Safe temps for vid card and CPU in heatwave

[TwIce]

I have a high-performance gaming PC and have programmed Everest to alert me and suspend the offending program when the GPU temp hits 80 degrees C. A few gfx-intensive games occasionally trigger the alarm although I try not to overtax my PC during a SoCal Summer heatwave with no a/c. Obviously I would prefer to err on the side of caution but is 80 degrees over-cautious?

The CPU is water-cooled and does not get up into the 80s but what do you think I should set the CPU temp alert for?

Many thanks, as always.

[Steve R Jones]

It wouldn't hurt if you mentioned which cpu you have

[TwIce]

Sorry Steve, here are CPU and GPU specs:

Intel Core i7 920 2.66GHz (Quad Core): Factory o/c between 3.3GHz to 3.9GHz

1x NVIDIA GeForce GTX 285 2GB (Includes PhysX Technology)

[OS-Wiz]

The book says 67.9C is max for your CPU. Forgot max temp for your GPU. Good case ventilation? Will need a fan blowing directly on the vidcard most likely.

[TwIce]

Yup, good case ventilation, it's a purpose-built, ventilated case with plentiful fans and it is not enclosed in an alcove, or other closed-in space.

If anyone can advise re. GPU max temp, I'd be very grateful.

[fluffmonster]

for GFX: 80C is a good spot for a warning, maybe 85. It should function up to mid 90s, and start artifacting before any permanent damage is done. However, if temps are getting this high then there *is* an airflow problem, most easily solved by ramping up the fan on the gpu. Spec is idle at 40% which is really not very adequate; i suggest a minimum of 60% if ambient temps are anything over 80F.

CPU temp alert should be utterly irrelevant if the water cooling is worth a damn at all. Max is most certainly higher than 67.9C (not sure where you dug up that number Oz)

[TwIce]

Great information, Fluffmonster, many thanks.

I'll need to do a little research on how to change fan settings; I don't even know where the user interface might be found or if it's a hardware or software setting. Must be some kind of firmware, right?

Thanks for letting me know that 80C (not F, surely?) is a good ballpark number for the warning. Most games do not even trouble it, and never on non-Summer days. In a Summer heatwave,however, the un-taxed daytime GPU temp goes to about 51-55C; in those circumstances, I see most games pushing the GPU from there to about 75-78C, with the most graphically intense ones occasionally triggering the alarm.

Yup, the water-cooling is very effective. I have a temp alert set for that, too, but it never gets anywhere near it.

[fluffmonster]

There are apps that will allow control of the fan speed. I use eVGA Precision which is derived from Rivatuner. I'm sure a google search will turn up several options.

I didn't get my Cs and Fs crossed....80C on the card is a good warning trigger, and I bump up the fan when *ambient* temps get above 80F.