gfx card temperature monitoring

Mike2828 · 04-22-2008, 09:12 PM

Apologies if this is in the wrong place,

I am using Rivatuner to monitor the temperature of my GFX coretemp and ambient temp and I was wondering if there is a program out there that is capable of displaying temperature information while inside a game (in the spirit of fraps). Its a little inconvenient to keep minimizing every once in awhile to make sure things are shipshape.

Thankyou for your time,

-Mike

**emosun** · 04-22-2008, 09:47 PM

None that I know of , you could hook up a second monitor and display it on there (thats what I do). Or run your games in window mode.

Mike2828 · 04-23-2008, 09:52 PM

While my tempthread is up I'd like to pose an additional question.

What is the appropriate temperature threshold for the geforce 8800gt anyway? I'm having the damndest time finding a straight answer with any combination of google searches. I think I'm okay but I would like to be 100%

idle core temp: almost always 45C, sometimes 43c
ambient: almost always 34-35c, sometimes 30-32c
load core temp: 59-60C with Crysis on high

Any other game rarely hits 65C, without a framelimiter in oblivion I hit 70c once but I turned it back on and it floated down to between 50-55c

I have a q6600 setup with a 350w powersupply, I was afraid that the 350w wasn't going to be powerful enough but thusfar it has exceeded my expectations substantially. At worst a psu upgrade isn't too painful in the near future.

So does anybody know? Am I okay?

**emosun** · 04-23-2008, 11:22 PM

Wait a minute , do you have an 8800 running on a 350w psu or was that a typo. I hope thats a typo, and that you really have a 500w or higher. And yes those temps look fine.

Mike2828 · 04-24-2008, 08:00 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by emosun

Wait a minute , do you have an 8800 running on a 350w psu or was that a typo. I hope thats a typo, and that you really have a 500w or higher. And yes those temps look fine.

Well its not

The power supply was something I intended to upgrade but everything seems pretty stable so I decided to hang on it for a bit. I couldn't really find out any conflicting information as to why a high wattage PSU is even necessary.

How to I monitor how much power my PSU is consuming anyway? How close to max tolerance is acceptable?

**emosun** · 04-24-2008, 10:25 AM

You NEED a 500w or higher for that setup. You psu is probably running at 110% and that is very bad. Its most likely giving low inconsistant power and will definitely burn out. If your psu burn out it can damage your components in the process. My system just gets by with a 430w and is half the power of yours. I can't believe you gotten this far w/o it burning up.

You need to change that out to a 500w or higher , and thats not a recommendation , that is a requirement if you don't want to wreck it. This is why they make high wattage psu's.

Download speed fan in my sig then install, it will display your voltages. Then please post back with them.

Mike2828 · 04-24-2008, 10:38 AM

Alright... heres a screencap.

You have me very paranoid right now, as does whatever the hell is reading 84c

Mike2828 · 04-24-2008, 11:28 AM

In any case I'm ordering this 550wPSU

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817170011

Out of curiosity, any increased performance expectations from a higher wattage PSU?

I have an irrational fear that perhaps a higher wattage PSU will cause my gfx core temp to increase (its affixed with the Zalman VF830 fan/copper heatskink combo)

**emosun** · 04-24-2008, 12:00 PM

No a better psu will insure that your system does not fry. That 350w psu is a death sentence on the pc. Also the one you found is well , bad, lol. Ill help you pick one out. The best brands in psu's are antec or thermaltake or something along those lines. There much better quality units compared to the cheap flashy looking ones. You can see the one you saw has some poor reviews. Here are some good choices.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817153052
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817371007

I wouldn't push ya to get one if it wasn't important.

Mike2828 · 04-24-2008, 12:10 PM

I dig, and I appreciate the advice. Theres no way I'm taking the chance of destroying my computer after I dropped $830 on it. Another 50-60 bucks is still within my overall price-range (and considering I scored a monitor for free I'm still doing okay).

What was running 84c anyway? The psu? Is the comp safe enough to use for basic non-gaming function?

Order filed..

**emosun** · 04-24-2008, 01:21 PM

Which one you get?

The 84 c might be a misread but could in fact be the vc or psu.

Mike2828 · 04-24-2008, 01:31 PM

I went with your 500w recommendation. Plugs, warranty, reviews- it all looked sound. Price didn't suck too bad either (after rebate anyway). I could stand the lower wattage too since the computer will be running off of a 6800w generator service in a bus full time in a couple months. I doubt even on full load the power consumption will hit 500w but I could be wrong.

What does VC stand for?

**emosun** · 04-24-2008, 02:07 PM

Vc stands for video card. But yes the pc will use the full 500w and will run much safer.

Mike2828 · 04-24-2008, 02:11 PM

doh, of course

Rivatuner (assuming its accurate) puts it at about 45c which means by process of elimination it must be the PSU. However, that feels cold.. ahh who knows

Mike2828 · 04-26-2008, 11:12 AM

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817153052

****, isn't the 12vrail under-amped for the 8800gt?

**1 g0t 0wn3d** · 04-26-2008, 11:26 AM

The lin is broken but i would say that 30 or more amps is needed for the 8800

Mike2828 · 04-26-2008, 12:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 1 g0t 0wn3d

The lin is broken but i would say that 30 or more amps is needed for the 8800

try this: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817153052

I feel like a chump for failing to understand the amperage part of equation, but if there appears to be two 12vrails equaling 29amps with this PSU. If one rail isn't enough seperatly and I'm using only one GPU then is it possible to combine the two rails to get the amperage I need?

**1 g0t 0wn3d** · 04-26-2008, 05:06 PM

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817151040

Mike2828 · 04-29-2008, 06:53 PM

As you can see I installed the new 500w psu as per recommendation. I feel good with the move (even though it was 20bucks more than I wanted to spend :D). As you can see pretty much everything is several degrees cooler (the gpu is 2-3c cooler idling/underload) even though it seems to be pulling more volts.

That 84C must be a outofwack as the -52c. A lot of people seem to get misreads as well so I'm not too worried.

Thanks again for your advice

04-22-2008, 09:12 PM	#1 (permalink)
Mike2828 Registered User Join Date: Mar 2008 Posts: 52 OS: XP	gfx card temperature monitoring Apologies if this is in the wrong place, I am using Rivatuner to monitor the temperature of my GFX coretemp and ambient temp and I was wondering if there is a program out there that is capable of displaying temperature information while inside a game (in the spirit of fraps). Its a little inconvenient to keep minimizing every once in awhile to make sure things are shipshape. Thankyou for your time, -Mike

04-22-2008, 09:47 PM	#2 (permalink)
emosun Moderator Hardware Team Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: usa Posts: 6,983 OS: xp pro sp2 My System	Re: gfx card temperature monitoring None that I know of , you could hook up a second monitor and display it on there (thats what I do). Or run your games in window mode. __________________ Gpu Benchmarks Cpu-Z Power supply information and selection Gpu-Z Video card quick list

04-23-2008, 09:52 PM	#3 (permalink)
Mike2828 Registered User Join Date: Mar 2008 Posts: 52 OS: XP	Re: gfx card temperature monitoring While my tempthread is up I'd like to pose an additional question. What is the appropriate temperature threshold for the geforce 8800gt anyway? I'm having the damndest time finding a straight answer with any combination of google searches. I think I'm okay but I would like to be 100% idle core temp: almost always 45C, sometimes 43c ambient: almost always 34-35c, sometimes 30-32c load core temp: 59-60C with Crysis on high Any other game rarely hits 65C, without a framelimiter in oblivion I hit 70c once but I turned it back on and it floated down to between 50-55c I have a q6600 setup with a 350w powersupply, I was afraid that the 350w wasn't going to be powerful enough but thusfar it has exceeded my expectations substantially. At worst a psu upgrade isn't too painful in the near future. So does anybody know? Am I okay?

04-23-2008, 11:22 PM	#4 (permalink)
emosun Moderator Hardware Team Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: usa Posts: 6,983 OS: xp pro sp2 My System	Re: gfx card temperature monitoring Wait a minute , do you have an 8800 running on a 350w psu or was that a typo. I hope thats a typo, and that you really have a 500w or higher. And yes those temps look fine. __________________ Gpu Benchmarks Cpu-Z Power supply information and selection Gpu-Z Video card quick list

04-24-2008, 10:25 AM	#6 (permalink)
emosun Moderator Hardware Team Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: usa Posts: 6,983 OS: xp pro sp2 My System	Re: gfx card temperature monitoring You NEED a 500w or higher for that setup. You psu is probably running at 110% and that is very bad. Its most likely giving low inconsistant power and will definitely burn out. If your psu burn out it can damage your components in the process. My system just gets by with a 430w and is half the power of yours. I can't believe you gotten this far w/o it burning up. You need to change that out to a 500w or higher , and thats not a recommendation , that is a requirement if you don't want to wreck it. This is why they make high wattage psu's. Download speed fan in my sig then install, it will display your voltages. Then please post back with them. __________________ Gpu Benchmarks Cpu-Z Power supply information and selection Gpu-Z Video card quick list

04-24-2008, 10:38 AM	#7 (permalink)
Mike2828 Registered User Join Date: Mar 2008 Posts: 52 OS: XP	Re: gfx card temperature monitoring Alright... heres a screencap. You have me very paranoid right now, as does whatever the hell is reading 84c

04-24-2008, 11:28 AM	#8 (permalink)
Mike2828 Registered User Join Date: Mar 2008 Posts: 52 OS: XP	Re: gfx card temperature monitoring In any case I'm ordering this 550wPSU http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817170011 Out of curiosity, any increased performance expectations from a higher wattage PSU? I have an irrational fear that perhaps a higher wattage PSU will cause my gfx core temp to increase (its affixed with the Zalman VF830 fan/copper heatskink combo) Last edited by Mike2828; 04-24-2008 at 11:44 AM.

04-24-2008, 12:00 PM	#9 (permalink)
emosun Moderator Hardware Team Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: usa Posts: 6,983 OS: xp pro sp2 My System	Re: gfx card temperature monitoring No a better psu will insure that your system does not fry. That 350w psu is a death sentence on the pc. Also the one you found is well , bad, lol. Ill help you pick one out. The best brands in psu's are antec or thermaltake or something along those lines. There much better quality units compared to the cheap flashy looking ones. You can see the one you saw has some poor reviews. Here are some good choices. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817153052 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817371007 I wouldn't push ya to get one if it wasn't important. __________________ Gpu Benchmarks Cpu-Z Power supply information and selection Gpu-Z Video card quick list Last edited by emosun; 04-24-2008 at 12:03 PM.

04-24-2008, 12:10 PM	#10 (permalink)
Mike2828 Registered User Join Date: Mar 2008 Posts: 52 OS: XP	Re: gfx card temperature monitoring I dig, and I appreciate the advice. Theres no way I'm taking the chance of destroying my computer after I dropped $830 on it. Another 50-60 bucks is still within my overall price-range (and considering I scored a monitor for free I'm still doing okay). What was running 84c anyway? The psu? Is the comp safe enough to use for basic non-gaming function? Order filed..

04-24-2008, 01:21 PM	#11 (permalink)
emosun Moderator Hardware Team Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: usa Posts: 6,983 OS: xp pro sp2 My System	Re: gfx card temperature monitoring Which one you get? The 84 c might be a misread but could in fact be the vc or psu. __________________ Gpu Benchmarks Cpu-Z Power supply information and selection Gpu-Z Video card quick list

04-24-2008, 01:31 PM	#12 (permalink)
Mike2828 Registered User Join Date: Mar 2008 Posts: 52 OS: XP	Re: gfx card temperature monitoring I went with your 500w recommendation. Plugs, warranty, reviews- it all looked sound. Price didn't suck too bad either (after rebate anyway). I could stand the lower wattage too since the computer will be running off of a 6800w generator service in a bus full time in a couple months. I doubt even on full load the power consumption will hit 500w but I could be wrong. What does VC stand for?

04-24-2008, 02:07 PM	#13 (permalink)
emosun Moderator Hardware Team Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: usa Posts: 6,983 OS: xp pro sp2 My System	Re: gfx card temperature monitoring Vc stands for video card. But yes the pc will use the full 500w and will run much safer. __________________ Gpu Benchmarks Cpu-Z Power supply information and selection Gpu-Z Video card quick list

04-24-2008, 02:11 PM	#14 (permalink)
Mike2828 Registered User Join Date: Mar 2008 Posts: 52 OS: XP	Re: gfx card temperature monitoring doh, of course Rivatuner (assuming its accurate) puts it at about 45c which means by process of elimination it must be the PSU. However, that feels cold.. ahh who knows

04-26-2008, 11:12 AM	#15 (permalink)
Mike2828 Registered User Join Date: Mar 2008 Posts: 52 OS: XP	Re: gfx card temperature monitoring http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817153052 ****, isn't the 12vrail under-amped for the 8800gt?

04-26-2008, 11:26 AM	#16 (permalink)
1 g0t 0wn3d TSF Enthusiast Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Sedona, az Posts: 6,528 OS: Vista basic 32bit My System	Re: gfx card temperature monitoring The lin is broken but i would say that 30 or more amps is needed for the 8800 __________________ Bench Test \| PC Wizard \| System specs \| PSU info \| PSU calculator \| Memtest86+ \| Speedfan

04-26-2008, 05:06 PM	#18 (permalink)
1 g0t 0wn3d TSF Enthusiast Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Sedona, az Posts: 6,528 OS: Vista basic 32bit My System	Re: gfx card temperature monitoring http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817151040 __________________ Bench Test \| PC Wizard \| System specs \| PSU info \| PSU calculator \| Memtest86+ \| Speedfan

04-29-2008, 06:53 PM	#19 (permalink)
Mike2828 Registered User Join Date: Mar 2008 Posts: 52 OS: XP	Re: gfx card temperature monitoring As you can see I installed the new 500w psu as per recommendation. I feel good with the move (even though it was 20bucks more than I wanted to spend :D). As you can see pretty much everything is several degrees cooler (the gpu is 2-3c cooler idling/underload) even though it seems to be pulling more volts. That 84C must be a outofwack as the -52c. A lot of people seem to get misreads as well so I'm not too worried. Thanks again for your advice