Cooling GPU and maybe CPU?

[flipp1234567]

Hi. i was having some issues with the temperature on my GPU. it's below the limits, but i'd like it to be a lot lower. It hit 75 degrees C today running 2 Monitors and Borderlands 2. It's an AMD Radeon 7970. I was wondering what VGA cooler i would use, and what kind of cooling? Water cooling or Air cooling?

If i went Water cooling, i'd want to be ready to upgrade a little while later to get water cooling for my CPU as well. My CPU temperature is well within limits, it's 56C, water cooling for it is unnecessary but would keep my blood pressure down.

Thanks guys

 

[Alexffiala]

Op, does your card come with an application utility that allows you to adjust settings on your video card?

I have a radeon 6950 and it allows me to change the fan speed manually if I choose. Sometimes the fans on those cards won't go full throttle even with the excess heat. Go into that utility first and put the fan at 100% when gaming and see what the temps do.

As for the cpu, do you have a stock cooler on it? If so, of course your temps are going to be around 45-55c. Depending on your build, air or watercooling will have advantages and disadvantages.

If you have a lot of case space and are willing to spend 300-500 on full liquid cooling, you could go that route. I didn't go for liquid cooling on my cpu specifically because my Noctua NH-D14 cools at a better and more efficient rate than the h100.

Another note: Your case may have bad airflow. Check to make sure all of your top and rear case fans blow air out of the case. Those should be your exhaust fans. Your front, side and undercarriage fans should be pulling air into the case. Stock case fans also tend to be less efficient, more noisy, and move less air. Maybe think about investing in some >80cfm fans that will move air faster and more effectively through your case.

My temps never go about 40c, even when gaming (then again my card ain't anything special). My idle temps for my cpu are about 25-31c depending on if the ac in my house is running ... >

 

[Yevrag35]

OP, I know exactly what you're going through.
My 680 running Borderlands2 gets up to 77-78c if I don't have my GPU fan running at about 83% max. Even with that, it still hits 67c. But my CPU even at consistent 100% utilization barely gets to 60c, but mostly 55-58c at most times.

Unfortunately, I really only two options for vga cooling, because my 680 has stacked power sockets. So it's pretty much either water cool or one type of air method that would work with mine.

 

[patonb]

75C is very far from the limit, and very normal for gaming.

You are throwing away money if you water cool your gpu.

Download evga precision, or msi afterburner and manually adjust your fan speed.

 

[PP Mguire]

75C is very far from the limit, and very normal for gaming.

You are throwing away money if you water cool your gpu.

Download evga precision, or msi afterburner and manually adjust your fan speed.

This, don't be paranoid over very reasonable temps for a high powered card like that.

Just for reference, when you start seeing 90C on the GPU, that's when you get worried. Just be glad the 7970 is a relatively cool running card. My 580s stock would get up to 88c on auto fan while having an adjusted fan ramp profile. The GTX480 cards were worse.

 

[flipp1234567]

I understand what you guys are saying, but it's better to be safe than sorry. My i5-2500k is hitting 85 degrees (Right now) while playing Borderlands 2 + dual monitors. Each core is about 84-87, avg 86C and fluxuating to a max package temp of 89C (Stock Fan). my GPU is at 74C with 50% fan and staying constant. any louder than 50% nobody in my house would be able to sleep.

I'm willing to spend a fair amount of money, 200$ tops. what are my options? full water cooling or just stick with Air cooling? i have an Antec 1200 if anybody needed to know. I

 

[PP Mguire]

For 200 you aren't going to get much in actual better cooling. Sounds like you just need better case airflow, cooler ambient temps, or a good cleaning. Especially if your 2500k is reaching those temps with the stock fan. Neither parts are overclocked right?

Try cleaning and repasting both the CPU and GPU heatsinks then report back. If that doesn't help then I'll point you in the direction of better cooling.

 

[flipp1234567]

i personally want to say my case airflow is pretty good. but i could be wrong. Neither the GPU or CPU is overclocked. The temperature of my room is about the temperature of outside: about 80F-95F. I'll have the CPu and GPu repasted by next thursday the latest (along with a cleaning).

Thanks for the Help.

 

[PP Mguire]

I owned an Antec 1200 and can say, even with so many fans the case flow isn't that great if you load it up. I had to replace every single fan besides the large one on top before the air flow really picked up. On that note, if your ambient is that warm, that would be half the cause of your hot temps right there.

A clean and repaste might help, but for starters I recommend the Corsair H80i for the CPU. As for the GPU, need to know the actual brand and model of your GPU so I know what fits it.

 

[flipp1234567]

This is my GPU:
XFX FX-797A-TNFC Radeon HD 7970 Core Edition 3GB 384-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card - Newegg.com

and i figured that was the case with the antec 1200. even with such a large amount of space, the fans dont' really seem that powerful. I suppose i gave antec the benefit of the doubt with this one. but yeah. my Room temp is usually about this hot in the summer, and about 75F in the winter.