Graphics Card Temperatures

Graphics Card Temperatures

So here we'll have a look at GPU temperatures. First up, IDLE (desktop) temperatures as reported through software on the thermal sensors of the GPU.

IDLE temperatures are always a tiny bit tricky to read out as Windows Aero could have an effect on this. Overall anything below 50 Degrees C is considered okay, anything below 40 Degrees C is very nice. We threw in some cards at random that we have recently tested in the above chart. But what happens when we are gaming? We fire off an intense game-like application at the graphics card and measure the highest temperature of the GPU. 

So with the cards fully stressed we kept monitoring temperatures and noted down the GPU temperature as reported by the thermal sensor. Remarks:

• The temperature under heavy game stress for the card stabilized at roughly 70 to 75 Degrees C on air cooling. We note down the hottest GPU reading, not the average.
• The IDLE temperatures are higher then usual due to the passive cooling. In desktop mode expect 40 to 45 Degrees C on average depending on desktop activity, internal chassis airflow and ambient temperatures.