Since I don't mind the noise, is there any problem with keeping my fan at 100% all the time. Can it wear it out sooner or cause me any problems? Or is it perfectly acceptable to do this if I choose to for the sake of temps. Most of the time that my pc is on I am either Folding or gaming so my card is usually working hard.
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Question about GTX 260 and fan set at 100%
- Thread starter leh18621
- Start date
leSLIe
Fisting is Too Mainstream for Me
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- Oct 18, 2004
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- 13,994
well from a mechanical point of view, the ball bearings of the fan will eventually wear out, there are designed to work for a predetermined amount of time under certain stress and RPMs before they fail.
well here failing is not that big of a problem, you´ll only hear a rattling noise.
will you wear it out sooner at 100%?
not necessarily, it depends on the particular bearing used on the fan, forces involved, and speed.
bearing manufacturers often put all that info in their catalogues
well here failing is not that big of a problem, you´ll only hear a rattling noise.
will you wear it out sooner at 100%?
not necessarily, it depends on the particular bearing used on the fan, forces involved, and speed.
bearing manufacturers often put all that info in their catalogues
well since you have evga and you don't care about the noise then you could just crank that thing up and forget about it. but it's good idea to manually set the speeds to balance out the life of your gpu/cooler. personally I can't stand the noise, it sounds like a jet engine at 100%. I manage this through rivatuner, 3 different speeds set to trigger at certain thresholds. I don't know if evga precision has something like this, I have the card but never used their software.
fyi the dev that does rivatuner is actually working with evga on their precision tool now also. so if it doesn't have those features it probably will adopt some of them in the near future, but you should give rivatuner a try, it's a powerful app and really simple to customize these kind of things with it.
fyi the dev that does rivatuner is actually working with evga on their precision tool now also. so if it doesn't have those features it probably will adopt some of them in the near future, but you should give rivatuner a try, it's a powerful app and really simple to customize these kind of things with it.
Actually, forcing a constant speed will probably help the fan last longer if anything, but I have to ask, why you are doing this? Are you trying to go for some insane overclock?
the die shrink gave temps for this gpu a huge delta, if you leave the fan settings at default, especially with oc. I don't know about the 65nm version but this one, with stock cooling it can idle in the 40s but shoot up to 80s if you leave it on the default fan control. the tmax must be something like 100 deg, because the fan doesn't even ramp up until mid 80s, plus T range value. that's why you don't hear it speeding up on its own, unless you really push the clocks. rivatuner list the default fan settings as
duty cycle min: 40%
duty cycle max: 100%
T min: 65
T range: 32
T operating: 78
T low limit: 65
T high limit: 85
to leave it at stock, and watch the temps go up in game without the fan kicking in is kind of uncomfortable, but it must be ok if they are set this way. so I set my own fan profiles pretty loose just to keep it under 80 deg and cut down on some noise.
duty cycle min: 40%
duty cycle max: 100%
T min: 65
T range: 32
T operating: 78
T low limit: 65
T high limit: 85
to leave it at stock, and watch the temps go up in game without the fan kicking in is kind of uncomfortable, but it must be ok if they are set this way. so I set my own fan profiles pretty loose just to keep it under 80 deg and cut down on some noise.
SnowBeast
[H]ard|Gawd
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- Aug 3, 2003
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- 1,312
It should, but it doens't work out like that sometimes. My GTX260 216 was running L4D Last Stand the other night and I noticed the fan wasn't reving up. Look at the temps and it was 109c at fan speed of only 40%. Downloaded Precision and set it at 100%. It doesn't bother me, specially with headphones on.
Technophobe
Limp Gawd
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- Feb 25, 2008
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- 339
If it wasn't for the noise, I would run mine at 100% too. If the fan fails within warranty, it should be covered under warranty anyway or you could buy an after market quieter cooler.
My case has lousy airflow and until I get a new case I have two choices. I can either Fold and game with the side cover off, or leave the side cover on and keep the fan at 100%.
My temps with the two methods during a Folding session are as follows:
-With the side cover off and the fan set at 80% my temps are around 65c.
-With the side cover on and the fan set to 100% my temps are around 84c.
It obviously runs much cooler with the side of the case off, but I also get more dust on my gpu and cpu fans.
Your case needs more airflow then. And I wouldn't worry about dust, a quick can of air or cold blow dryer will fix it up in less than two minutes.