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GTX 260 temps

F

Flogger23m

Fully [H]
Joined
Jun 19, 2009
Messages
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It summer here, and the temps on my GTX 260 are hotter than ever. The card is 1.5 years old now.

For a comparison, I will talk about Far Cry 2, the first game I played on this PC, and the game I was playing 20 minutes ago.

When I got it, it would run at around 73 degrees C during hot days, with my fan at 60% or so.

Today, I had the fan running at 80%, and it was running at 79 degrees C.

So, it is probably time for a good cleaning. Thing is, how do I clean it? Every few months, I take the card out, and use a vacuum to suck the dust out of the fan ect.

But the temps have still been going up gradually ever since I got it.

So, I am guessing there is dust stuck somewhere in the heat sink where I can not see/reach it?

If so, what can be done to properly clean it? Don't want to buy a new heat sink/fan.
 
Maybe there is dust in the heatsink that you cannot vacuum, maybe ur thermal paste has gone off, maybe ur fan is dying and is simply spinning slower at a given duty cycle. In any case you will have to take ur card apart to service it, which will likely void ur warranty depending on who your card is manufactured by. There are plenty of guides on the internet on how to disassemble (?) the 260.

I also remember my 8800gt's temps going up 3oC after a certain driver update over the last 2 years, so your problem may not be entirely heatsink related.
 
Compressed air is the best way to blow out the heatsink...a vacuum really wont get anything that's in further than a 1/2 inch.....

You can buy canned air,which will work better than a vacuum..but I have found they are not really strong enough if you have dust and stuff deep into the heatsink fins

I have access to an air compressor and blow gun....as long as your careful and don't go nuts, that's the easiest way I know of and it cleans the card really well.....you need to be careful though with that method....120 -140 PSI coming out of an blowgun can easily blow the capacitors off the card...and that never a good thing..:)
 
There's one very important thing to remember about these cards. That is that the fan controller doesn't simply spin up the fan the hotter it gets. The card has built in thermal limits that crank up the fan in intervals. You can have it at different speeds and still have the same temperatures because of this.

Yes, keep the dust out of the card but that's going to allow your fan to run slower to maintain the same temperatures as it is now by running faster. It likely won't run any cooler, just quieter.
 
You may consider replacing the stock thermal paste with some Arctic Silver 5.
 
Crosshairs said:
Compressed air is the best way to blow out the heatsink...a vacuum really wont get anything that's in further than a 1/2 inch.....

You can buy canned air,which will work better than a vacuum..but I have found they are not really strong enough if you have dust and stuff deep into the heatsink fins

I have access to an air compressor and blow gun....as long as your careful and don't go nuts, that's the easiest way I know of and it cleans the card really well.....you need to be careful though with that method....120 -140 PSI coming out of an blowgun can easily blow the capacitors off the card...and that never a good thing..:)
Click to expand...

Yeah, was thinking of this.

What kind of PSI should I be looking at minimum? I'd probably want to keep it below 120.

I guess 40 or so should be enough to get most of it out?
 
Our compressor is set to around 80 PSI and it's way more than enough. Just be careful though. After it's fully pressurized, make sure there is no moister spraying out of it.

Another toy I really like for this is the canister vac we have at work. It has one end that is intake and one exhaust. Hook up the hose to the exhaust, attach a small tip and you have yourself a great cleaning tool. Makes cleaning my 650 computers every summer just a bit easier ;)
 
bigdogchris said:
Our compressor is set to around 80 PSI and it's way more than enough. Just be careful though. After it's fully pressurized, make sure there is no moister spraying out of it.
Click to expand...
Sorry man, but I have to say, I'm going to go ahead and guess you mean moisture?
 
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Looking online, I've found some.

But I'd rather just skip shipping and pick a few up locally.

Do places like Walmart sell compressed air? Best Buy?
 
You can find canned air almost anywhere. If you can't try a Staples or OfficeMax.
 
Just got some Clean Safe Dust Remover brand from Walmart. Will try this today or tomorrow, hopefully this will bring my temps down!
 
79C is within tolerance... however it may screw up any overclock you may be running. make sure its at stock and the heatsink is clear of dust bunnies and it should hold.
 
I'd advise you hold the fan when you start spraying. Some say it doesn't matter, but for me, personally, I'd rather not risk damaging the motor or having it build a charge at such a high RPM. Just my $0.02.
 
00PS said:
I'd advise you hold the fan when you start spraying. Some say it doesn't matter, but for me, personally, I'd rather not risk damaging the motor or having it build a charge at such a high RPM. Just my $0.02.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the advice.

Edit: Just gave it a quick cleaning. Dropped by 2 degrees C for both video card and CPU.

Will have take out the video card and give it a proper one.
 
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