Second monitor GPU temp increase

Zeebedy · 21 May 2021 at 15:04

Hey guys,

I just finished setting up my second monitor, but I have noticed in AfterBurner that my temps have increased from around 28c to 35c?

Is this normal, due to the extra display??

Ch3m1c4L · 21 May 2021 at 16:10

The clocks on your gpu will have bumped up a little bit in order to run multiple displays. It used to get locked to max clocks, the newer the gpu the less it clocks up as they are better at driving multi monitors /the clock rate bugs are a bit more fixed.

Zeebedy · 21 May 2021 at 16:15

Ch3m1c4L said:
The clocks on your gpu will have bumped up a little bit in order to run multiple displays. It used to get locked to max clocks, the newer the gpu the less it clocks up as they are better at driving multi monitors /the clock rate bugs are a bit more fixed.

Thanks, the problem I see is that the clocks do seem to be "maxed" according to AfterBurner???

Does that seem right?

Ch3m1c4L · 21 May 2021 at 16:44

I would have thought it should be on high 2d clocks rather than full on 3d clocks on a 20 series. It's not really an issue beyond it uses a few more watts. But it is a known issue. You may be able to force lower power states via afterburner/rivatuner, or changing the multi monitor/power settings in nv control panel.
If it bothers you enough, have a nasty around with different settings though, I think afterburner can auto apply profiles for 2d vs 3d nowadays, maybe just create a profile with the power slider at minimum?

Zeebedy · 21 May 2021 at 16:47

Ch3m1c4L said:
I would have thought it should be on high 2d clocks rather than full on 3d clocks on a 20 series. It's not really an issue beyond it uses a few more watts. But it is a known issue. You may be able to force lower power states via afterburner/rivatuner, or changing the multi monitor/power settings in nv control panel.
If it bothers you enough, have a nasty around with different settings though, I think afterburner can auto apply profiles for 2d vs 3d nowadays, maybe just create a profile with the power slider at minimum?

thanks, i will look into it. It doesnt really bother me, the only concern I have is if can damage somehow the GPU if running like it is all the time?

If not, then im fine with it atm.

Ch3m1c4L · 21 May 2021 at 16:54

Zeebedy said:
thanks, i will look into it. It doesnt really bother me, the only concern I have is if can damage somehow the GPU if running like it is all the time?

If not, then im fine with it atm.

Nah, it's not actually under load or anything, no degradation or anything etc. it's just not down clocking/setting power state to low to save idle power like we all think it should be.

Zeebedy · 21 May 2021 at 16:55

Perfect, thanks Chem!

hyperseven · 21 May 2021 at 17:47

roll back the drivers to see if fixes

Quartz · 21 May 2021 at 17:52

Zeebedy said:
I just finished setting up my second monitor, but I have noticed in AfterBurner that my temps have increased from around 28c to 35c

Yes if it's a Nvidia GPU.

Steviepunk · 21 May 2021 at 18:22

Also check your refresh rates on the monitors. I found recently that if you have monitors at different refresh rates, the GPU will not idle at as low a frequency as it otherwise would. On my 1080ti, it was idling at ~1100MHz when I had one monitor at 144Hz, when they were all at 60Hz the idle frequency dropped to ~300MHz Obviously the higher idle frequency will cause an increase in temperature.

Zeebedy · 21 May 2021 at 18:39

hyperseven said:
roll back the drivers to see if fixes

Need to update to the latest still, will try that first.

Quartz said:
Yes if it's a Nvidia GPU.

Yeah, its a 2080 Super.

Steviepunk said:
Also check your refresh rates on the monitors. I found recently that if you have monitors at different refresh rates, the GPU will not idle at as low a frequency as it otherwise would. On my 1080ti, it was idling at ~1100MHz when I had one monitor at 144Hz, when they were all at 60Hz the idle frequency dropped to ~300MHz Obviously the higher idle frequency will cause an increase in temperature.

Ahh well, there you go, the mew monitor is only 60hz against my 144hz main monitor. hmm..

Quartz · 21 May 2021 at 18:58

Zeebedy said:
Yeah, its a 2080 Super.

This is an issue that goes back over a decade. Leastwise I first experienced it on the Geforce range before the current numbering system.

Reality|Bites · 21 May 2021 at 19:17

it's getting warmer now so your room temp will have gone up?

Alt0153 · 21 May 2021 at 20:00

Reality|Bites said:
it's getting warmer now so your room temp will have gone up?

maybe but thats not it, i used to run 2 monitors and unplugging the second from the card dropped the temps 5c

Reality|Bites · 21 May 2021 at 20:02

hmmm I've two 34" monitors plugged in, and no difference

Steviepunk · 21 May 2021 at 20:20

Zeebedy said:
Ahh well, there you go, the mew monitor is only 60hz against my 144hz main monitor. hmm..

If that is the problem, then you can either switch refresh rate when you want to game (or set the games to full screen so they can control the refresh rate themselves) - that option works fine for me as I spend most of the day on work stuff.

The alternative is to try a piece of software call nVidiaInspector by TechPowerUp - it has an feature for "Multi Display Power Saver" that overrides the idle rate and keeps it low when nothing is happening. I did try this, however I noticed display glitches when watching videos on Youtube (which only started when I enabled this feature and stopped when I disabled it - think it related to the thresholds for forcing the idle) - however YMMV

RockSteddy · 21 May 2021 at 20:28

I'm glad I came across this thread as I have experienced the same thing. I recently completed a new system build with a RTX 3080 FE and before I moved the PC to its final resting place the 3080 would always idle between 34 and 38 degrees and this was with the fans not spinning and at idle clocks. Now it idles around 40-43 degrees and I just couldn't fathom why this would happen, no hardware or driver changes. The only difference was that I added my 2nd monitor (The primary monitor at 100hz and the secondary at 60Hz) so if this can raise temps slightly in idle it might be the answer!

I've now just added a custom fan curve in Afterburner to keep the fans on as I like to keep the card in the 30's when idling.

Zeebedy · 22 May 2021 at 16:30

Its running fine really, as long as it is not damaging my GPU im content.

I also have a customfan curve on AB, and the temps are great..

Zeebedy · 22 Jun 2021 at 13:30

Well, I upgraded my monitor, so now have my main and the secondary running at 120Hz, so my GPU AfterBurner memory is down now, and clocks up when need be..

Plus, even though my second monitor wasnt for games or that, it did bother me a lot the 60Hz mouse scrolling :rolleyes:

now its nice and fluid..

Zeebedy · 22 Jun 2021 at 14:10

OK, so its fairy cool in my man cave, but the temps at idle have dropped as I would expect on the GPU, but the CPU seems to have shaved off a few degrees! :eek:

Weird.