Checking heat on graphics card?

Question

Hello everybody I just recently bought an alienware Aurora and have been enjoying it very much. I did have a good deal of problems when I bought Starcraft 2 and my video card drivers but so far it seems I've gotten that taken care of. I have however been noticing a lot of people posting on the battle.net forums about Starcraft 2 and video cards burning up. Apparently the games menu screen doesn't cap the frame rate and people's video cards are burning up from running full force for extended periods of time. Now it seems most people agree it is faulty cooling or hardware issues but this got me thinking.

Is there a way I can check to see how hot my video cards are running at? I do have the Command Center and it does list 3 temperature guages but I looked through the manual and wasn't able to find what parts of the computer those temperatures were for as well as the recommended safe temp to run things. When I first got this PC, about 3 weeks ago, the fans ran at 100% and it was impossible to even talk in the room because they were so loud. I changed the settings to use the curve and for the most part the temps seem to be between 26-35 degrees celcius. So does anyone know what parts of the PC those temps are for? As well as the recommended safe temps and fan operating speeds? Also if those temps aren't for my video card how to check its temps and make sure it is running safe.

Any advice is greatly appreciated!

Sajin1337 · Answer

Download GPU-Z.

Magius007 · Answer

I'm very cautious about downloading stuff.  Mind if I ask what it is?

Sajin1337 · Answer

It will show you everything you need to know about your video cards and some.

DELL-Chris M · Answer

Magius007,

The temps seen in the Command Center are the sensors in the chassis and they are not a good indication of what the GPU are doing. Sajin1337 is correct. Download and use GPU-Z. 26-35 degrees celcius is fairly normal.

phi1316 · Answer

So I have to ask, how are you seeing 26-35 C on a video card within the system?  I am asking because I just received my Alienware and my GTX 285 is idling at 70C at the moment.  Is there something I am missing here that is causing the temps to be so high?

Magius007 · Answer

The temps that I am making reference to are the ones displayed by the command center.  From what Chris says those sensors are just inside the casing and aren't a good indicator of the actual component temps.  So I'm assuming the 26-35 degree temps is just the temperature inside the case.  The GPU-Z is what is used to fnd the actual temperature of my components.  Atleast thats what I think is being said.

Magius007 · Answer

I downloaded the program and it lists my temps around the 40-50 degree celcius area when I'm just browsing the internet and such. is there a way to check both since I have duel graphics cards? Also at what temp should I be concerned that things are running a little to hot?

Thanks for the program advice Sajin and Chris.

sterlwf · Answer

I have the ATI 5870 video card, and I use Hardware Monitor. Just browsing the internet, the gpu runs around 43 to 46 degrees C, how ever when I run a serious Benchmark. it will shoot to over 66C. Hardware Monitor shows this temp. as a yellow warning lite. Also, just playing a on line game it runs around 60C. To get these readings I call up Hardware Monitor just after leaving the online game or running the benchmark, so a assume that it has cooled down a little in the 10 seconds it take me to look at the reading.

All this being said, I really dont know if these are good readings or not. lol Hope this helps. Hardware Monitor is free to download at CNET and use for 2weeks, however it is listed as freeware. I find it to be very accurate.

by the way, I use Heaven for a Benchmark, the scenes are spectacular!

also my room temperature is around 72 to 75F guess thats what they refer to as ambient temp.

CPU I7 920 oc to 3.2g and 6meg ram

Hope this helps a bit. any comments about what I just posted please reply, got my comp. July 30 2010.............Yours Sterling

Sajin1337 · Answer

\I downloaded the program and it lists my temps around the 40-50 degree celcius area when I'm just browsing the internet and such. is there a way to check both since I have duel graphics cards? Also at what temp should I be concerned that things are running a little to hot? Thanks for the program advice Sajin and Chris. To check both video cards use the video card selection tab. For temps anything below 85C is perfect. Here is the selection tab circled in red...

Magius007 · Answer

Hey Sajin,

I did notice that when I was playing around with it and saw I had two identical listings so thats what I was assuming was card 1 and card 2 but I just wanted to double check. Thanks for confirming it for me! So far my temps seem to be fine, even after a few hours of playing starcraft 2 I'll exit the game and then pull up GPU-Z real quick and so far the highest I've ever seen has been 54 degrees. Thanks for the info, I'll not be concerned unless I see it shoot over 85 like you said and if I do then you can bet I'll be back!

Thanks again!

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Checking heat on graphics card?

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