Fixed-High ASUS Strix 970 OC VRM Temperature (100° MAX, 72° AVG) Should I be worried?

[BRSxIgnition]

Hello,

This is my first time owning a dedicated gaming desktop rather than an all-purpose laptop. It was built by NCIX and "checked" by them before I received it.

System Specs:

• i7 4790K @ 4Ghz
  
• ASUS Strix 970 OC
  
• 16GB 1600Mhz RAM
  
• Corsair H60 AIO CPU Cooler (120mm Radiator+Outlet/Venting Fan)
  
• 200mm Intake Fan
  
• 2x 120mm Bitfenix Spectre Outlent/Venting Fans
  
• Phanteks Enthoo EVOLV mATX Case[/.
  

I have HWinfo64 set up on my PC to start up with windows and log the min, max, and average as it displays them on the system tray. As far as I knew until recently, the highest temperate between the motherboard, CPU, and GPU were about 67 - 70C, which is great.

Thing is, I've just run the Valley Benchmark 5 times consecutively (1080p, Ultra, 4x AA) and come out with the following temperatures. Temperatures are recorded in Celcius using HWiNFO.

• CPU: 18° MIN, 57° MAX, 36.7° AVG
  
• Motherboard: 23° MIN, 39° MAX, 33.3° AVG
  
• GPU (Core): 20° MIN, 71° MAX, 52.6° AVG
  
• GPU (VRM): 23° MIN, 100° MAX, 72.5° AVG
  

Does this mean the VRM on my card is faulty? Should I request a replacement? Is everything really just fine? I've only had this machine for 2 weeks or so.

[BRSxIgnition]

Bump to prolong the life of this thread until I get a definitive maximum VRM temp number from ASUS. (So far, all I've gotten is: "I'd like to confirmt hat the temperature which you are experiencing is quite normal and you need not worry about it." )

I've asked for a maximum value so I can decide for myself if I am willing to risk the summer temperatures with this graphics card.

=====================================

Most recent update on the issue:

Ran through the Valley benchmark repeatedly after a cold boot.

VRM temperature stabilized at 98-99c after 1 hour of the Valley benchmark. The Average temperature was 92c, which is likely because the GPU VRM was 22c at boot. The room is very cold too (Around 15c) so that may be why it's not hitting 100c.

100c is the highest I've ever seen it go.

Opinions? I want to keep this card if possible, but I need to know how high the VRM on this card can go before it's dangerous.

If it's already close to the limit now, it will likely go over the limit during summer.

[0v3rl0rd]

Same situation here. Take a look at my thread.

[BRSxIgnition]

We seem to be having the same issue.

When I use furmark for a 5 minute test, my VRM reaches 102c, while my GPU stays at 66c.

Apparently - according to an Asus Tech - the safe upper limit of the VRM on the Strix is 110c.

Something is wrong with this card - I won't be able to use it when my ambient temperatures go up by 10 - 15c in the summer. I'd be over the safe limit by 5c if my temperatures went up by that much.

[0v3rl0rd]

BRSxIgnition wrote:
We seem to be having the same issue.

When I use furmark for a 5 minute test, my VRM reaches 102c, while my GPU stays at 66c.

Apparently - according to an Asus Tech - the safe upper limit of the VRM on the Strix is 110c.

Something is wrong with this card - I won't be able to use it when my ambient temperatures go up by 10 - 15c in the summer. I'd be over the safe limit by 5c if my temperatures went up by that much.

Exactly. When I tested it, it was 20°C ambient, and here in Croatia, in summer, the temps can go really high (like you said, 10-15°C up on current temperature), so it will go over that safe limit.
Even if we take summer out of the "equation", the card shouldn't come nowhere near the safe limit. It is perfectly normal that it goes really high, but not that much high.

Even now, at ambient 20°C, my GPU idles at 45°C while the VRM is at 50°C.

Have You seen the videos I posted on YouTube (in my post)?
Does Your card produce all those weird noises?

EDIT: I noticed You said that Your GPU temps stay at 66°C... mine don't.

I'm running Valley (only few minutes). RIght now GPU is @ 91°C, VRM @ 85°C

[Retired]

I believe the real world spec are higher than 100c for your mosfets

Meaning that 100c will not fry your card

I wouldn't worry about 72c, but if you have 72c when the card is idling inside windows the GPU got a problem..

45c core temp idle temps is high, bad heatsink matting?

[BRSxIgnition]

0v3rl0rd wrote:


Have You seen the videos I posted on YouTube (in my post)?
Does Your card produce all those weird noises?

EDIT: I noticed You said that Your GPU temps stay at 66°C... mine don't.

I'm running Valley (only few minutes). RIght now GPU is @ 91°C, VRM @ 85°C

I haven't seen the video yet, I will when I get a chance.

In terms of those temps, that's not good - seems you have a defect in the GPU cooling as well as the VRM.

WhitePaw wrote:
I believe the real world spec are higher than 100c for your mosfets

Meaning that 100c will not fry your card

I wouldn't worry about 72c, but if you have 72c when the card is idling inside windows the GPU got a problem..

Regarding the mosfets, an Asus Tech has confirmed that the highest safe temperature for the VRM is 110. This means that during the summer, I can expect it to go over, since my ambient temperatures will be 10 - 15c higher than they are now.

Regarding the 72c average, I want to change the title, since that average was after a good few hours of idle. The average under load was 98.5c (1 hour of valley benchmark, ~12-15c ambient temperature)

My idle temperatures for the graphics card are 26c GPU, and 31c VRM.

[0v3rl0rd]

WhitePaw wrote:
I believe the real world spec are higher than 100c for your mosfets

Meaning that 100c will not fry your card

I wouldn't worry about 72c, but if you have 72c when the card is idling inside windows the GPU got a problem..

45c core temp idle temps is high, bad heatsink matting?

We do know that it will not fry the card, but one must take in consideration few things:
1. It WILL shorten the lifespan of a graphics card - for longer the higher temps are present, the shorter the lifespan.
2. It is still below the safe zone, but it is really near it.
3. It is 20°C ambient right now - in summer will be much hotter >> will pass the safe zone

I edited the above post - right now the GPU reached 91°C (fan was on auto, at 0 RPM), and suddenly it turned on to 100% for 2-3 seconds and it cooled the GPU to 85°C, an after that it went back to 0 RPM.

Then (Valley is running all the time), I set the fan to "user define":
- 40% @ 45°C
- 50% @ 55°C
- 100% @ 85°C
And then it cooled the GPU to 64°C (fan at 64%).

One more point to "strange GPU behavior" 😞

BRSxIgnition wrote:
I haven't seen the video yet, I will when I get a chance.

In terms of those temps, that's not good - seems you have a defect in the GPU cooling as well as the VRM.

Seems like that, at least, some of those (fan, gpu, vrm) is defective here 😕
Yes, take a look at the video when You get a chance.

[Retired]

aha, its the idle fan non spin invention?

[BRSxIgnition]

WhitePaw wrote:
aha, its the idle fan non spin invention?

What?

Also, I watched the video 0v3rl0rd, I get that when using auto and after a few hours of playing, but it's slightly different so I don't know if it's from the GPU or something else in my case.

I've been approved for an RMA/replacement from NCIX, so I'm going to see if I can get a Gigabyte G1 970 instead, and I'll see if that solves anything.