At what temperature can a GPU run safely?

[767lover 285]

My old GTX960 is running MSFS quite well at high settings and not so dense areas, but its temperature is around 75-80C constantly. Is that ok, or should it run lower than that?

Thanks!

[Nedo68 533]

I am not sure about the gtx960 but i find the temp quite high, i would not go higher then around 70°

try using msi afterburner to control the fan speed, you can create a preset where your fans starting earlier

to keep temps lower but for the price of louder fan noise 😉

The other thing i would try is a new thermal paste, because you said its an old gtx960?

Edited August 24, 2020 by Nedo68

[Chock 17,769]

Anything under 98 is okay for a GTX960 in the sense that it won't break it, but ideally somewhere around a max of 70-80 should be where you are aiming, so you're okay it would seem. Some GPUs are less tolerant than that, my RX480 is supposedly not supposed to go over 85. If you can hold it at 70, that would be good, but the new sim is gonna make your PC work hard, so it's not surprising if keeping the temp down there is not possible.

If you've had the card a while, check that it is seated in the slot properly and that there isn't a load of dust or fluff in any of your fan propellers. If there is, use a cotton bud to clean them out. A dust-covered fan is not an efficient cooling mechanism. Also make sure there is nothing clogging up vent holes and fans on any part of your PC, as keeping these cool with a good air flow can only serve to help matters. Don't shove your PC case up against a wall either. Give it some room to move air around.

[Ianrivaldosmith 5,317]

70-85 is fine, 90 is pushing it...

[AbjectMaelstrom 7]

As other have said, you're not going to cook your GPU. Maxwell max temp is somewhere in upper 90s.

That being said, the Boost on the card will start to reduce voltage and downclock once temps go over 60c and then again at 72c (if I remember right from when I had my 980). 

Basically the higher the temp the more the card starts to downclock to stay within tempt range. The cooler you can keep the card the faster it will run. This is different from thermal throttling which happens when card hit the 90+ point. 

[767lover 285]

Thanks all for the tips, very helpful!

[ludekbrno 302]

59 minutes ago, 767lover said:

My old GTX960 is running MSFS quite well at high settings and not so dense areas, but its temperature is around 75-80C constantly. Is that ok, or should it run lower than that?

Thanks!

For GPUs <90°C is still ok and for CPUs everything <80°C is ok. So you don't have any problem 🙂

Edited August 24, 2020 by ludekbrno

[ckyliu 1,749]

Basically you can't cook a GTX960, it will thermally throttle before it gets to the point of overheating, it's quite usual for them to run at 80'c, if you a utility app that controls the fan curve (I use MSI afterburner) you can make the fan speed up sooner and faster for a given temperature.

Edited August 24, 2020 by ckyliu

[captain420 3,099]

80 is fine. I occassionally hit 81 sometimes.

[W2DR 1,860]

As above, MSI Afterburner is an answer. With a manual fan curve set my old GTX970 runs a consistent 60-65C.

[Bob Scott 7,721]

22 minutes ago, W2DR said:

As above, MSI Afterburner is an answer. With a manual fan curve set my old GTX970 runs a consistent 60-65C.

Yup, many of the cards have default fan curves that prioritize quiet over cool.  Setting a custom fan curve (or a preset "aggressive" curve like that seen in eVGA's Precision X1 utility) will spin the fans up earlier and faster and help keep temps more moderate.

[Flyfaster_MTN002 412]

For MSFS I just run the fan @ 100% and turn up the volume 🙂