Hardware & Technical GPU 1070 Running Quite hot After Heatsink Installation

[Chromadek]

HI,

This might have been answered already, but please help

I recently upgraded my gaming rig and bought a MSI GTX 1070 Amour OC aswell as a new cpu cooler (Cooler Master HYPER 212) to fit into my MSI B360 Mortar titanium ( Micro ATX )
After installing i noticed that my GPU temps on full load ( Mainly tested in Overwatch on Epic) Went to about 78 - 79 C.
At first i thought it was normal since it was under fu

ll load.

I checked in with my friends system. Similar specs except with a 1060 stix OC But his temps on full load sat at about 62 C, I know his GPU has 3 fans but its still quite a difference in heat. However I also noticed he has a stock cpu cooler. He also has a full ATX Motherboard

In my system the GPU sits right under the CPU heatsink Due to the ATX form factor, the CPU heatsink also sits like 3 mmm off the glass and while gaming i can feel the heat off the tempered glass.
Now i can assume that the CPU Heatsink is giving off heat to the GPU thus increasing the temp.

My question is - Is the temp ok for the GPU, and is there any way to lower it via better airflow possibly buying a 140mm extractor or adding more fans(Currently i have a balanced airflow with 3 120mm Extractors at the back of the case and 3 120 mm intakes at the front) or should i consider buying a smaller heatsink for the CPU thus lowering the GPU temps.

Full PC Specs
I5-9600k
GTX 1070 Armour OC
16Gb DDR4 Hyper x 2666MHz
B360 Mortar Titanium
Cooler Master Hyper 212

 

[Ashnak]

...My question is - Is the temp ok for the GPU, and is there any way to lower it via better airflow possibly buying a 140mm extractor or adding more fans(Currently i have a balanced airflow with 3 120mm Extractors at the back of the case and 3 120 mm intakes at the front) or should i consider buying a smaller heatsink for the CPU thus lowering the GPU temps. ...

1) Debatable. Some people will claim that 79°C is too high, I'd say anything below 80°C is ok.
2) Definitely - but it'll depend (a lot) on your general setup. Anything in your case will have an influence on the airflow.
3) What's your CPU temperature?
4) The 1070 Armor has two fans and 150 W design power, the 1060 is specified for 120 Watts. So, less power, better cooling in a roomier case.

 

[Morbad]

The MSI Armor coolers are not very good. Actually, they are some of the worst non-reference coolers for the GTX 1000 series. However, the point at which the coolers will even ramp up at stock is often in excess of 80C.

The CPU cooler isn't the issue as the airflow coming off it even at maximum load is going to be cooler than the GPU's load temps and the GPU intakes air from the other side.

A smaller/weaker CPU cooler will likely only increase CPU temperatures and may actually cause the GPU to run slightly warmer.

 

[balalrumy]

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[Caramel Clown]

80C is safe for GPU under load. However, if new cooler caused spike in GPU heat you might have a case of bad airflow

 

[sgurr]

The MSI Armor coolers are not very good. Actually, they are some of the worst non-reference coolers for the GTX 1000 series. However, the point at which the coolers will even ramp up at stock is often in excess of 80C.

The CPU cooler isn't the issue as the airflow coming off it even at maximum load is going to be cooler than the GPU's load temps and the GPU intakes air from the other side.

A smaller/weaker CPU cooler will likely only increase CPU temperatures and may actually cause the GPU to run slightly warmer.

Morbad's right ^^

It might be worth playing with the fan curve through MSI afterburner, although noise will obviously be the payoff. Otherwise live with the temps and don't overclock or get a better cooler for the GPU.

 

[Caramel Clown]

The MSI Armor coolers are not very good. Actually, they are some of the worst non-reference coolers for the GTX 1000 series. However, the point at which the coolers will even ramp up at stock is often in excess of 80C.

The CPU cooler isn't the issue as the airflow coming off it even at maximum load is going to be cooler than the GPU's load temps and the GPU intakes air from the other side.

A smaller/weaker CPU cooler will likely only increase CPU temperatures and may actually cause the GPU to run slightly warmer.

It's not about absolute temperature, it's delta you should be looking at. Air inside the case mostly gets "recycled", unless you have a proper airflow setup with a good draft blowing front to back. So slightly hotter air blown out of CPU cooler will mix in with air inside the case due to convection, gets sucked into GPU cooler thus reducing cooling efficiency for it. Also, overall hotter air inside the case will slightly reduce radiation of heat via passive cooling elements of GPU cooler. Not by much, but it can be taken into account.
Overall with air cooling it's mostly down to a case being a choker. No matter how much you play around with curves if hot air isn't blown out of the case at high enough rate everything will stay hot.

 

[Morbad]

It's not about absolute temperature, it's delta you should be looking at. Air inside the case mostly gets "recycled", unless you have a proper airflow setup with a good draft blowing front to back. So slightly hotter air blown out of CPU cooler will mix in with air inside the case due to convection, gets sucked into GPU cooler thus reducing cooling efficiency for it. Also, overall hotter air inside the case will slightly reduce radiation of heat via passive cooling elements of GPU cooler. Not by much, but it can be taken into account.
Overall with air cooling it's mostly down to a case being a choker. No matter how much you play around with curves if hot air isn't blown out of the case at high enough rate everything will stay hot.

If bad case airflow was the issue it would be an issue irrespective of how good the CPU cooler was, and a good CPU cooler wouldn't exacerbate the issue.

 

[Caramel Clown]

It would be interesting to see a picture of OP's case.

 

[The Chairmaker]

See if you can undervolt your graphics card.

If you do this you can often knock a couple of degrees of temperatures.

Combine this with custom fan settings and you can tweek things to personal preferences.

 

[[VR] optimal_909]

The MSI Armor coolers are not very good. Actually, they are some of the worst non-reference coolers for the GTX 1000 series. However, the point at which the coolers will even ramp up at stock is often in excess of 80C.

The CPU cooler isn't the issue as the airflow coming off it even at maximum load is going to be cooler than the GPU's load temps and the GPU intakes air from the other side.

A smaller/weaker CPU cooler will likely only increase CPU temperatures and may actually cause the GPU to run slightly warmer.

Perhaps you remember advising me on this issue - however, 1080ti Armor's cooling is subpar because it is exactly the same as that of the standard 1070. Which means the cooler could be adequate on a 1070.

OP: as described above, I have a 1080ti MSI Armor, I also had issues with it overheating, and I solved it by undervolting it. This proved to be a double edged sword, as I not only managed to reduce temperatures to 65-67C max at full load, but actually it got faster as it never throttles from 1.95 Ghz . it is perfectly stable too, I never had any stability issues.
Having said that, my beefier card has the same cooler as yours, so probably you have an airflow problem in your micro ATX case.

 

[Morbad]

Perhaps you remember advising me on this issue - however, 1080ti Armor's cooling is subpar because it is exactly the same as that of the standard 1070. Which means the cooler could be adequate on a 1070.

The cooler on the MSI Armor 1070 is similar, but not identical, to the one on the 1080 ti and still isn't particularly good.

This is a trend with MSI's entire Armor line up...they use a similar fin/fan design, and just enough direct touch heatpipes to cover the GPU die in question. The GP102 parts use four heatpipes, the GP104 use three, the GP106 two, and the the GP107 one. The finstacks for the coolers with more heatpipes are also longer.

Relative to the GPU's typical power consumption, the cooler on their 1070 is better than the one on the 1080 Ti, but it's still inferior to most other non-reference coolers, and possibly the FE reference one as well.

Having said that, my beefier card has the same cooler as yours, so probably you have an airflow problem in your micro ATX case.

I'm not sure the OP ever specified his case (it's not uncommon for an mATX board to be in an ATX case), but if he can feel the glass get warm, it does indicate that more case air flow would be beneficial.

 

[[VR] optimal_909]

The cooler on the MSI Armor 1070 is similar, but not identical, to the one on the 1080 ti and still isn't particularly good.

This is a trend with MSI's entire Armor line up...they use a similar fin/fan design, and just enough direct touch heatpipes to cover the GPU die in question. The GP102 parts use four heatpipes, the GP104 use three, the GP106 two, and the the GP107 one. The finstacks for the coolers with more heatpipes are also longer.

Relative to the GPU's typical power consumption, the cooler on their 1070 is better than the one on the 1080 Ti, but it's still inferior to most other non-reference coolers, and possibly the FE reference one as well.



I'm not sure the OP ever specified his case (it's not uncommon for an mATX board to be in an ATX case), but if he can feel the glass get warm, it does indicate that more case air flow would be beneficial.

Hmmm, okay, I think it was Gamers Nexus that claimed 1070 upwards the coolers were the same.

As about the case, I stand corrected (too).
I had similar temps as the OP before undervolting the card, and that made me believe OP's airflow must be an issue. My case was (also) a largely uneducated purchase, but thankfully it is a very well ventilated one - front, rear, top and bottom are all open with filters, also there is an opening on the side.