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#1
Auto Fan speed not working on GTS450....
I bought my GTS450 about 4 months ago. Didn't seem to have any problems with it for the first few months. Then I started getting alot of TDR's while playing Dungeons and Dragons Online, but only in certain areas. Then I got Sims Medieval and I started having the same problem in that game. Also in Fallout New Vegas.
I noticed during this time the GPU temp seemed high to me, running around 70C when in one of these games. But I looked around on some websites and saw a post from someone I thought was knowledgeable that newer video cards, especially the ones that need the separate power supply plug, run alot hotter than ones in the past so I dident really think anything of it after that.
After this problem became so pervasive I was getting TDR's like every 2-3 mins for a stretch while running some games I decided to come in here and post about the problem. I came to find out I was having a memory issue because I had 4x1GB sticks but they were matched in pairs, one was Kingston and one was OCZ and so far I haven't been able to get them to work happy together. So for now I am going to stick to just the two Kingston sticks, which get no errors in Memtest86+ after 20+ passes.
So now I have good running memory with no errors but the problem still persisted. I tried looking around again for info about nominal and peak temps for my GPU but I could not find any clear information. So I decided to see if I could resolve the problem.
I noticed that there was a supplemental utility from Nvidia that lets you control alot more of what your GPU settings and info is so I installed this. I discovered that the default setting for the card is an automatic control of the fan speed and it starts at 30% RPM. I tested it with the GPU monitor during games and it never moves from 30% and the fan RPM never moved from about 1250RPM. I always thought it was running faster when my temp was going up but it was still so quiet that I couldn't hear it.
So now I have come to find out that in automatic mode for some reason my fan speed never changes.
So, my main question here is. Why? As far as I know there is nothing else on my system that is controling my GPU fan speed. I tried manualy setting it at 80% - 100% and I can definately hear it now, louder but still not annoyingly so. The main difference is though that if I set it manualy at about 80% my GPU temp never seems to go above 52C even when running. I have found some tools in the Nvidia system tools program that let me set rules for the card about when to raise the fan speed when I start a particular game but it seems like sometimes this works and sometimes it does not. The only thing that seems to work consistantly is if I set the fan speed manualy at 80% after I have rebooted so when I go to play some games It keeps the GPU cooler and I do not have this problem with TDR's anymore.
So, anyone have an opinion on why the automatic setting on the card isn't working and apparently has never worked even before I got the Nvidia system tools? And also any opinions on simply leaving the fan speed set at 80% constantly.