hitting 71C out of the box at stock settings. I have since OC'ed it to 1125/1525 using MSI Afterburner. If you download and use that program, it allows you to make fan profiles. I have since set the fan to increase its speed as temps get close to 70C, and spike to 100% after it gets above 80C.

I think its something like:
30% @ 40C
40% @ 50C
50% @ 60C
60% @ 70C
70% @ 80C
100% @ 90C

I'm not around my gaming computer at the moment so I'm not 100% sure if thats what it is but you get the idea. The trade off to the fan profile is that I do hear a decent amount of fan noise while playing games, its not rediculous but its definitely above the other fan noise in my case. Personally I dont mind it and actually find it quite interesting that I can hear how hard the GPU is working based on the fan temp.

After I OC'ed and changed the fan profile, I hit 65-66C MAX now.

 

[syvmn]

FYI. I just played Bioshock Infinite for 5 minutes or so for a practical GPU/CPU test. I included my Fan Profile

Its kinda hard to see:
GPU Max Temp: 66C
GPU Max Usage: 100%
GPU Max Fan Speed: 55%
GPU fan tachometer Max: 2577rpm
CPU Max Temp 52C

 

[Bastor]

I just ran the Bioshock benchmark tool that game with the game for 30 minutes with my case being opened and got 67 degrees max.

From what I gather the air flow in my case is just bad and I should get a better one or more fans.

The stock cooler and thermal paste seem to be just fine since you get around the same temperatures.

Thank you for your answers.

 

[smeezekitty]

Alot of people base GPU temps on what they know about CPU temps. This is not correct. GPUs virtually always run hotter then CPUs.

In general, the maximum load temperature should not exceed 85c. 67-72 is actual a pretty good temperature.