So !

I tried out the "new" BETA drivers (from december).
I fixed with the graphics so it runs smoothly and looks fine (Using NVIDIA's AA instead of Skyrims etc)

Now the game runs at 80-84 degrees C constantly.
I tried running out in the big bad world in a major snowstorm, 84 degrees, ran inside a small cave, 84 degrees.
Fan is running at 45-50% speed.

I tried disabling my 2nd screen, this lowered my temperature DRASTICALLY whilst NOT playing, but when playing it's pretty much the same.

I've read that the card (Asus GeForce GTX 550 Ti 1GB) is suppose to run just fine at these temps, these sources felt a bit untrustworthy.

Worth mentioning might be that I never have any slowdowns or any other sign that it might be too hot, no more than the fan laying at 50% speed.
Sounding way more (but still not much) than I'm used to due to this actually being the first time I'm really using my computer to play games.
(I own a ps3 for that purpose otherwise, but we all know how good Skyrim works on ps3)

Also worht mentioning is that I have a small case, and not very well ventilated, standing in a corner right now.
However I will be moving it shortly to a large open space close to a window, and I live where we have below 0 degrees C from october through may.
So getting the air around the case to be pretty cold can be achieved (however I'll be freezing too).

Well... now I'm rambling again.

tl;dr

Is 84 degrees C normal or atleast safe when playing Skyrim on a GTX 550?

i would crank your fan speed up while running the game. I dont have that card, but i use the manual speed while gaming.

It's safe, however, it will lessen the life of the card. It is running pretty hot though. You have any software that allows you to change the RPM's of your GPU fan? I would suggest giving that a try. Ambient temps in your room play a big role in your case temp. Lowering the ambient temp will help too.

IMO, 84 is high but still safe...that card should be rated for over 100 before it automatically shuts down before overheating.

I would suggest working on your fan-curve in order to achieve a better http://www.overclock.net/t/646422/how-to-adjust-your-fan-curve-in-msi-afterburner structure for better results. Again, IMO, 84 at 45-50% is too low of a fan speed to properly compensate. Take a look at the article linked for better information.

BTW, I'm running what can be considered a rather rough card when it comes to heat (GeForce GTX 460) as it has always been infamous for overheating issues. I've struggled a lot with this and have had to RMA the card 3 times before getting one that worked well. The exponential fan-curve has done wonders for my gaming environment as I can usually keep games like Skyrim down to the 60-70 range. Without having to get into the heart of your cooling system the fan-curve would definitely be where I'd start messing around.

Also, I'd suggest MSI Afterburner, which is what I've leaned to love the best even after having tried the EVGA version (the makers of my specific card).

Thanks!

I'm gonna check out that MSI Afterburner.
Right now I'm using NVIDIA INSPECTOR to monitor the heat and usage of fan etc, however this one only got a slider for manually controlling the fan.
It's either AUTO or a specific % of speed.

As already mentioned, right now the whole case is sittin tucked in a corner in a small room.
The airflow in here ain't great exactly and it's pretty warm (though not unbearably hot).
Will be moved in a week or so.
Right now I've plugged in both screens and are streaming sports on one and using firefox on the other.
Temp is at 71C and fanspeed 37%.

Gonna try a static 70% fanspeed tomorrow and play some more.
It's gonna sound insane!

An exponential curve will help with the sound as well since your ear is less likely to notice gradual changes as opposed to either stepping changes or a constant rotation.

71 with 37%...your fan should never be that low with such high temps...you should be at 71 in Skyrim, not with streaming and Internet browsing. Static and/or Automatic without the proper curve are the two worse fan profiles that you can setup for such a graphic card. Do your card a favor and read that article. You won't regret it.

Ok I've read through that now and I have to say I don't get it.
I realize the theory behind it, to keep the fan one step ahead of the heat.
However, I don't get how to determine what MY curve should look like.

I don't even know what type of fan I got on it, it doesn't say, this is the exact card I have:

asus.c0m/Graphics_Cards/NVIDIA_Series/ENGTX550_TiDI1GD5/#overview

Also the guy in the article is raising his voltage (whatever that means), which I guess is all about overclocking and stuff like that.
I have no interest in trying to tweak up the card so it runs close to it's absolute limit.

I guess I should've started my initial post with saying that I'm a complete "noob" when it comes to stuff like this.
Most of the numbers and terms means nothing to me.


EDIT:(It said I didn't have permission to post links so I changed the O in the com to a zero)

ye my cards run at 90C but thats within allowable limits of my cards.

but CPU coreTemp is the critical 1 and is why i have never updated past day 1 patch

as it is my core temp hovers 10-20C above idle temp
and is even worse if i use later patches

for some reason this game makes my computer cook itself more than any other program i have.

It is safe and shouldn't affect the lifespan of the card. It's almost certainly a combination of skyrim being quite demanding (in different ways to other games) and your small case/ventilation. My card runs at nearly 90C for games and it's still going strong after 3.5 years (4870) - I'm going to replace it because of speed rather than reliability most likely.

What it will do however is raise the temperature of your other components, and it's here that you may begin to experience stability issues. Thus increasing the fan speed will actually only make this worse if it's dumping heat into the case (you'll be taking more heat out of the card and putting it into the case) - if it's blowing out of the case then that's fine. Look at the airflow of your case and see if you can improve it.

80-84 C for GPU is pretty normal. GPUs can handle most amount of heat often. My GPU can handle 105 C.
My GPU get around 80 when playing Skyrim.

Look out for your CPU though. My CPU cores get around 55-61 C when playing Skyrim. That is warm. I think my max temperature before shutdown for CPU is around 70-75.

If you want to, you can manually change fan speed with this tool: http://download.cnet.com/SpeedFan/3000-2094_4-10067444.html
Very nice tool, but some people believe it can cause trouble forcing fan speed. So my advice is to let it be.

What program is best to monitor the cpu temp?

Speedfan monitor all hardware temp and fan. It can also force change them (but I don't recommend it, some say it can cause problems or be risky, some say it's safe. I'd say better safe than sorry as long as your computer works OK anyway). Highly recommended.
Another extremely easy program to monitor fans (not only a few fans and not all) and hardware temp is: http://www.cpuid.com/softwares/hwmonitor.html
I have downloaded both programs to monitor, because I was afraid I had fan and temp troubles before.

I also recommend googling your CPU and GPU. It will say their maximum allowed temperature in their technical specifications.

No matter what you do to increase or adjust the fan speed on the GPU, it is still pulling hot air from your case to try and cool the card.

Address your case ventilation. I have not seen a case that I could not add fans to. Most motherboards have pins for extra fans so the system can control them, if you want. Rule of thumb, you want more fans blowing out than blowing into the case. Of course, one 120mm fan is the same air movement as two 80mm fans, so keep that in mind when doing the math. And, ignore your PSU fan in the count, it has it's own job to do, and cooling the case is not it.

If you have not done this and you have had your machine for more than 3 months, get a can of compressed air and blow out the dust from inside the case. Take it outside first, you can thank me later for that tip.

Ever since 1.3 I can hear my GPU fan speed up really fast when I start the game and then it stays there. I don't know if it will over heat my GPU because I don't play for more then a few min (just checking new mods) since so many of my quests are broke.

Maybe one day I'll get to play again, but I'm not going to risk my card on this game.

Bit of an odd question, but how did you mange to force Nvidia's AA on Skyrim?

I use http://openhardwaremonitor.org/, it shows lots of temps and voltages.

Hi again all, thanks for all the answers.

I tried downloading that SpeedFan just to check what my CPU goes to whilst playing at my regular 80-84 degree.
This program however show's a bunch of weird temps and only monitors 2 fans whereas I have 3, one on the CPU one on the GPU and one in the back of the box on the wall of the case (if that's what you call it) + the PSU-fan but as CCNA stated, that's a seprate thing.
Or it shows 3 fans, but only 2 spinning.

The temps show as this:

GPU:
Temp1:
Temp2:
Temp3:
HD0:
Core:

And the weird part is that Temp2: shows a -128C
I have a hard time believing that =T

I'm guessing Temp1 is the CPU as that was the one raising when playing, it went up to 46-47C and stayed there.
GPU went as usual to 83-84, but the fan (Ya I checked the Automatic fan speed-box) was a bit quieter than when not running SpeedFan.
It went to about 1800RPM during the hardest parts (I ran by foot from the snowy weather in the mountains down to Whiterun just to see as much graphics as possible at once)
HD0 I'm guessing is the harddrive (only got 1) and that one's at 29C (This one seems to be 29 both whilst playing and not)
and what is the "Core" ? That one's at 23C and the "Temp3" @ 18C

I have a general feeling that CCNA is on the right track, fix the airflow through the case.
However I'm not really sure there's room for another fan, could I just open the side of the case and put a small table fan there blowing straight in?
(I remember doing that on my old computer, about a 100 years ago when ppl still played counter strike)

I would love to set up the fan as BioFringe suggested but I can't figure it out at all.

EDIT: Oh and somewelshguy, I'm guessing I got the facts wrong or something.But I read that disabling the AA options in Skyrim and go to the NVIDIA-settings and turning on Anastrophic Filtering to 16x would give better performance.(Not sure if it's called that in english, I got a swedish system)

Yes, pointing a fan at the innards is a perfectly acceptable way to cool the GPU or any other parts. It is only once you have good fans that you want to keep the case side on so airflow works the way it is supposed to. Ideally in from the bottom and or front and out the top and or back.

It may be the fan does not have the ability to be monitored, as in a 2 pin and not a 3 pin connector, but do make sure that fan is running.

If you do not have room for more fans, you can swap out the fans you have for ones that have more CFM or airflow. 40 to 60 Cubic Feet per Minute is a lot and anything less than 30dB your not going to hear. This will help you balance noise and airflow. Fans are pretty cheap, probably looking at $30 to $40 with shipping to swap out all your fans for more airflow. Read the reviews as some brands are junk and some fans are loud.

http://www.newegg.com/Store/SubCategory.aspx?SubCategory=573&name=Case-Fans

My most effective cooling solution back before i got this case was to open the side panel and put one of those 5$ deskfans aimed at it, sat the fan at about a 45 angle aimed in a way that the air would try to get blown out the back of the case too. It was very very effective even on the lowest speed.

Yes that temperature is okay. It's certainly safe enough. Those cards can get up to 105c before being unsafe. Obviously, no one ever wants their card to even get up that high... ever. First off, the game running as you describe is normal. My Geforce GTX470 is constantly at 99%-100% load no matter what I'm doing in Skyrim. My dedicated video memory is also always above 1000MB. I heavily overlock my GTC470 too, which obviously makes heat much worse. What I do to get around this is set my GPU fan to 75% everytime before I run any demanding game like Skyrim. It's the best speed I've found that isn't too annoyingly loud and effective at keeping my GPU cool. I never go higher than 75c now even after 4+ hours of gameplay. When my GPU fan was at 40-50% as in you case, I'd go up as high as 95c. Yes, the higher fan speed is loud, but it's worth it to keep your GPU cool. Anyway, don't worry too much as your temps are fine. If you want to get them cooler, just increase your fan speed. Easy.

Hey again guys!I downloaded that HWmonitor that the guy in my quote suggests.

WHICH numbers do I look at?
It got temperatures all over the place.
Is it the GPU + Core temps that are important? (I got 3 cores ranging from #0 to #2).
Or is it the GPU + the one highest up?
I got the GPU down, it's just that I don't know which temp in the program that are important to the CPU.

I would link a picture so you'd know what I'm talking about, but I'm not allowed to do that so I'm hoping someone with experience in this program can answer.