GTX 470 Overheat Problem?

[.Im#NuMBeR1]

Hey guys.

 

Unfortunately I have an "overheating" GTX 470. Yes, I know they may be somewhat "old" now, and yes, I know they are prone to overheating, and that correctly configured profiles and good case airflow should solve such overheating issues.. but unfortunately it doesn't solve my problem. I have a profile field set up in the NVIDIA Control Panel but doesn't help very much. So basically, I was on GTA IV (EFLC) with a friend on multiplayer last night, forgot to manually set the card fan speed to 70%...aaand I started to smell some "melting/burning" from the back of my system. :O The card reached 105'C in the space of 5 minutes of playing. The game didn't lag, and the display drivers had no effect to the extreme temperature. (usually for some people, they experience major lag on such resource intensive games such as GTA IV, perhaps the system would crash, hang, or experience a Blue Screen. OR their display drivers would completely crash. None of these things happened to me, I only noticed the temperature because I alt+tabbed out of the game and saw that on the NVIDIA System Monitor, the GPU temperature was at 105'C. So I opened up NVIDIA Control Panel and set the fan speed to 100% and allowed a few minutes for my card to cool down to about 34'C, then set the fan speed to 70% and continued playing. Everything was good, yes?

 

The problem is, it is stock SuperClocked, I've not changed any of the graphics, memory or processor clocks at all for the graphics card. The only customized overclock I have set for my system is my CPU, from 3.02GHz (stock) to 3.92GHz. CPU temperatures as low as 35'C, never exceeding 40'C. I have a CoolerMaster Elite 430 (RC-430) case with 6 120mm out-take fans installed at full speed spectrum for the fans. Yes, they are loud (unfortunately) but I don't know how to control the fan speeds for them as they connect to the power supply. The only fans I can control with my fan controller are my CPUs fans mounted on my Corsair Hydro H70's radiator.

 

Is there any "methods" I could use or take advantage of to keep my GPU cool without it being too noisy? At the moment the GPU is between 30-45'C at 70% fan speed, and it's quite loud. :(

 

Thanks.

[Emkryan]

I'll give you the options I would use to alleviate this problem.

 

1. Clean the dust out: Open that sucker up and blow it out or take it out with your hand and blow out the rest

 

2. Change the thermal goop: This can drastically change your temps 

 

3 Cable management: This goes a long way. Lesser cable space, less airflow obstruction and lest dust build-up(which correlates with #1)

 

4. Change the fan orientation: you have 6 exhaust fans, that makes a very big case of negative air pressure which causes more dust build up. I say turn them all around and GET FILTERS. I have only one fan blowing out of my case and all my other fans are filtered intakes and my case(600t) hasn't had any noticeable dust build up in months. 

 

This did turn into a "How to reduce your temps overall" comment but hey, why stop at just your gpu?  :lol:

[.Im#NuMBeR1]

I'll give you the options I would use to alleviate this problem.

 

1. Clean the dust out: Open that sucker up and blow it out or take it out with your hand and blow out the rest

 

2. Change the thermal goop: This can drastically change your temps 

 

3 Cable management: This goes a long way. Lesser cable space, less airflow obstruction and lest dust build-up(which correlates with #1)

 

4. Change the fan orientation: you have 6 exhaust fans, that makes a very big case of negative air pressure which causes more dust build up. I say turn them all around and GET FILTERS. I have only one fan blowing out of my case and all my other fans are filtered intakes and my case(600t) hasn't had any noticeable dust build up in months. 

 

This did turn into a "How to reduce your temps overall" comment but hey, why stop at just your gpu?  :lol:

Thanks for your input! :) I'll try these methods and see how it goes.

 

Quick question as to the cleaning of the GPU thermal paste...is that such a good idea?

[Emkryan]

Thanks for your input! :) I'll try these methods and see how it goes.

 

Quick question as to the cleaning of the GPU thermal paste...is that such a good idea

There are tutorials allover the place on how to do it safely, don't worry too much and you'll be fine. If you're not comfortable then leave that option for last. The last thing you need is to brick a graphics card

[Flamewalker]

Place a side fan blowing towards the gpu , with me i went from 95c @ 70 % fan speed to 84 @ 50 % fan speed with it (when running heaven).

 

You can also buy a highflow bracket for you card if yours doesn't have it yet (should give you -5c in temps). http://www.legitreviews.com/images/reviews/1355/evga_exhaust_bracket.jpg (if your warranty is over,you can cut your own bracket like that also,just remove it from the card and use a dremel)

 

And like Emkryan said, changing the thermal paste helps alot also.

 

 

Personally i ended up getting an aftermarket cooler on it (just because i wanted it on lower temps really,was back when nvidia drivers forced 3d clocks when you ran dual monitor so temps were 70c when you were idling). (Cooler i got is a Zalman VF3000F , getting 57c in heaven at lowest fan speed)

[.Im#NuMBeR1]

Thank you both for your helpful input! My card already has the back bracket on the card. I am replying via IPB Mobile on my iPhone 5, so I will post a photo of the back of the card later.

 

EDIT:

[Harrison]

Buy a newer; better GPU. Nuff said.

[.Im#NuMBeR1]

Buy a newer; better GPU. Nuff said.

Look, I don't mean to be rude, but if you don't have anything helpful to say Harrison, don't post in my topic at all. That's easy said than done. <_<

[Flamewalker]

That actually isn't a high flow bracket

 

The one on the right is a high flow bracket

 

If you can post a picture of inside the case.

But as said before,place a side fan blowing air towards the gpu, clean the dust out of the gpu cooler/ replace the thermal paste (these 3 thing will help the most)

And then you can look modding your bracket(will void your warranty) or buying one.

[.Im#NuMBeR1]

Ah, no apologies. :) I'll look into it.#

 

EDIT: Sorry for the ridiculously idiotic question, but where would I get a high flow bracket from? :blink:

Edited May 2, 2013 by .Im#NuMBeR1

[Flamewalker]

From the evga store.

 

http://eu.evga.com/products/moreInfo.asp?pn=M020-00-000171&family=Accessories%20-%20Hardware&uc=EUR

 

cost 1,99 € not sure what cost the shipping is, if your outside of the eu you can go towards evga usa or asia site and then check their store

[.Im#NuMBeR1]

I live in the UK, so no idea. :P Thanks for the help Flame!

[Emkryan]

Thank you both for your helpful input! My card already has the back bracket on the card. I am replying via IPB Mobile on my iPhone 5, so I will post a photo of the back of the card later.

 

EDIT:

IMG_41861.JPG

Why does your gfx card look slanted? are the screws loose/missing?

[Flamewalker]

No problem,Back when i just had the card i looked at all the options to get lower temperatures with it,with the sidefan beeing the biggest help in both noise and temperature.

 

In the end i did buy a Zalman vf3000f (aftermarket cooler) to reduce the temperatures even further, and now its doing 57c when running heaven on the lowest fan speed.

[.Im#NuMBeR1]

Why does your gfx card look slanted? are the screws loose/missing?

It's probably the camera angle that makes it look slanted. I did take it from a quick angle. :P