Graphics card temperatures

Graphics card temperatures

So here we'll have a look at GPU temperatures. First up, IDLE (desktop) temperatures.

IDLE temperatures are always a tiny bit tricky to read out as Windows Aero could have an affect 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 on the GPU. 

So with the cards fully stressed we kept monitoring temperatures and noted down the GPU temperature. As you can see, decent results. Both IDLE and LOAD temperatures are okay enough, we feel LOAD temperature could have been slightly better though.

Now since one of the cards is a non-reference cards, these results do need to be taken with a grain of salt. Also your PC matters, proper ventilation and good airflow has a direct effect on cooling performance. So with today's graphics cards, please make sure your PC is well ventilated at all times, this will seriously help you on the overall GPU temperature.

Also if at all possible, separate the two cards as far away from each other in the PC as possible, the more room there is in-between them, the better the airflow for these cards will be.