What Is a Safe GPU Temperature?

Is your GPU getting hotter even at the idle state? Does your game keep crashing due to overheating of GPU? It has less to do with the weather outside and more with software running on the inside. Any electronic device can heat up under stress, but graphics cards have a different threshold.

Whether you have a GPU or you’re going to buy a new one, it’s essential to know about the safe operating temperatures. Graphics cards play an important role in gaming computers and PCs; therefore, it is necessary to understand their critical withstanding points for maintaining long-term use.

This article will elaborate on a safe GPU temp and how we can maintain it with 4 effective methods. We will also discuss several reasons why GPU temperature increases.

What Is a Safe GPU Temperature?

A safe GPU temp can vary from manufacturer and model of a GPU. 85 °C (185 °F) under stress is considered a safe GPU temp for the Nvidia modern GPUs. While the contemporary AMD GPUs can bear 100 °C (212 °F) under full load.

Maximum GPU Temps

Graphics card manufacturers put safety measures to overclock the performance of a GPU. Every graphics card has a maximum temperature point which may damage its components. Therefore, as mentioned below, it’s safe to shut down the GPUs at their maximum threshold temperature.

Nvidia Max Temps

The latest Nvidia RTX 30-series reaches a maximum temp of 93 °C without shutting down or throttling. While the older generation cards like RTX 20-series have a maximum temp of 88 °C only, GTX 10-series can bear a maximum of 94 °C.

AMD Max Temps

AMD graphics cards from the 5700 series can run without throttling at the maximum temp of 110 °C. If the GPU sensors detect temperatures above that range, they will automatically shut down to save the graphics card from permanent damage.

Reasons For High GPU Temp

If your GPU is hitting high temps even at the idle state, it could be due to the following reasons.

• Your GPU might be getting hot due to improper fan speed settings.
• Software running in the background might be consuming graphical resources.
• Due to overclocking, a GPU can become hotter at its highest temperature, even in an idle state.
• Insufficient air ventilation for GPU can prevent heat exhaust from the casing, resulting in rising temps.

Maintaining GPU Temps

When running a high-end game or designing software like Adobe Photoshop, the GPU temps are expected to rise. But it’s not normal if your GPU reaches temperatures above 75 °C in an idle state. 

But with these four methods, you can maintain a safe GPU temp regardless of the manufacturer’s graphics card.

Method #1: Disable Overclocking

If you have overclocked your GPU, it will run at higher power and reach more elevated temperatures. It’s only safe to overclock a GPU if it is not going above 95 °C temps. 

Follow these steps to reduce clock speed.

1. Open the GPU controlling software or MSI Afterburner to access your GPU settings.
2. Look for the “OC“, “Overclock“, or “Clock Speed” option on the main panel of the software.
3. Find the GPU clock speed option. On the MSI Afterburner, it is called the “core clock“.
4. Click on the slider and reduce it to the left to lower the clock speed.
5. Keep reducing the clock speed until the temperature reaches the normal range.

Method #2: Increase GPU Fan Speeds

If it is not suitable for you to reduce clock speed, then increase the fan speed to manage the temperature at various loads by following these easy steps.

1. Open the GPU controlling software that comes pre-installed with your GPU drivers.
2. Find the “Fan Speed” option from the Control Panel; select the “Manual Control” option.
3. Find the “Fan Curve” and adjust the fan speed by observing the temperature.
4. When the GPU temperature rises, you can set the “Fan Curve” at a specific speed percentage.
5. Click “Apply and Save” after setting the curve according to your preference.

Method #3: Turn On Power Saver Mode

Electronic devices tend to get hotter due to excessive electricity consumption; the same concept goes for GPUs. Therefore, it’s vital to limit the voltage consumption of GPU with these easy steps.

1. Open the control panel and go to “Hardware and Sound” > “Power Options“.
2. Select the “Power Saver Mode” to limit your system’s power consumption.
3. Apply and save settings to use the system on Power Saver Mode.
4. You can also enable the power saver directly by accessing desktop side panel buttons.

Method #4: Reduce Voltage From Software

If the power saver mode is ineffective in reducing power consumption, you can manually adjust the power levels of your GPU using MSI Afterburner. Follow these easy steps to limit the voltage consumption.

1. Run MSI Afterburner and in the middle of the panel. 
2. Find the “Core Voltage” option that directs to the power supply of your GPU. 
3. Slide down the power slider to the top left to reduce the core voltage percentage. 
4. Click on the tick mark button to save and apply settings.

Summary

In this guide about safe GPU temps, we also discussed several factors that increase the GPU temps. We also provided statistical figures on different GPU manufacturers and how the temperature varies due to stress load.

But it is vital to manage the GPU temperature, which was discussed in our 4 effective methods that work for all graphics cards. We hope our guide helped you maintain safe GPU temps on your PC.