Checking the temperature of the video card is necessary to diagnose breakdowns that arose during the operation of the computer. Also, overheating of the GPU can cause performance degradation in games and video playback.
Monitoring programs
Various monitoring programs are used to check the temperature of the video card. Among them, the simplest is the HWMonitor application from the CPUID developer. The application practically does not load the system, but at the same time it allows you to accurately determine the temperature indicators of the video adapter.
Among the alternative programs for demonstrating the performance of a video card, ATITool can be noted, which is also suitable for video cards from any manufacturer. In addition to displaying the temperature, the application allows you to overclock the video processor in order to improve performance, as well as change some general graphics parameters.
A similar program is RivaTuner, through which you can also control the rotation speed of the fans installed on the graphics subsystem, adjusting the cooling and power consumption of the adapter.
Obtaining indicators
Select the program that works best for checking the temperature. If you just want to study temperature readings for diagnostic purposes, it is worth choosing the most simple application. Install ATITool or RivaTuner to overclock and change video adapter parameters. To install, go to the official website of the program and download the latest version of the application from the corresponding section. Double click on the resulting file and follow the instructions on the screen to complete the procedure.
Run the installed application. If you are using HWMonitor, the required temperature readings will be displayed on the main screen. Leave the application running to check the level of heating of the graphics module when working with graphics. Open any modern 3D game on your computer and play it for about 15-20 minutes. After that, go back to HWMonitor. The Temperatures value in the branch with the name of the video card model will show the peak temperature values.
The normal temperature for a graphics adapter is 80oC or less. If the heating occurs more strongly, you will need to contact a specialized service center to further diagnose the problem. Overheating of a video card can also be caused by a lot of dust.
Click the arrow button next to the name and characteristics of your video adapter to view the temperature readings in the main window of RivaTuner. Among the options offered, click "Monitoring".
ATITool does not require pre-launching resource-intensive games to test graphics. To check the operation of the video card, in the main window, click Show 3d View. Wait about 15-20 minutes, then return to the program window and check the obtained temperature readings.
