SenorBeef

My 8800 GTS 512 (g92) died, I sent it in for RMA and they sent me back a new GTX 250, which I gather is basically the same thing as a 9800 gtx+, which I gather was just a die shrink of the 8800 GTS 512. Both are XFX with dual slot cooler designs.

A die shrink should result in lower power usage and less heat generated, right?

But my old card overclocked at 772 mhz core (this new one defaults to 730-something) idled at around 45c and maxed out around 54c. The new GTX 250 idles around 55 and maxes out around 72c. Is this normal?

What's the reason? Hotter chip? Worse cooling on the newer models? Different way of measuring temperatures? Less aggressive fan settings?

Spart

What's the fan speed at?

__________________

SenorBeef

Hmm, yeah, I should've checked that first myself. It appears to be permanently locked at 67% duty cycle according to the rivatuner hardware monitor. I'll use the settings from my old card and see what happens.

Blameless

Fans peed could certainly be responsible for the unusually high temps.

Only marginally. Die shrinks also increase leakage and heat density (you lose more surface area than you lose on TDP).

The main reason for die shrinks is to make a chip less expensive to make. The second reason is to up clocks. Power/heat is a distant third, and usually does not improve much if clocks are increased.

SenorBeef

Is 75c within the proper operating range of a gtx250/9800+? I'm having some glitches with it (every few minutes the screen goes blank for a fraction of a second) and I'm wondering if that's related.

sLowEnd

That's well within safe limits

__________________

Maddog7771

Get EVGA precision tools. Great for overclocking and adjusting fan speed.

__________________

HAF 932 Black OPS

Sig Rig3DMark06 Score 16183

MY F@H STATS

deafboy

ambients the same?

honestly, with video cards...a 10* difference could be a whole list of things.

SenorBeef

Ambient is a little cooler if anything with the new card. And it's not a 10 degree difference - it's 53c load vs 75c load.

I haven't adjusted the fan cycle yet. It had some glitches early on and I thought I might have to RMA it and I didn't want to do anything to void the warranty. Still, I'm pretty sure my old card at 67% fan cycle would be 15c+ cooler than this one at the same clock.

Maybe the 8800GTS 512 just had a better cooler? slightly different design, IIRC.

metallicamaster3

My GTS 250s idle around 40-42C idle and max out at 75C full load. So you're in the normal temp range... I wouldn't worry about the difference to be honest.

__________________