Video Card

Forums › Home Theatre (including HTPC and EPG Collector) › Video Card

blur

384 posts

Ultimate Geek

#84247 27-May-2011 11:47

Hi All

In my HTPC I have a NVIDIA GeForce 9600 GT video card. To date this has performed pretty well, but recently is has stated to annoy me as the fan seems to be making quite a lot of noise.

Wondering how the temps were looking, I loaded the NVIDIA utility to monitor the GPU temp. It seems to sit around 71 degrees mark, which I thought seemed quite high. Also, the heatsink is incredibly hot to touch when the machine is running, and is causeing a lot of heat in the case.

Firstly, I was wondering is this sort of temp normal for the this card? And secondally, as technology has moved on now, is there another card that someone could recommend that would perform as well, but not generate as much heat.

My HTPC - Case Antec Fusion Remote, MOBO Intel DH67BLB3, CPU Intel Core i5-2400S 2.5 GHz, RAM 8GB DDR3 1333, HDD 120Gig Corsair Force Series 3 SSD system | WD Caviar Black 2TB data, Tuners Black Gold BGT3595 dual DVB-S/S2, dual DVB-T, Video nVIDIA GeForce GT 520, 1024MB, Sound Intel® High Definition Audio (onboard), OS Windows 7 x64

B1GGLZ

1961 posts

Uber Geek

#474743 27-May-2011 12:25

First thing I'd do is check all the vents and fans and filters for dust accumulation.
I find it a good idea to do so and blow out the PC with compressed air (vacuum cleaner on blow) every 3 or 4 months. They get clogged up fairly quickly in the average home. There must be an unrestriced airflow through the case at all times.

blur

384 posts

Ultimate Geek

#474836 27-May-2011 15:01

Good call - might be time to get the vaccume cleaner out. My wife WILL be excited!

Any other feedback on the operating temp?

gzt

17106 posts

Uber Geek

Lifetime subscriber

#475057 28-May-2011 10:05

Sounds like normal operating temperature to me. I run a 7600GS which sits on 65-70 most of the time, gets up to 80-90 when gaming.

The total amount of heat a card puts out is related directly to the wattage power rating of the card. So that part you are stuck with.

What you really want is a case design and case fan arrangement that is very efficient at getting the heat out, or a card design that is very efficient at getting that heat out of the case.

If you haven't cleaned your gpu fan and heatsink for a while it is almost certainly full of gunk - so you might get a few degrees back from the effort.

borgia

101 posts

Master Geek

#476610 1-Jun-2011 10:45

Depending on budget, I find the cards that exhaust out the back of the case the best for htpc. They are dual slot solutions but using the drivers I turn the fan right down and they are very quiet. I am using the evga gts450 and it does free view great and is quiet. Of course it needs a power adapter from your power supply, and ironically my 450w power supply now spins a bit harder to supply the juice!!

Ivan

hashbrown

463 posts

Ultimate Geek

#476880 1-Jun-2011 23:07

If your video card is just exhausting perpendicular to the card, you may be able to divert the airflow with a bit of ducting or just a simple wedge shape on the side of your case. This can reduce heat buildup around your card, but just be careful about where you send all that excess heat.

viperguy

25 posts

Geek

#478233 6-Jun-2011 14:48

If youre after a new graphics card, then go for an ATI HD6450, passive, low profile, bluray 3d hardware acceleration and bitstreams HD audio, can be had for ~$100

blur

384 posts

Ultimate Geek

#478253 6-Jun-2011 16:42

viperguy: If youre after a new graphics card, then go for an ATI HD6450, passive, low profile, bluray 3d hardware acceleration and bitstreams HD audio, can be had for ~$100

Something like this you mean?

http://www.ascent.co.nz/productspecification.aspx?ItemID=396395

Equinox IT

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viperguy

25 posts

Geek

#478254 6-Jun-2011 16:46

thats the one, for HTPC use it is excellent

my personal setup uses the dvi and hdmi ports, dvi to the receiver for hd audio, hdmi to the tv for blueray 3d

I did this to not have to buy a new 3d capable receiver but still have HD audio