Video Cards Overheating?

[B3L13V3R]

Hey all!

So, I'm playing BF3 for a few hours on a given night with the guys and gals over at GS96, and it seems that after about 3 hours of gaming, the game stops and screen goes black, system then becomes unresponsive and requires a reboot.

I play BF3 at 5760 x 1080 on 3x Asus VG248QE @144Hz so the cards are getting a bit of a a workout I would imagine.

It's an brand new system. Only about 2 months old.

Here are the specs.

Rampage IV Formula
3820 @ 4.3 - Under Swiftech H220
Corsair Dominator GT 16GB 2133
Asus GTX 670 4GB SLI @ 1000/1512
EVGA 1000w PSU

The case is a Corsair 650D with the all cages including 5 inch bay completely removed with another 200mm fan in front pulling through the same material as the default bottom 200mm fan. I can't imagine this being a "lack" of airflow. :confused:

What else would you wanna know before taking some stabs at this? Sorry for the bad pics. Just shot them on the fly for reference.

Thanks in advance!!

[Masterbobo]

what are the in game temps? if you don't have a side monitor (which is a good idea) you can always alt+tab to check on your monitoring software of your choice. Then if your temps look high you could, and should set a custom fan profile using (for example) MSI afterburner, I do and my 3x GTX's never overheat and stay very cool.

If the cards are in fact cool, I have no idea what it could be, possibly an unstable OC or squirrely board acting up???

PS: we have the same RAM lol looks badass, not to mention your rig is a superbly clean build lol

[HiVizMan]

One of the things I would do is first have a look at the OS event viewer to see what was the cause according to Microsoft.

And I would have GPUz logging the graphic card temps to file in the back ground. Same with CPU temps but not sure what freeware application will do that.

[kkn]

its his cards that shuts down the C, ive been on to it before and i would guess its the temp of the cards.
since he have to wait to boot up again, its the cards that have to cool down.
download afterburner and set a profile on it.
if you have a keyboard whit a screen on it you can get a onscreen from afterburner on it to show you temp, usage,++.
remember to just use ONE aplication for the controlling of the cards.

if you have dust in your case, get a bottle of compressed air and blow over the fins of the graphic cards , can be its clogged up dust too, but test out afterburner first and see how it goes.

[Arne_Saknussemm]

Yes, I would look to temps as well..those cards vent a lot of hot air into the case and slowly everything gets hotter and hotter as the cards are trying to cool themselves with their own exhaust.....maybe leave the side of the case off? and as kkn suggests, set a pretty aggressive fan profile at the higher temps....but remember that it won't matter if the fans are at 100% if all they are doing is blowing hot air...you will have to get that hot air out of the case...

But this may not be the only reason so Event viewing is a top tip...BF3 loves crashing by all accounts.....what video driver...latest 320.49?

[Chino]

Download and install EVGA's PrecisionX or MSI's Afterburner. They both come with an OSD function to have the GPU usage and temperatures show on screen while you're gaming. Then start your BF3 gaming session again and monitor the temperatures closely. Remember that Kepler's first throttle point is at 70C so you'd want to keep your GPUs under that temperature either by improving your airflow or using a more aggresive fan profile.

Let us know how that goes for you.

[Arne_Saknussemm]

Yep they are both good....the OSD goes through the Riva Statistics Server...you have to install this component to get the OSD....just in case you see this come up during installation, do install it. I got so in the habit of deselecting add on stuff during installs I deselected this and got no OSD until I redid things.....

[B3L13V3R]

You guys all ROCK.... I will report back as soon as I have time!! Probably tomorrow... got projects today... 😞

[B3L13V3R]

OK all... finally broke away for some answers to your questions back:


What are the in game temps?

- I think they are hovering between 65 and 70 for sure as when I come out of the game (if it hasnt crashed), the temps are right at 65ish in the ROG GPU Tweak monitor.

Monitoring software of your choice

- ROG GPU Tweak and AIDA Extreme (Licensed)

Not to mention your rig is a superbly clean build

- Thank you, it's just the beginning. I needed to use it this weekend so it is still rushed. That will be another thread for feedback once it is finished. At least as long as it's on air.

I would have GPUz logging the graphic card temps

- Yes doing that, see above.

If you have dust in your case

- wut...?

Those cards vent a lot of hot air into the case

- Yes... yes they do! I see that your sig states a nice loop there. Any suggestions for that? I want everything as simple (minimalish) functionally and visually as it makes sense. Maybe I should start a new thread, actually.

Set a pretty aggressive fan profile at the higher temps.

- Will do! We'll see if that even helps a little.

BF3 loves crashing by all accounts

- Yes... yes it does. It seems any memory OC kills at eventually. But that's just why I am here. This cant be the norm for a system of this calaber. Maybe it is and I just didn't research enough.

What video driver...latest 320.49?

- Yes. These have been SO much more stable with other games.

Download and install EVGA's PrecisionX or MSI's Afterburner. They both come with an OSD function to have the GPU usage and temperatures show on screen while you're gaming.

- I'll try this too, sounds too logical and nice to have for this purpose.

I got so in the habit of deselecting add on stuff during installs

- You bet!! I do the same thing!!

[Arne_Saknussemm]

Hmm the last time I used GPU tweak I had a load of crashes out of that alone.....I'd uninstall it and use another program..of them all I prefer Precision X.

But if you are crashing you will have to run the card at stock and see if it crashes at stock too...if not it's simply the OC is not stable for that game...but heat wont help.

Watercooling the GPUs makes a lot of sense, for these cards especially.....keeping them well below 70 means they boost to maximum values with no throttling and they seem entirely happier....a nice full card block for those 670s and they'd purr along