Noticed my old graphics card was thermal throttling for months without me knowing

I started getting random crashes in games around 3 months ago and just assumed my card was dying. Finally got curious enough to run HWMonitor and saw my temps hitting 85C every time I launched anything. Cleaned out the dust from the heatsink with a can of air and repasted the chip for like $6. Now it runs at 70C max and haven't had a crash since. Anyone else had a card that just needed a good dusting instead of a replacement?

2 comments

2 Comments

johnfoster10d ago

Thermal throttling is still card degradation though.

taylor.jessica10d ago

Wait, how do you figure that? Degradation from running hot for months is different from the normal wear a card sees at proper temps, right? Seems like as long as the silicon hit 85C without cooking the board, you should be fine for years yet.