Bringing idle temperature of graphics card down?

[Elliot B.]

Motherboard: MSI Z170A Gaming Pro Carbon
CPU: Intel Core i7-6700K
CPU cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO
GPU: Zotac GeForce GTX 1080 AMP Extreme
Case: Thermaltake Suppressor F51
Front fan: 200mm, whatever came with my case
Rear fan: 120mm, whatever came with my case

PSU: EVGA SuperNOVA NEX750B (fan pointing downward)

 

The GPU runs at 56-58C idle (20C ambient room temperature).

 

To me, that is high.

 

At load (2-minute FurMark stress test), it hits 75C, which is think is acceptable.

 

The temperatures in the rest of the system are decent (though the CPU goes to 70C during a 2-minute BurnInTest stress test, which is acceptable I guess).

 

Any suggestions of how to lower the GPU idle temperature? (photo of inside of case included)

 

[Mindovermaster Moderator]

Idle temperature never matters. You want the load temps. As you said 75C on load. That is perfect. No reason to cool it further. Until you are getting issues, you may have to up the fan or something.

 

Edit: Might want to clear that dust out of your case, too.

[+Gary7 Subscriber²]

My GTX1060 is 29 degrees C when Idle. Jumps up to 40 or 50 depending on the game I play. Clean and maybe straighten out the cables. Make sure the fans are dust free,

[Noir Angel]

Might help to use a tool to set custom fan profiles, assuming of course that you've checked your airflow and cleaned the GPU of dust.

[Elliot B.]

The inside of the case is dust-free, only very light dust on the external surfaces. 4-weeks worth, that's all.

[Jim K Global Moderator]

Nothing really ... aside from hooking a water cooler up to it ... which I wouldn't.  I wouldn't worry about the idle temps .... as long as it isn't throttling back under gaming conditions because of temps.

 

Maybe some tidying up would do some good....it will at least help with appearance (doubtful on the temps).

[spaceelf]

6 minutes ago, Elliot B. said:

The inside of the case is dust-free, only very light dust on the external surfaces. 4-weeks worth, that's all.

Case looks pretty cramped.  You can probably tweak your fan profiles in the UEFI or MSI Control Center to run the fans at a higher default speed.

[Mindovermaster Moderator]

Wire management wouldn't be a bad idea either...

[spaceelf]

1 minute ago, Mindovermaster said:

Wire management wouldn't be a bad idea either...

Meh, it's mostly on the bottom of the case so not hurting that much.

[Mindovermaster Moderator]

1 minute ago, LostCat said:

Meh, it's mostly on the bottom of the case so not hurting that much.

Would look neater, though

[Elliot B.]

11 minutes ago, LostCat said:

Case looks pretty cramped.  You can probably tweak your fan profiles in the UEFI or MSI Control Center to run the fans at a higher default speed.

I have three drives behind the motherboard, and since they're spaced apart, they need their own power cable each. So that's extra cables coming out of the modular PSU.

 

Basically, it's EXTREMELY hard to reduce or fix the cabling in the case unless I spent a ton of money.

[The_D0lph1n]

You don't happen to be running a 144 Hz monitor are you? I've found that on my GTX 980, if I set my monitor to 144 Hz, the GPU will not lower its clock speed to idle (it will keep core clock at around 960 MHz) and will thus idle at around 50C. I lowered the monitor refresh rate to 120 Hz and then the card immediately dropped to idle clocks and idle temps are now at around 33C when case temps are around 25C.

[spaceelf]

8 minutes ago, Elliot B. said:

I have three drives behind the motherboard, and since they're spaced apart, they need their own power cable each.

 

Basically, it's EXTREMELY hard to reduce or fix the cabling in the case unless I spent a ton of money.

Heh don't look at me the only reason I've managed anything in mine is it lets me put a lot behind the motherboard.  The bottom is probably as messy as yours.  I have a recent MSI board so I know they have the default fan speeds at a comfy and quiet level but it still seems a bit low if you game a lot.  Also, what Dolph said.

[JustGeorge]

Cable management isn't going to do squat. Its a myth. Are your fans configured properly? Maybe configure your GPU fans to run, even at idle. Try something like 25% at idle or something. If you have plenty of fresh air coming in case and its mostly free of dust, thats about all you can do unless you get into exotic cooling methods. Have you contacted Zotac and asked them if thats normal idle temps? If its only hitting 75c under load, I wouldn't worry about it.

 

* I just noticed that you have some sort of expansion card right under the gfx card. I suppose its close proximity could be restricting the cards ability to draw in air. Remove that card and compare temps. I still wouldn't worry about it though.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited October 1, 2016 by slamfire92

[Mindovermaster Moderator]

2 hours ago, slamfire92 said:

Cable management isn't going to do squat. Its a myth.

Is it going to cool him anymore? No. It's just like personal hygiene. Make it look prettier....

[JustGeorge]

1 hour ago, Mindovermaster said:

Is it going to cool him anymore? No. It's just like personal hygiene. Make it look prettier....

He wants a cooler gfx card, not a cleaner appearance.

 

But very well...

 

"As decreed by your fellow Neowinians, you're hearby ordered to tidy up your electronic computational residence. Failure to comply will result in the full, unhindered wrath of General Xixar and his intergalactic armada."

 

You have been warned....

Edited October 1, 2016 by slamfire92

[ZakO]

Have you checked your GPU is correctly downclocking when idle? Do you have the latest drivers? I know the Pascal drivers had issues downclocking to 2D clocks with certain monitor configurations but I think it should be fixed now. 

 

It definitely seems higher than it should be (although not worryingly high). With an ambient room temperature of 27C my Zotac 1080 idles at 40C in passive mode and all my other system fans running at their slowest (500-600rpm). 

[+Gary7 Subscriber²]

Cable management will make it look better. It may be a myth but most of Minne is behind the MOBO.

[Mindovermaster Moderator]

39 minutes ago, Gary7 said:

Cable management will make it look better. It may be a myth but most of Minne is behind the MOBO.

Least someone agrees with me....

[+Gary7 Subscriber²]

3 minutes ago, Mindovermaster said:

Least someone agrees with me....

Well if the cables are all over and a mess they will obstruct air flow..simple.

[Mindovermaster Moderator]

10 minutes ago, Gary7 said:

Well if the cables are all over and a mess they will obstruct air flow..simple.

Yeah, well, not everyone thinks like that...

[Elliot B.]

15 hours ago, The_D0lph1n said:

You don't happen to be running a 144 Hz monitor are you? I've found that on my GTX 980, if I set my monitor to 144 Hz, the GPU will not lower its clock speed to idle (it will keep core clock at around 960 MHz) and will thus idle at around 50C. I lowered the monitor refresh rate to 120 Hz and then the card immediately dropped to idle clocks and idle temps are now at around 33C when case temps are around 25C.

Standard 60Hz monitor, unfortunately.

 

15 hours ago, slamfire92 said:

Cable management isn't going to do squat. Its a myth. Are your fans configured properly? Maybe configure your GPU fans to run, even at idle. Try something like 25% at idle or something. If you have plenty of fresh air coming in case and its mostly free of dust, thats about all you can do unless you get into exotic cooling methods. Have you contacted Zotac and asked them if thats normal idle temps? If its only hitting 75c under load, I wouldn't worry about it.

 

<videos snipped>

 

* I just noticed that you have some sort of expansion card right under the gfx card. I suppose its close proximity could be restricting the cards ability to draw in air. Remove that card and compare temps. I still wouldn't worry about it though.

It's my new sound card (PCI-E 1.0). I need it for 5.1 DTS/Dolby optical output (cba with driver hacks for my motherboard's on-board).

 

My GPU is in PCI_E2 (covering PCI_E3 and PCI_E4) and the sound card is in PCI_E6 (because it's small, like the card's slot).

 

Can the sound card be installed in the PCI_E7 slot? (even though the PCI_E7 slot is four times longer than the slot on the sound card)

 

 

 

11 hours ago, ZakO said:

Have you checked your GPU is correctly downclocking when idle? Do you have the latest drivers? I know the Pascal drivers had issues downclocking to 2D clocks with certain monitor configurations but I think it should be fixed now. 

 

It definitely seems higher than it should be (although not worryingly high). With an ambient room temperature of 27C my Zotac 1080 idles at 40C in passive mode and all my other system fans running at their slowest (500-600rpm). 

You'd have to tell me, to be honest. I'm not sure.

 

Edited October 2, 2016 by Elliot B.

[Mando]

18 hours ago, Elliot B. said:

Motherboard: MSI Z170A Gaming Pro Carbon
CPU: Intel Core i7-6700K
CPU cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO
GPU: Zotac GeForce GTX 1080 AMP Extreme
Case: Thermaltake Suppressor F51
Front fan: 200mm, whatever came with my case
Rear fan: 120mm, whatever came with my case

PSU: EVGA SuperNOVA NEX750B (fan pointing downward)

 

The GPU runs at 56-58C idle (20C ambient room temperature).

 

To me, that is high.

 

At load (2-minute FurMark stress test), it hits 75C, which is think is acceptable.

 

The temperatures in the rest of the system are decent (though the CPU goes to 70C during a 2-minute BurnInTest stress test, which is acceptable I guess).

 

Any suggestions of how to lower the GPU idle temperature? (photo of inside of case included)

 

if you can raise the air intake fan up halfway so its blowing over both GPU surfaces, half the movement of air when side is on , is being wasted hitting your birds nest power supply cabling & psu chassis, also means your CPU cooler will get a bit of it also, helping with idle cpu temps. A good balanced airflow helps no end passively cool the system in general, as well as assist heatsinks to do their job (both passive and active)

 

ive moved my front 120 air intake to do same and seen a drop of 5-10C idle temps. on GPU. top front 140mm blows cool air into my CPU cooler (CPU is clocked at 5Ghz) with 2x120s (top panel/rear) sucking hot expelled air out of my cpu cooler.

 

Ive set power mode in geforce driver to optimal so it clocks up and down, then i use EVGAs precision X (looks similar to the app your using) but only enable K-boost (clock of the factory clock by 150mhz) before gaming. 

 

In this setup, my SSC 970 drops its clock speeds when not in game. idling around 39C full clocked 100% use 75C max (it has ACX cooling)

Edited October 2, 2016 by Mando

[spaceelf]

35 minutes ago, Elliot B. said:

Can the sound card be installed in the PCI_E7 slot? (even though the PCI_E7 slot is four times longer than the slot on the sound card)

 

Yes, a PCI-E x1 card can be installed in any PCI-E slot.  Though it could make cabling kind of annoying if right next to all those connectors, if you're not disturbing the already connected stuff that's no big deal.

[ZakO]

1 hour ago, Elliot B. said:

You'd have to tell me, to be honest. I'm not sure.

 

If that's your card while it's idle there's your problem. Mine idles at  300/400MHz (as expected), yours is at the full 3D clock speeds. 

 

Did you do a clean install of Windows (or use DDU) when you installed the GPU? What is your Power Management Mode set to in the nVidia drivers?