Electronic chips are practically eternal. The only thing that can kill them quickly is overheating. Therefore, when using a video card, it is very important to monitor its temperature.
There are three places that get hot on the graphics card during operation:
- GPU core
- Video memory
- Power supply system
Typically, the temperature sensor is only installed on the core, since the rest of the components do not heat up that much and can withstand more heat. However, on Nvidia 3080 and 3090 cards, memory can reach high temperatures due to poor quality of thermal pads. This is a common problem with all manufacturers.
Safe GPU core temperatures
| Temperature | Safe? | Comment |
| Less than -20°C | Yes | The GPU will most likely not start |
| -20 — 25°C | Yes | The computer is turned off or is on the balcony in winter |
| 26 — 45°C | Yes | GPU is ON but idle |
| 46 — 55°C | Yes | GPU is not running at full load. |
| 56 — 71°C | Yes | Excellent temperature both for mining and for games. |
| 72 — 79°C | Yes | Temperatures are still safe, but performance may drop due to throttling. |
| 80 — 89°C | Borderline | This is the maximum temperature at which GPU can operate without damage. Due to throttling, performance drops dramatically. |
| 90 — 99°C | No | Chip may be damaged |
| 100 — 109°C | No | You have less than a minute to turn off the computer and chill the GPU. Otherwise, this GPU will turn into a donor for other GPUs. |
| 110+ °C | No | Bring a fire extinguisher and hope that GPU is the only thing burned out. |
Safe video memory (VRAM) temperature
| Temperature | Safe? | Comment |
| Less than -20°C | Yes | The GPU will most likely not start |
| -20 — 25°C | Yes | The computer is turned off or is on the balcony in winter |
| 25 — 95°C | Yes | Normal operating temperature for most types of video memory |
| 95 — 110 °C | Borderline | Although some types of memory can operate in this range, it is likely that throttling and performance drops will begin at this temperature. |
| 110 — 120°C | No | Possible damage to the memory chip |
| 120+ °C | No | This video card has run out, bring a new one! |
Safe temperature of the power supply system
Opinions differ about the safe temperature of the video card's power supply system. It is generally accepted that temperatures up to 100°C are safe for it. Usually there are no temperature sensors on it, so it can only be measured with an external thermometer.
How to find out the temperature of a video card
In order to find out the temperature of the video card, you can use the HWINFO or GPUz programs. All sensors on the video card are shown there.