Graphics card temperatures
Graphics card temperatures
So for our test setup we created a dedicated liquid cooling loop for the GeForce GTX 480. We used a Black Ice dual 120mm radiator with two low RPM fans. We fire up the PC and check the idle temperatures and after a while we start to stress the GPU massively.
| Graphics card (reference) | TEMP C |
| GeForce GT 240 512MB | 47 |
| GTX 480 Liquid Cooled | 49 |
| Radeon HD 5570 1024MB | 60 |
| HIS 5850 iCooler Turbo | 61 |
| GBT R5870 SOC | 68 |
| Radeon HD 5670 512MB | 70 |
| GeForce GTS 250 1GB | 72 |
| Radeon HD 5750 1024MB | 73 |
| Radeon HD 5870 1024MB | 75 |
| Radeon HD 5850 1024MB | 77 |
| Radeon HD 5830 1024MB | 78 |
| GeForce GTX 275 896MB | 82 |
| Radeon HD 5970 2048MB | 83 |
| GeForce GTX 285 | 83 |
| GeForce GTX 260 SP216 | 84 |
| GeForce GTX 470 | 94 |
| GeForce GTX 480 | 95 |
Now we left the PC IDLING for roughly an hour, you'll notice an idle temperature of 33 Degrees C.
Our stress test is Furmark, which is the worst thing that can happen to your graphics card. We left Furmark running for roughly half an hour, that way we heat up the coolant quite a bit. We ended at a peak temperature of 49 Degrees C and remember that was after half an hour 100% stress testing on the GPU.
This very same sample with the default reference cooler would get to 95 degrees C. Obviously I have to note that results can and will vary with different liquid-cooling setups.
We used nothing special BUT the loop is dedicated for the GPU. If you add a second GPU or CPU the dynamics can differ as the coolant will be warmer. The radiator is very important though. My recommendation is that you get at least a dual 120mm radiator and preferable a triple 120mm radiator if you want to connect more components to the liquid cooling loop.
Either way, these results are flabbergasting really and that makes one wonder, how would the card overclock now that it is that chilled down? :)
