Vista - RivaTuner question

Blaydrnnr, again on the thing you siad about your case being warm.. How's your cable management? Can you maybe post a pic of your rig with side panel off (not just to see the cable management, jus want to see it on the inside act, such nice config (or at least compared to mine..)). Also, where do you put your case? Has it got enough room to breathe or is it like crammed into a drawer of your desk?

Cheers, good luck on the OC-ing (You know what, I'm gonna start OC-ing with you! or at least my CPU, for the card I don't even bother. It's more fun to do with two of us, right)

Amplid

... Hey Amplid, This thing is up on the desk...I have learned in the past with my XP rig that I get better air movement up here and its exposed to a cieling fan as well with this room kept @70F, my XP system runs very hot when rendering or gaming..( dual 1950's, 800WPSU, 5 fans, open case... ) heats the room nice in winter... but this Vista system doesnt run very hot right now, its just a closed case, with three stock fans.... not a bad air movement for a stock case for OEM.. but with a new card coming soon, ( 4870x2 ) and I already swapped the PSU to a 1000W, so a stock cooler on this card is just going to be alittle warm.. but with Riva Tuner running it at 80%, I havent seen it above 62C in some long hard gaming in CoD4 and Quake4 or Crysis yet.. thats not too bad right now for a card under load...but along with the new card, I went for a Tuniq tower for the PSU and I'll just have to see what they will come up with for a GPU cooler for that new card.. things should be OK for awhile...unless I can figure out how hard it would be to swap my CPU for something.. " HOTTER"???
Gunther.. thanks for the reply.. I'm still looking at clocks for this 9800GT1GB card... but I will go ahead and get an app to test stability.. ( thats what I meant by test the clocking.. sorry ) I dont mind paying.. just wasnt sure for just stability testing if a freebie would do just as good. Stock clocks are 600/900/1500.. I know it can do better then that....but since I dont have access to the BIOS for voltage and timings.. there is only going to be so much I can do...but.. anything I can get to help in gaming and rendering would be nice!! If not.. no loss, it does OK, and the newcard will be a whole new ball of wax.

well, for CPU clocks testing. I'd get Prime95, or Orthos, and for GPU. just get 3DMark06 and run that. thats all.

so your getting the Tuniq Tower huh, that will keep your CPU cool. get good thermal paste. Like artic silver 5.

and yea, OEM cases are very bad with wires. Good Idea Amplid.
Yea I'd try to clean up some wires, and install a fan or 2 in that system just to add more airflow.

oh oh oh Blaydrrrrr I completely forgot about this. I feel retarded now.
HAHA. I know a decent way to get your temps down on your GPU
is your 9800GT a single, or dual slot card? if Dual, then get a 120mm fan and attach it to the vents on the back where your GPU is. and have it sucking air out. that will add a TON of airflow to the actual Videocard and it drops temps of about 10 or so degrees. that should help. and if you have a single slot. then just get a 120mm fan. and plug it in and find a place to sit it, where it blows right onto your card or right into it's built-In fan. that will help your temps a lot.

@xguntherc,
What do you know about the VGA cooler for my 8800GT? I have been looking at the Thermalright HR-03 GT Heatsink VGA Cooler. Would something like this be overkill? My card runs about 50c with minimal load. Manufacturer Zotac GeForce 8800GT 700mhz 2.0ghz

I already have a 120 taking air out the back, one pulling from the top, and 140 in the side pushing across the card, not to mention the stock fan on the CPU and the PSU, they add alittle to movement, but are already drawing they're own heat from they're sources. I have Arctic 5 already, from the other cards that I've added the Zalmans to in the XP rig.. If I was keeping this card in, I'd get a cooler to bring it down more... but its running at an ok temp under load for a stocker so I'm not sweating it..LOL ( couldnt help the pun..) We'll see what they come up for the 4870x2 types...as far as wires goes.. PC power and cooler PSU's are not modular and have a rep for having wayyy too much in overkill on there cabling.. but I do what I can.. I'm good at managing them pretty well. Plus.. I still have a couple 120's and I think 2 more 140's laying around here so once the new cards in, I might mod the case a bit like I usually do and push more air.. we'll see... Right now the ambient in the case is sitting at 36, idle on the card is 49, underload, around 58 with peaks around 62, for stock.. its doing OK. I'll have no problem cooling it more once I get some good toys in here. Thanks on the advice on the apps..

I mean put a fan on the back of your tower, on the outside, right where your GFX card it. might not look that great. but it really really helps with temps. but if thats not a concern than your fine and just wait til you get the 4870x2.

and to Norm, that Thermaltake HR-03 GT is a great cooler, it's by far probably one of the best next to water cooling for your GFX card. and no it's not overkill at ALL. if I could add that thing to my GTX260 I would have a long time ago. I think they are soon going to release something like it for my GTX series.

Also if your getting 50C on a minimal load then you might be ok, whats your Full Load. thats the important temp. Also the point of getting the HR-03 GT is not just for cooling, yes it will drop the temps a few good Degree's or more of the card, but more than that. The part that made me get one, was the fact that it's SILENT. or near silent. it's passive, and you can add a fan to it. and I did. I added a very very quiet fan to it. and you coulnd't even hear the thing. So yes. I'd recommend that as your First choice for a GFX cooler, other ones are ok. but that thing is the best. it keeps it cool, and its Quiet. and the quietness was the biggest thing for me.

Get one, you'll enjoy it

I think strapping a aftermarket cooler to an 8800GT is unnecessary. My 8800GT runs at a mild 52C ildling (motherboard temp about 40C and case about 28C, note air temp is about 28C) but with the fan at 50% i get 47C but i have never seen my GT get above 75C but they can go much, much higher. I know a guy who used to get mid 90's when playing Crysis and his card is undamaged from the experience.

Aftermarket cooling just seems like a waste unless you are getting like 60C at idle and a constant 80-90C when gaming.

All in all aftermarket cooler on 8800GT = waste of time whereas aftermarket cooler on GTX280 = card not dying after two weeks.

Thats my 2 cents.

well. I see your point. but not only does it keep it a little cool, but as I said in my first answer about his cooler.. it's also for the SOUND. as those 8800GT's are sooo sooo loud. that tiny little fan is so freaking loud, you can hear it next door. my GTX260 with fan at 75% is still not as loud as my 8800GTS. and it stays cooler, even when Oc'd over 150 MHz extra.

and I see what your saying about aftermarket being ok for a 280, but if a 280 is getting so hot it will be dead in a few weeks without aftermarket. then it's defective and should be returned. I had a 280 and within Seconds of Crysis, or GRID would get over 104C and the fan would start pulsating up and down really hard. I'd never loose gameplay. but it got to 109c once then I got worried and shut her down. the 280's are very very problematic. and there's many threads about them. and hardly any at ALL. for the 260. I think the 260 is the better, and safer, more stable card there.

I see mattinhat's point. but I got the HR-03 GT for my 8800GT simply because it was way to loud. and you can always feel good about taking off a few degree's. even if that aftermarket cooler only gives you a solid 5-7 C difference. that's a difference and all the more the better. thats why we get the best cards and OC them, cuz we want the most out of our systems. so why not keep it cool.

I say get it. it's not that much money. and the Quietness alone will make it seem worth it, not to mention temps.

Fair enough, fair enough.

I suppose i do have a pretty loud case (Antec 900) and noise doesn't bother me so long as the performance is there to back it up.

And the bit about the GTX280 that was more of an overdramatic representation to further push my point i suppose and yes xguntherc is right if your GTX 280 dies in a few weeks then it is defective.

The GTX 260 is a (at the moment) much better card than the GTX 280 because i think Nvidia rushed the 280 too much and now they are paying the price. 280's will do 110C happily so what you got in Crysis xguntherc is about normal however + 10C more and the card will shut off. It is pretty difficult to break but when it does it is pretty spectacular.

Thanks for the good advice, Gunther, (as always). I have looked at the temps after playing COH on full specs and it was about 68c. I guess thats not too hot but like you say, a few degrees cooler can't hurt and could be quieter.