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.

• The temperature under heavy game stress for the card stabilized at roughly 67 Degrees C on air cooling. We note down the hottest GPU reading, not the average.
• The temperature under heavy game stress for the card stabilized at roughly 45 Degrees C on liquid cooling (LCS). We note down the hottest GPU reading, not the average. A massive warning though - each and every liquid cooling solution will vary. A single 120mm radiator and a low speed fan could even get you worse temps over air cooling. Also the ambient temperature in your country might be way higher. As such liquid cooling measurements are to be considered subjective. A proper setup however will do wonders cooling wise.